|
Insulate Windows To Lower Heating Costs
Insulate Windows to Lower Heating Costs:
As natural gas and fuel oil prices continue to rise, so does the cost of heating your home every winter. With some basic improvements, you can combat these climbing costs, and make your home more comfortable at the same time. Window insulation is one type of product on the market specifically designed to make your house more energy efficient. By reducing the amount of cold air flow that comes into your house, you drive down the amount of time that your furnace has to try to maintain a constant temperature.
The main place older homes allow a lot of heat transfer is through the window itself. If it is ten degrees outside and you have a single pane window, then the pane of glass itself is 10 degrees. Have you ever wondered why your windows sometimes form ice on the inside? Well that’s why. Every particle of air that passes over that 10 degree window pane comes away from it much colder than it was when it got there. That is why you sometimes feel a draft in the winter even though the window is shut tight. As air passes near the window it gets cold, and when that cold air passes over you, you feel it as a draft.
This is a problem that can be solved with insulating window film. When installed properly, this film can do wonders for the efficiency of a single pane window. It is mounted over the interior face of the window frame and is usually made of a material that shrinks slightly when you run a hair dryer over it. It is similar to a giant piece of plastic kitchen wrap. Once this plastic sheet is put into place with a manufacturer supplied adhesive, a hair dryer is used to warm it up and shrink it just enough to pull it tight. When the film is pulled tight, you now have a barrier of several inches between the air in your house and that 10 degree pane of glass.
You can also increase the energy efficiency of your windows by making sure that there are no gaps around the sashes. The easiest way to do this is to purchase insulating foam tape. Simply run the tape around all of the seams on the window. This prevents any draft from coming around the actual window sash itself. Since the sashes are typically made of wood, and wood shrinks when it is dry and cold, they sometimes start to fit a little loose during the winter months. This opens small gaps around the factory seals of your windows which allows the cold wind to come pouring in. Block these gaps with some insulating foam tape and you’ll be able to sit near the window with a great deal more comfort. By paying attention to small things like these, you can go a long way in increasing the efficiency of your house.
|
