do you put plastic on your home windows

[Hokiefyd]

We replaced our old leaking double pane wooden windows this summer with new low-E argon-filled vinyl windows from Jeld-Wen. I used new construction windows, so it was quite a lot of work. The difference has been quite dramatic, really, even after just installing them. You could touch the old south-facing windows and the glass would be warm to the touch. The new windows' glass felt like the inside temperature.

When it was 90*F and humid this late summer, our 20-year-old Goodman A/C compressor easily kept up with the load, which was not the case before we did the windows. And despite it being below freezing at night a few nights last week, the inside temperature never dropped below 67*F, so our furnace never came on. Our electrical bills for the last few months were about 15% lower than typical, and I'm confident that our aging HVAC equipment will last longer.

Our house has 10 window openings (some are double-wide windows) and it cost $3,200 in materials for our house. I'm sure it's money we won't get back in utility savings, but it's money we MIGHT get back in extending the life of our HVAC equipment, and it's money we WILL get back if we ever have to sell the house (because our old windows wouldn't have passed a home inspection anyway).

 

[SwampSurvivor]

One of my parents' neighbors wrap their entire house with plastic ...

 

[Schmoe]

Don't think plastic would change the laws of thermodynamics...

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Don't think plastic would change the laws of thermodynamics...


Well, no... Not sure what you are driving at?

I've tried it a few times, not sure if I will bother this year or not. I'm not convinced it makes a huge difference, and I probably need the airflow anyhow, due to moisture problems.

 

[dishdude]

I didn't know winter in Arkansas was that cold.

 

[surfstar]

Y'all are speakin a foreign language to me - although it has dipped into the 40s now...brrrr

Today
Sunny
High: 77 °F

Tonight
Clear
Low: 46 °F

 

[SwampSurvivor]

With older houses it helps keeping the wind from blowing through.

 

[kb01]

I put it over our especially-leaky windows and try to weatherstrip every seal I can find. It does feel like a lost cause sometimes, since our walls are uninsulated and are just plaster-on-brick.

At the very least, it does cut down on the drafts.

 

[ram_man]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
I didn't know winter in Arkansas was that cold.


Well I grew up in central Missouri so that's why my parents did it. I currently live near the ozarks on the Missouri side it does get pretty cold sometimes.

 

[threeputtpar]

In my first house, that was built in 1920, I used a clear window caulk that could be peeled off at the end of winter. It did a pretty good job of keeping the drafts down.

This stuff: http://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Seal-N-Peel-10-1-oz-Removable-Weatherstrip-Caulk-18354/100140056

 

[DragRace]

Insulated curtains are lined curtains that help keep warm air from leaving or entering through your windows in the summer.

Just an FYI

 

[threeputtpar]

In my first house, that was built in 1920, I used a clear window caulk that could be peeled off at the end of winter. It did a pretty good job of keeping the drafts down.

This stuff: http://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Seal-N-Peel-10-1-oz-Removable-Weatherstrip-Caulk-18354/100140056

 

[pandus13]

OP,
if you can (rent?) cover any possible leak first: caulk and weatherstripping.
they are films that can be applied on glass surface.

3m film have a few problems:
-large windows (even if they make a kit for that also)
-the double sided tape. you will need sometimes more than what comes in the box. and some does not hold...

let me trow in an odd one:
1 mill construction plastic (it will not be clear, but milkyish). it comes in big, more than enough rolls and it has some isolation properties.

 

[Touring5]

I've been puting the 3M shrink film over the bedroom and several other windows. It cuts down on noise and condensation. I got some of the Frost King brand and it's much hazier - 3M is crystal clear. Frost King is noticably thicker, but I'm going to stick with 3M.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I am thinking about getting plastic for the sliding glass door in my bedroom. I can feel the cold air blowing through that on the colder winter days. It's a "double pane" door ... but no good.

Last year I taped a blackout curtain around it, that seemed to work some what, but still let some cold air in through the top where the curtain rod was.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Try slipping something in the gap where the sliding part meets the center post...my mother's sliding doors both leaked there.

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Don't think plastic would change the laws of thermodynamics...


Its not about changing the laws of science friend, its about drafty windows. Not sure what point you were trying to make, if any.

 

[bmwjohn]

Build It Solar web site has a nice web site on energy efficient, usually economical projects at low cost. One simple project is to cut BUBBLE WRAP to fit inside window. It is held in with static cling from spray bottle of water. Reuse for several years. Note: bubble wrap is an additional insulation layer. Window film seems primarily to eliminate air leakage. Separate goals, although ultimate purpose is to save money.

 

[dwcopple]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Because if your home is anything like mine, it has around 35-40 windows.
35-40 windows??? You must live in a mansion.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Because if your home is anything like mine, it has around 35-40 windows.
35-40 windows??? You must live in a mansion.


Or an older home. Older homes typically have more wall openings, from the time before air conditioning, when you needed large volumes of moving air to keep the house ventilated.

I live in a 1700 sq. ft. house which was built in 1993, and it has 10 wall openings (for windows). There are houses built 100 years ago closer to downtown which are smaller than ours but have double the number of windows.

I personally prefer fewer wall openings, for a number of reasons. Ironically, probably for the same reasons JHZR2 doesn't like touchscreens and such in cars. In the case of window count, fewer windows means fewer potential leak/break points and generally lower TCO. But more windows doesn't necessarily mean larger house, either.