Thermal break
Also called thermal barrier
A strip of insulating material that separates the inside and outside halves of a metal frame.
Metal conducts heat, so a metal frame is made in two halves, one facing out and one facing in, joined only by a material that conducts poorly. Heat has no metal path from one side to the other.
The break is either a pair of rigid plastic struts crimped into both halves, or a channel poured full of resin, after which the metal bridging it is cut away.
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Related
- Aluminum windowA window built from thin-walled aluminum extrusions.
- Steel windowA window built from slender solid steel sections.
- ExtrusionA length of frame material made by pushing it through a shaped die.
- SpacerThe bar around the edge of an insulating glass unit that holds the panes apart.