There is a lot of houses that have a low insulation rating. It mostly depends on the year your house was built and on the region you live in. Building codes didn’t require the insertion of insulation and it may be quite difficult (and expensive) to install isolation materials into old houses.
If you start to shiver when the temperature drops into the single digits, adding isolation may be the only possible way out. But if you rent a house and you probably don’t want or are not able to invest in expensive insulation. You still can perform a few steps that will help you protect your home from cold fronts.
Strengthening the walls is the most important factor in the creation of a warm and cozy interior. The walls should have enough insulation to create an effective boundary between the outside cold and the inside heat. But the fact is that these walls usually offer fragile protection. Most buildings tend to settle over time, their connections slightly separate and the cold air can freely enter the living space. That’s why air sealing of your apartment or home is crucial. In this article, we will show you how to make your home warmer with the help of window insulation.
Find air leaks and drafts
You can use a candle or a stick of incense to find all air leaks and drafts. This is very important to do before starting window insulation. Slowly move along all walls watch where smoke or flame changes direction because this indicates a leak. Air leaks can be in wall outlets, ceiling lights, and window frames. When you found all the leaks, you need to seal them in an appropriate way:
- You can fill in big gaps and holes with expanding foam spray
- Weatherstripping can be used to insulate movable window parts and doors
- Clay rope and silicone caulking could be used for remaining gaps
You can also make draft stoppers and put them at the bottom of the doors. Take a shirt sleeve, pantyhose, or pants leg and fill it with sand, rice, or fabric scraps.How to insulate windows?
When you filled all cracks and gaps. it’s time to tackle aluminum windows. A large number of houses in the United States equipped with single-glazed windows. Their main disadvantage is that they lose up to 25 percent of heat from the living space.
Bubble wrap is able to create a good insulation. If you have some bubble wrap, you can use it for this purpose. But if you will buy a wrap, it’s better to choose large bubbles. Cut the piece of the wrap that will fit your pannel. Spray some water onto the window and press the bubble wrap to it. But you should know that bubble wrap hides visibility and it is better to refuse it if you want to see through the window.
Thin plastic sheets can also be used to create a protective boundary between the cold glass and your living space. Fix the shets on the outside of the window frame with the help of strong tape. But you should remember that sharp removal can lead to paint flaking.
You can easily create removable cardboard shutters that would keep your home from cold at night but will let the light in during the day. Cut a few pieces of corrugated cardboard to fit your window frame. Use duct tape to fix them in place. You can also add aluminum foil to the inside part of the cardboard. It will reflect part of the infrared heat back to the living space.
