Draughty windows - replace or secondary glazing

[BarrelOfOtters]

Pros for keeping them
they are in keeping with the house - conservation area and Arts and Crafts House, 100 years old.
It's a semi so wouldn't match neighbours.
have coloured glass that would be impossible to replicate in new windows (it's not stained glass but coloured glass in the top panes)
They are casement have lots of little panes. My experience of glazing bars about 20 years ago was they they just fell off after a while.

We can afford to do it .... but are holding back.

Is your house listed? Are there rules regarding windows in the conservation area? (Friend lives in a CA and windows have to be original or replicas 'like for like', no double glazing and permission has to be sought to make any changes to the exterior of their house.)

We'd have to get planning, but similar houses on the street have put replacement windows in with planning. A few are wood, some are UPVC.

The coloured glass can be sandwiched into double glazing. We have stained glass at the tops of our windows, and when we had new windows put in they took away the stained part about 10 days before installation, boarded up those sections, and built the stained glass panels into the new windows.

Definitely, definitely, definitely don't replace! Your current windows sound amazing - you'd be literally mad to get rid of such a dominating original feature.

Replacing windows, especially when leaded panes or coloured glass are involved, most often takes the soul away from the house - it's impossible to replicate in replacement windows. My own house is a Victorian terrace with crap UPVC replacement windows - one day we will replace them with sliding sashes and it will look much better than it currently does. But you have original windows with special features - there is no way it would look better with new windows.

I would bite your arm off for an arts & crafts house with original windows - all the more so if they had secondary glazing to keep the draughts out. Not so much for one with ordinary replacements.

What state are the windows in? If good, I'd retain and secondary glaze. (Agree with pp that original windows often look more attractive than the modern stuff. If not I'd replace. We had the original windows restored years ago. They weren't in that terrible condition (Just painted shut, a couple of cracked panes, cords broken, couldn't lock etc...) and it was a shedload of work for the carpenter.

We have double glazed leaded panes within wooden frames. However we don’t have any stained glass and never did. If the panes are just leaded, you can get new which are brilliant. However it seems your frames are draughty. In this case, you can insulate snd make sure they fit closely. You might also be allowed to have new frames and use the old glass. You need to enquire at the Council to see what you are allowed to do.

We had secondary glazing for 30 years. Ours was sliding panes within a minimal frame. Around 5 years ago, we changed all the glazing to double glazing. No one had any idea we had changed it.

These are ours.