Window Insulation Extreme
For most people, the use of caulking around windows and insulated curtains is enough. Some of us live in extremely hot or extremely cold areas and the a/c or heater just cannot keep up no matter what kind of insulation is installed in our walls, floor, and ceilings. We have had the experience of living in the South as well as the North and we found we cut our heat and air bills by simply insulating our windows during the extreme seasons. It cut our heat bill from filling our 100 pound propane tank every month to only twice a year. It also cut our electric bill in half or more. We no longer feel drafts on cold winter days or suffer from extreme heat on mid summer days. The key is not plastic window kits, the key is bubble wrap from the department store.
We use a box cutter or scissors on the wrapping tape, and the bubble wrap has perforations like paper towels to tear it where you need to cut off a piece. One layer is enough on the window. My husband taped it directly to the window frames.
For the main windows in our sitting area and dining room, we left a section on top or vertically the full length so we could look out if we needed to see the side or back yard. The bubble wrap allows light to come in, but you cannot see through it so you will want a small section in which to look out as you will need.
The windows in the spare bedroom, halls, and little used rooms we covered completely. We leave the bubble wrap on the windows year round in those windows. In almost seven years we have not needed to repair the the tape or bubble wrap at all. It has stayed.
We allowed about 1/4 of each window left open to see out, but we could make it a smaller area if we chose by making it a vertical cut, but this would require taping the window itself and we preferred taping to the window frame, not the glass. The bubble wrap across the window is not sealed at all, it is only anchored on the sides and bottom.
Bubble wrap really has saved us from suffering in drafts or heat. You would not believe it could help so much when the windows still have so much open area, but it has made a huge difference. It means we sit in comfort regardless of the outside temperatures until the weather is nice and we can open our windows again and breath mild fresh air. One roll of bubble wrap did all 14 of our windows with this much left over in the first photo.
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I will also be doing this. My utility bills are way too high.
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I read somewhere that if you wet the buble warp it will stick to the window and stay there without tape. I have done that this Winter and it 's staying on well and keeping the cold out. I may remove them in the Summer and keep them for next Winter.
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