Easiest and best window film

[newbie]

We need to cover windows for winter, what is best and easiest to keep cold air out.

 

Heater is running a lil too much this last week.

[newbie]

:bigear:

[wapiti]

- be sure no air is coming in around the sides of the windows and in between any double-hung windows. There are products designed for this purpose (small adhesive strip of foam) though I bet there are other ways.

 

- when I was a kid, my dad taped up plastic sheeting over the window frames from the inside, flush with the wall, kind of like thick drop-cloth plastic that was translucent. There was a significant airspace between the window and the plastic - I don't know if that was bad or good. Not the prettiest, but it was effective. (maybe they didn't make special plastic sheeting for this purpose way back then, or maybe it was just cheaper)

[RoughCollie]

Home Depot sells the Frost King brand, IIRC, in kits. It works as well as the 3M brand window covering kits that Sears sells. Basically, the kits consist of double-sided tape made for this purpose and a big sheet of plastic that you cut to fit each window.

 

The tools you will need are a pair of scissors, a measuring tape, and a blow dryer. You cut the plastic to the size you need, apply the tape, remove the paper covering on top of the tape, put the plastic on, trim excess plastic around the perimeter, blow dry it, and you're done.

 

The plastic can be placed either outside or inside the windows, but there are outside temperature restrictions on the package, I think because if it is too cold, the tape won't stick.

 

Inside the house, I tape the plastic to the outside of the window frame and under the sill. So far, no paint has been harmed when I remove the plastic in the spring. When I use the plastic inside, I use a blow dryer after it is installed to shrink wrap the window.

 

I caulk around the window frame (including under the sill) before I install the plastic, if necessary. Check your exterior doors, too. Tons of cold air will come into a house through an ill-fitting door. The best insulation for that problem is the metal strips that are nailed into the frame. I had a hard time figuring out how to do that and promptly forgot how to do it immediately afterward, but it was effective. For the base of the exterior doors, I installed a new door sweep, I think it is called.

 

If you have window air conditioners that are too large and heavy to remove and store, you can buy covers for them, too. Those covers are placed on the outside of the a/c -- over the box that hangs out of the window. You can get them at Home Depot, for sure.

 

You can check around your outlets, too, to see if cold air is entering the house through them. Home Depot sells insulation for that, too. Wait for a very windy day and use a lit candle and watch to see if air coming into the house moves the flame.

 

If your house has a lot of icicles in the winter, that means your attic and the space over your porch roof need insulation. That is an expensive undertaking.

 

If your house is old and has any paneled interior walls, check to see if air is coming in between the panels. Last winter, I was sitting in my paneled room and felt air coming in between the panels, oddly enough.

Edited October 30, 2010 by RoughCollie

[newbie]

Home Depot sells the Frost King brand, IIRC, in kits. It works as well as the 3M brand window covering kits that Sears sells. Basically, the kits consist of double-sided tape made for this purpose and a big sheet of plastic that you cut to fit each window.

 

The tools you will need are a pair of scissors, a measuring tape, and a blow dryer. You cut the plastic to the size you need, apply the tape, remove the paper covering on top of the tape, put the plastic on, trim excess plastic around the perimeter, blow dry it, and you're done.

 

The plastic can be placed either outside or inside the windows, but there are outside temperature restrictions on the package, I think because if it is too cold, the tape won't stick.

 

Inside the house, I tape the plastic to the outside of the window frame and under the sill. So far, no paint has been harmed when I remove the plastic in the spring. When I use the plastic inside, I use a blow dryer after it is installed to shrink wrap the window.

 

I caulk around the window frame (including under the sill) before I install the plastic, if necessary. Check your exterior doors, too. Tons of cold air will come into a house through an ill-fitting door. The best insulation for that problem is the metal strips that are nailed into the frame. I had a hard time figuring out how to do that and promptly forgot how to do it immediately afterward, but it was effective. For the base of the exterior doors, I installed a new door sweep, I think it is called.

 

If you have window air conditioners that are too large and heavy to remove and store, you can buy covers for them, too. Those covers are placed on the outside of the a/c -- over the box that hangs out of the window. You can get them at Home Depot, for sure.

 

You can check around your outlets, too, to see if cold air is entering the house through them. Home Depot sells insulation for that, too. Wait for a very windy day and use a lit candle and watch to see if air coming into the house moves the flame.

 

If your house has a lot of icicles in the winter, that means your attic and the space over your porch roof need insulation. That is an expensive undertaking.

 

If your house is old and has any paneled interior walls, check to see if air is coming in between the panels. Last winter, I was sitting in my paneled room and felt air coming in between the panels, oddly enough.

 

Thanks for the tips. We gotta lot of work ahead of us.

[RoughCollie]

Thanks for the tips. We gotta lot of work ahead of us.

 

You're welcome. I'm about to embark on the same project. My ultimate goal in life is to live in a modern, very well-insulated house so I never have to do this again. :-)