So, I'm now conservative and cool. Cool. Gooder. I've had it as low as about 270. Summer, with barely any cooking and almost all the clothes hung on the outside lines.
I do that to my windows every late Fall!! It helps hugely..............especially if your windows without the plastic tend to frost up. I've also read that you can use "bubble wrap" in much the same way. You cut out bubble wrap to your window size, spray the window with water from a spray bottle, put the bubble wrap on the window (bubble side to the window), and then smooth out. I can see how this insulates the glass from cold transfer, but it does nothing to stop wind getting past the window seals.
I would get a wood stove sooner than later and work toward replacing windows a couple at a time. I switched our whole house over to led lights and that made a sizable difference for us I have a old house and have propane and pellet stove as secondary heat sources which don't get used often Want to hear a good one. My Inlaws and sister in law both pay $200-250 a month for propane Year round even billing. Electric, one pays avg $100 the other $150 year round give or take a little. They thought it was the dumbest thing they have ever seen that I paid $1000 for a new saw. I simply smiled knowing I was going to be warm and albeit in the red if you count the saw purchase staying warm for way less than them We amaze each other im amazed sister in law husband will sleep all day and play x box all night on sat and they amazed I work 24 hr shifts and come home sat mornings without sleep and hit processing firewood all day
Yes I found this site a long time ago and have had wood c/s/s for the last 3 years. I roughly have about 5 cords right now and will most likely have 8 by next winter.
I still have single pane double hungs with aluminum triple track storms. The storms don't seal the wind so well any more, needing new weatherstripping of a size impossible to find any more. I made indoor storms like these :http://www.arttec.net/Thermal-Windows/index.html they work quite well. Big improvement over a single layer of film that the fixative tape has to be removed every Spring. or not.
There are sash replacement units which work pretty well, if your frames are not rotted. Lot cheaper than the whole window. Stay away from the vinyl stuff works great first couple years then shrinks, starts to leak. My home was originally all electric ( built back when Electric was cheaper than NG- now NG cheaper than electric) so I changed it over to NG except the oven ( cost too much to replace - maybe use it 4 or 5 times a year.- although that dang toaster oven is a hog) 2k sq ft ranch 1960 most of my heat comes from a NC30 . Combined winter bills gas & electric seldom run more than $125 of which about 1/2 is add on charges. It really hard to tell if I am getting ahead as they keep raising the rates and charges. I would have to look back a couple years to see where I am at. Still got more sealing to do and been toying with having dense pak cellulose put in walls ( about $3400) more to try and hold the summer ac bills down then winter. Pollen allergies so I need a place to hide from Mother Nature. Fridge gets cleaned every other month, wish I could find one with the coil up the back again rather than underneath- never had a problem with that type other than old age.
Yikes! I'm cold if the house gets below 75! Definitely get the wood stove before the windows. If it's cold by the windows, you can always sit by the stove! Or throw a few more splits on...
Simple. Read your own meter and keep a log. Looking for use, not dollar amount. Month to month and year to year if you want. Some places will do that graph for ya'. Our bill shows last years use every month.
I would vote for the free stander over the insert, I've had both and much prefer the heat the free stander throws and no blower running all the time.
I think it has helped, especially on the kitchen window (which we don't plastic because the old lady might cook something on the stove and its too far from the door).
I put plastic over the windows every fall - usually late October. It helps a lot I think. I've been trying to save money to get new windows and I think I may be able to get them and install them this summer. Life always seems to get in the way though. I also like to hange the clothes in the basement by the wood stove. Basically I'm a pretty cheap guy and anything to cut down on the bills I'll try to do.
Plastic works. Quite often the first few dollars you spend gets you the highest rate of return. Even if plastic is only half as good as a new window it probably cost less than 50 cents per window. You can spend several hundred per opening on new/replacement windows. That's a significantly better return on the $.50 of plastic and weather stripping.
