We have poor windows, and until we get new ones-which won't be awhile, we need to do something. Rather than that plastic you tape to the window frame and then hair dry, I would like to hear anyone's input on insulated curtains. From what I have read, they work well if you purchase the right ones. Normally, they will stay open, unless its very cold or very hot out. So what say you?? Thanks (Oh, and I'm asking cause the wife is starting to look at them, lol)
I rent an old farmhouse. I did take a look at some of those heavy duty curtains a couple years ago. Honestly, it depends on how old/poor the windows are. I went with the clear plastic.
I hVe tried the curtains in our bedroom. They work, but I have been using the plastic for 4 years now and it works the best. It's definitely a PITA, but it works. I use it in almost every window in my home. I do 10 out of 16 windows. 2 of them are very small and 3 sets are side by side, so I use one giant piece. Might want to look into storms that you can put in every year and remove in the summer. SmokeytheBear is the man to talk to about self made storms.
Here is a link for interior storm windows http://www.arttec.net/Thermal-Windows/index.html I basically followed the instructions there. Now on the insulated drapes, they work very well provided you get the edges sealed to the window framing. Velcro works well. Mrs Bear makes lined drapes but has never really made insulated ones. We have 14 windows, two entrance doors, and a patio door going to the house length deck on the (back/front) of the house. So I made 16 panels using some wood I had lying around from a chicken coop build pluss two 8 foot boards that I cut in half lengthwise. The long boards were used for the patio door. Four of the sets required panels to be paired so I used 2x3 s to make a divider. Everything is held in place by a compression seal made from foam rubber tape. This year I added an exterior storm to the great room entry. Plan on doing some insulating to the garage walls this fall sometime.
We don't use curtains, but we did invest in some cellular shades, for some of the bigger windows, one bay window with an opening 88 x 48 and another set of windows with an opening of 73x64. We went with a company called comfortex that has a shade with a side track system that really seals out the air, very pricey but that is what my wife wanted. I can tell you they really work well. I have a remote sensor thermometer that I put behind the shade just for kicks to see how cold it got behind them, I have seen temps in the teens, and these are modern double pane glass windows, so the cold is not from air leaks so much as it is just that windows are terrible insulators. You can get standard size versions at most hardware stores, that still do a pretty good job.
+1 on the plastic film. I built an exterior frame to go outside the window trim on the top and two sides. The frame extended about 1.5 inches from the wall and the width of the frame made it so the outside edge lined up with the left and right edges of the window sill. I secured each piece in place with two small picture hanging nails. it allowed me to run a continuous piece of the double sided tape around the frame and under the window sill which made it very easy to attach the plastic film and ensured that the only place the tape might have pulled off the paint was under the window sill. Don't have any pics on this computer unfortunately. I thought it cut down significantly on the draft from the single pane windows. The house was a rental. Depending on your house, you can consider leaving the film on some windows year round. I.E. if you have 3 windows in a room, leave it on 1 or 2 of them to help on your cooling costs in the summer. If your windows are airtight, the insulating curtains will help, but just like air-sealing, if the windows are not air tight, the insulating curtains will do very little.
Went thru the plastic install each fall for 8 years. It worked to a large degree. We changed the windows and doors this year with triple pane gas-filled. The difference is amazing. Already seeing big savings in wood consumption. As well, the noise factor, or lack of it is huge as well. Had them installed in May and the summer was fairly hot. A/C usage was alot less .
We don't use the plastic and tape kits, the film is just so thin. If you don't mind a few staples in your trim, go over to the painters section and pick up some visqueen, the heavier the mil the better. Think we are using 6 and have it doubled up on some windows. Fold the edges so you are stapling through 4 or more layers and all is good. Works better when installed to the outside of the house. We use 5/16" staples in our gun. We will soon try adding plastic to the inside of some of our windows too for that double insulated effect in our main areas. New windows on the horizon, a few at a time.
Great info guys! Thanks... Smokey, Ill check out that link. Doesn't seem that the curtains will do much. I've done the plastic on some windows, however the one window is HUGE almost 10'x6'. Ill research more and let you know what I decide, again, thanks!!
