Finally swinging out that old aluminum sash window

It is a familiar sight to many residents of homes from the 1970s and 1980s: the aluminum sash window, with single glazing. Indestructible, but totally out of date. This writer also had these windows in his first home. The icy cold, anodized aluminum I remember well, winter literally entered the living room, bedroom and bathroom. Yet many of these windows have still not been replaced, for one reason: users appreciate the sliding function of these windows. There is good news for these lovers of sliding windows: GEALAN introduces SMOOVIO, the innovative sliding system that allows the old aluminum sliding windows to give way to a contemporary sliding window with all the accompanying insulation values of today. We speak to Bas van den Eerenbeemt, account manager at GEALAN.

All the advantages of today and as light to operate as ever

"SMOOVIO offers exactly the same functionality but with today's living comfort. SMOOVIO has optimum wind and water tightness with a Uw value of 0.94W/m2K. Because of the profiling, there are no rails on the outside, so there is also no pollution in the rail," Bas opens the conversation.

"The sliding sash is lightly operated by means of the special sliding hardware. Existing curtains can simply remain in place, as the sliding element comes in only 8 mm. Wind and water tightness are ensured by the hardware, as it closes completely in double seals made of rubber. There are locking plates around the frame and the sash also closes on the intermediate post."

More light

For the fixed sash of the SMOOVIO sliding window, GEALAN has a solution as a design variant. This version gives much more glass area, namely twice 52 mm compared to the normal sash. "This provides essentially more light," Bas explains. "The frame frame has a lower sill that slopes down and, thanks to the fact that the rails are on the inside, no fouling takes place."

Not only for renovation, but also for new construction

Does GEALAN have something on its hands that may well become a new trend in residential construction? "Maybe so. The replacement market is huge in itself, but SMOOVIO lends itself extremely well to new construction. It's only a matter of time before architects discover this product as a novelty within new home design. And let's face it, it really is something different, too. Bear in mind that interior tilt and turn windows always require space, space that is not lost with SMOOVIO. In the summer you can sleep with the window wide open without hurting yourself when you have to get out of bed at night," Bas says with a laugh.