Cheap bubble wrap is effective way to insulate your windows and save heat without spending all day

so you want the short answer you could save up to tens of dollars maybe a hundred dollars this winter for twenty dollars in supplies [Music] after lots of scouring the internet and videos about over complicated window coverings I found that caulking around the installation of the window along with bubble wrap cling is the most effective solution things like sheet window plastic do not insulate well from temperature exchange or conduction but it does prevent air exchange or convection it can dramatically increase your heating bill if you're constantly having to heat fresh cold air from the outside however I would speculate most air exchange could be taken care of by caulking leaving little point to use temporary plastic sheeting let's go over the steps for the bubble wrap segment then there will be more information afterward step number one is to measure your windows multiply the width and the height of each Pane and add them so you know how many square feet of bubble wrap you need step number two get your supplies scissors yardstick bubble wrap with large bubbles a marker a spray bottle of water with one drop of soap shaken up now if possible use bubble wrap that is not perforated so it will have more inflated bubbles however I've not been able to find this do make sure to use the bubble wrap with the larger bubbles step number three clean your windows the solution with one drop of soap will still cut residue and clean windows and as a side note it's actually one of the only things recommended to clean Plexiglas with step four is to roll the bubble wrap out and Mark on one side where you are going to make the cuts now you can make the cuts ever so slightly smaller than the window pane you don't need to draw a line because you can just cut along the same place in the pattern of bubbles step five is to apply good water sprays over the entire strip of window then place the bubble wrap on the window a lot of people a lot of people have vinyl window clings and overall it's not even worth doing those that's because some of them won't even stick and also it would be effectively a technique to make the vinyl window planks come off easier an occlusive treatment of water is actually the best tip to take them off I'd forgotten about that and applied it to this window we will go ahead and call it worth it for the risk because it's a single pain it's fine so far step five is to think about leaving the window blinds open so the majority of the sunlight that would come through the windows and bubble wrap would be just reflected off white blinds or a lighter color back of the curtain now you are going to want to leave those blinds raised up or open and open any curtains with lighter backs the bubble wrap creates a good privacy shade but in some rooms if more privacy is needed you can hang a dark fabric behind the curtains the color black is going to absorb about 90 percent of the light that hits it it will turn into other forms of energy primarily heat which has a long wavelength and cannot Escape back through the window much like greenhouse gases [Music] so some additional information above wrap is going to have a big effect on single pane windows I've seen it reported as much as 50 of an R value it's going to have a good effect on double pane windows I've seen it reported as 20 percent but it's been said that it may have almost no effect on triple pane windows unlike plastic sheeting it's going to be easy to take down and put back up every year seems recommendable that you would take it down in the summer or spring because it's going to break down and leave plastic decayed bits stuck very tightly to your windows that would have to be removed with a razor blade scraper also it's worth noting if there's not air in the bubbles because of it being broken down it's not going to be effective anymore on older Windows I've used plastic sheeting and you can see it filling with air like the cell of a ship with air exchange think about air changes per hour small leaks around windows and even more likely door frames can make a huge difference on your heating bill for air exchange or convection professionals will actually test for leaks by increasing the air pressure to 50 pascals but before you do all that it's best to just wait for a cold night or a night with a big temperature differential and fill around the spaces the trick with the incense in the bathroom vents does not work you're going to want to check around the installation of the window not so much the sash which is the moving part or the joints this is because modern Windows have standards and there's not really going to be a lot of air leakage so that's about it thank you for adjusting your heating bill with me and hacking the environment subscribe so we can hack it a little bit more [Music]

Channel: Out of Time Advetures

Views: 97,877

Keywords: bubblewrap

Id: p_6IU-j_1js

Length: 6min 28sec (388 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 05 2022