Cheap, Safe Insulation for winter

[jazzy]

here is a winter tip i share with anyone who will listen cause it works.

ive got a big old house with too many windows. i heat with a wood stove n the LR, thats it. got some insulated curtains that have helped but its still was durn cold up here in the CO mountains in the winter. a friend told me what she did, i laughed and thought it was silly at first then i tried it. dang, it worked.

bubble wrap.

get a couple rolls of bubble wrap, the medium,m size bubble works best.
cut to fit your windows
spray window with water, press the cut pieces of bubble wrap on inside on window
*****bubble side pressed to the window and smooth side out***

it will usually stay up all winter, if its a sunny window you may need to spray agaion and re-press the bubble wrap on the window.
this is insulation


yeah it looks rednecky but im from the south and dont care cause it works
you can open your curtains and let the sunlight in during the day, the bubble wrap doesnt interfere

this is how i know it works
i used to burn close to 7 cordds of wood a year. its my only heat.
since i started putting the bubble wrap on the windows i now burn 5 to 5 1/2 cords a year

come spring just take them off, roll them up and put in a hefty bag and save for next fall. im using the same pieces i cut 8 or more yrs ago.

in individual bedrooms with the windows this makes a nice difference keeping the room warmer in winter.

if the solar miniumum thing is accurate and im thinking it is, we got more cold unusual weather heading our way for the next couple of years--this can be a good help keeping your home warmer.

a couple large rolls of bubble wrap with medium bubbles to cover my windows cost me aorund $20 bucks or so. and i got an extra roll for back up. i covered all my windows on the main floor as i close off the upstairs in the winter as its a guest room that only gets used 2x a year or so.

it might sound silly or tacky but it really helped. maybe it can help someone else too.

if you struggle to keep your homer warm and comfortable in the winter or need to cut back on electric to save $$ maybe give this a try.

every little bit helps

 

[Cnsper]

Not silly at all. I have used tin foil on windows to keep the house cooler.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Have you evaluated if putting the bubble side in or out makes a difference? I know that one side of the bubble wrap has the bubbles popping out and the other side has a smooth skin, are you pressing the smooth skin to the glass or the bubbles?

My gut tells me that pressing the bubbles to the glass should make the insulation performance better relative to pressing the smooth film to the glass; my logic is the smooth skin on the outside will create more trapped air between the glass and the room and improve the insulation quality.

Do you extend your insulation wrap to the outside of the window frame? The cracks/gaps around the edge of the window have a big impact on the heat loss from the living space.

But, I think your idea and the fact you put it into use is brilliant! Well done and thanks for sharing!

 

[phideaux]

Jazzy, do you have air conditioning in the summer?

The reason I ask is that I been using it on my windows for several years.
Yep helps a lot .
Keeps the heat in and cold out in winter.
In summer it helps keep the cool in.

Jim

 

[zoomzoom]

I like the idea. Unfortunately, we have too many windows.
For us, moving blankets hung using thumb tacks works incredibly well.

 

[backlash]

The original use for bubble wrap for those that don't remember useless information like I do.

Happy Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!

 

[jazzy]

Have you evaluated if putting the bubble side in or out makes a difference? I know that one side of the bubble wrap has the bubbles popping out and the other side has a smooth skin, are you pressing the smooth skin to the glass or the bubbles?

My gut tells me that pressing the bubbles to the glass should make the insulation performance better relative to pressing the smooth film to the glass; my logic is the smooth skin on the outside will create more trapped air between the glass and the room and improve the insulation quality.

Do you extend your insulation wrap to the outside of the window frame? The cracks/gaps around the edge of the window have a big impact on the heat loss from the living space.

But, I think your idea and the fact you put it into use is brilliant! Well done and thanks for sharing!

hi,
thanks for askinbg about which side of the bubble wrap is placed on the window. you are right, the bubble side is pressed to the window, that works best.

i dont extend the bubblw wrap to the outside but i know people who have anbd said it definitly helps. i do have someone check every year check the caulking, your right thats important.

it really helps in the bedrooms at night to not be so cold. i sleep with the door shut so no heat all night. the bubble wrap and fleece sheets made a heck of a difference.

thats another thing ive learned---if you live in a cold climate get some fleece sheets. they are superior to flannel sheets in sleeping warm and worth every penny.

 

[Meerkat]

Sounds like a winner, in a pinch but I like the outside view too.

 

[jazzy]

Jazzy, do you have air conditioning in the summer?

The reason I ask is that I been using it on my windows for several years.
Yep helps a lot .
Keeps the heat in and cold out in winter.
In summer it helps keep the cool in.

Jim

hi kim,
no AC here it doesnt get that hot, we use just a couple fans here and there. but its great you use it year round it makes sense it would help keep the cool inside too. thanks! i wonder if keeping mine up the rest of the year would help me also even tho i dont have AC. i have some south facing windows that get heated in late afternoon in summer so i keep the insulated curtains closed all the time.

someone told me they used that insulated foam board they cut to fit their windows for the winter. i think if i lived further north id try that.

 

[Neb]

My mother had my father install the buble wrap curtains permanently. They covered the whole window and frame.
Ben

 

[jazzy]

The original use for bubble wrap for those that don't remember useless information like I do.

Happy Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!

THAT was very cool--thank you. i love useless ingformation

 

[jazzy]

My mother had my father install the buble wrap curtains permanently. They covered the whole window and frame.
Ben

bubble wrap curtains---did they fix the bubble wrap to the back of curtains or buy them? thats interesting.

 

[Caribou]

Friends of mine covered a soft foam insert with cloth. This does not give you the light passage of bubble wrap but it is easily, and tightly, paced in the window. It would also make a good blackout curtain.

Put your bubble wrap up and at night, or when the room is empty, add the foam insulation

 

[Neb]

bubble wrap curtains---did they fix the bubble wrap to the back of curtains or buy them? thats interesting.

He did them like roll up shades as found on porches. Two loops one at each end and a board at the bottom.

Ben

 

[jazzy]

He did them like roll up shades as found on porches. Two loops one at each end and a board at the bottom.

Ben

i love that idea! thanks so much for sharing it. i think im going to experiment and make one for one of the windows and try it out.

 

[jazzy]

Friends of mine covered a soft foam insert with cloth. This does not give you the light passage of bubble wrap but it is easily, and tightly, paced in the window. It would also make a good blackout curtain.

Put your bubble wrap up and at night, or when the room is empty, add the foam insulation

id think iof the solar minimum cool down is accurate something like this could make a very big difference. a step above the plain old bubble wrap placed on a window.
thank you

 

[Caribou]

Bubble wrap is a better insulation but a clear plastic can be bought in rolls, tacked in place with thin wood strips, and that helps a lot with air infiltration. I used that and insulated drapes in a couple of my homes.

 

[viking]

When we lived in Colorado our place was at 8,000+ feet, first year we were there, there was an inch block of ice on the picture window. I went out and got a lot of 1"X 4" furing and built frames to fit the outside window moldings and nailed clear plastic to them with screen door moldings, no more ice, the only problem was that on the sunny side of the home the plastic would go bad each year, I didn't mind replacing the plastic each year because we had a great view and it made a huge difference keeping the home warm with just a heatilator fireplace. I built our home here in Oregon and all our windows and doors have thermopane glass in them and the north roof is what's called a cold roof, it has two layers of 1/2" plywood sheathing spaced apart by standing 2"X 4"s. We generally use not much more than one cord of firewood per winter depending on what kind of wood it is, this year it's well aged oak and half the time our little stove is giving us too much heat and I think that may be because the doors need new gaskets. To regulate the heat we open a small kitchen window.

 

[zoomzoom]

Since we're talking about all kinds of insulation, I'll toss this out there as I've found it to work very well.
There's a product called "Seal-N-Peel" which is a clear caulk you can use to seal cracks around doors, windows and such to keep out drafts.
It's applied using a standard caulk gun.
To remove, just grab the bead of caulk at an end, pull slowly and it comes right off. No mess or residue left behind.

To give you an idea of what it is, think of the rubber stuff used to secure a credit card to the paper when they mail it to you. Just peals right off.

Be advised: If you run a bead of it around the perimeter of a door or window, that door/window is pretty much sealed up until the caulk is removed. Basically, consider any emergency exits before applying it.