The past week has seen some low overnight temperatures here in the Northeast. More than a few of my friends admitted to turning the heat on and I’ve seen numerous chimneys coughing up the first smoke of the season. Fall isn’t even officially here but I know many people are thinking the same thing: winter is coming.
I’m glad I have efficient windows installed in the home. Even with the fierce winter winds blowing down from Canada, the home stays pretty cozy, warm and sealed up.
The guy next door, however, has a rather older home with what looks to be single-pane windows. In the wintertime he installs plastic window insulation, which I have never fully embraced. Personally, I find them to be a little tacky. I compare them to the black winter wheels I used to have to put on my old Sentra in the winter: they knock the car’s looks down a few pegs for about 6 months, but they get the job done.
As I understand it, installing window plastic can potentially save a homeowner $20 per window over the season. It’s not a gigantic savings, but it’s something. And that combined with a few other energy-saving moves can make a pretty big difference over the colder months.
The real upside to window plastic? It’s a pretty inexpensive purchase and dead simple to install: clean the glass, measure and cut the film to fit, apply adhesive and film or tape the plastic in place and then use a hair-dryer to shrink-fit the film tightly across the window.
Those with a real fixation on cutting the heating bill will find this an easy list item to cross off in the coming weekends. Me? I’m pretty happy with the windows’ performance. I think I’ll leave them be.
