Those of us with less than ideal windows

[SpaceBus]

I have a 70's Salt Box that is very well insulated with a few old windows and four huge sliding glass doors. The windows were probably really slick back in the day, double pane, wood framed, insulated, etc, but not anymore. Our garden window in the kitchen and the bathroom window above the tub are in rough shape and had a lot of condensation issues. New windows aren't happening right now, so I took a chance on the plastic window insulation kit. This has solved our condensation issues entirely and our house is less drafty. On our sliders we use extra long insulated drapes which are very nice. I think next year I'm going to insulate the sliders in addition to the drapes since we don't use them when it's this cold.

TL/DR

The cheap stretchy plastic interior insulation kits absolutely work. Insulated drapes and blinds are even better.

 

[zrock]

Iv been using the kits for years.. i even use them on new windows unless they are a extremely high priced energy efficient. I go through new homes quite often and the off the shelf windows that most people put in you can still feel a very slight draft. I covered up one place and the kit paid for itself in the first month.
Now i wish my frigging cat would leave teh windows alone.. every week i have to go fix the plastic..LOL

 

[SpaceBus]

Do you use the kits from the store or just buy the plastic by the roll? I used the "Frost King" brand, but the tape left room for improvement. My windows are just very old and both of the windows I put the plastic over have serious problems. The garden window is made of three windows, one of which is missing the outer pane. This caused considerable condensation issues. Now it's just in between the remaining double pane windows and very minimal. The bathroom window is in really rough shape and has a lot of rot. The plastic is going to save our bathroom until spring when we can fix it.

 

[zrock]

I use the kits and then use clear tuck tape for repairs or areas that don't stick. All my trim needs to be replaced tape does not stick to some of it

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[Gunfixr]

The house we recently moved from was broken into some yrs back (part of why we left the city), meth head from down the street broke a window and crawled in. Standard wood frame double hung windows.
To prevent this from happening again, I put lexan over them. Lexan looks and feels like plexiglass, but is way tougher. I measured and bought pieces for each window, and screwed them on with ss security screws. By putting the top one on the outside, and the bottom on the inside, the window still opens fully as normal.
A side benefit was that I had made the windows essentially double pane. Not quite as good as real ones, but the temps in the house were much better that winter. Since I could see out just fine, and they open and close just fine, the lexan just stayed. Actually, it's been over 7yrs, it's still there.
You could use plain screws, i'd still go ss on the outside ones, and plexiglass cheaper. Not sure how long plexiglass lasts in the weather. You wouldn't have security, but you'd have the insulation.

 

[SpaceBus]

The house we recently moved from was broken into some yrs back (part of why we left the city), meth head from down the street broke a window and crawled in. Standard wood frame double hung windows.
To prevent this from happening again, I put lexan over them. Lexan looks and feels like plexiglass, but is way tougher. I measured and bought pieces for each window, and screwed them on with ss security screws. By putting the top one on the outside, and the bottom on the inside, the window still opens fully as normal.
A side benefit was that I had made the windows essentially double pane. Not quite as good as real ones, but the temps in the house were much better that winter. Since I could see out just fine, and they open and close just fine, the lexan just stayed. Actually, it's been over 7yrs, it's still there.
You could use plain screws, i'd still go ss on the outside ones, and plexiglass cheaper. Not sure how long plexiglass lasts in the weather. You wouldn't have security, but you'd have the insulation.

Where did you get the lexan from? Our house has a large passive solar heating wall which is made of an outer skin of fiberglass with an air gap and then a layer of stipled corrugated aluminum with another air gap and then the structural wall of the house. The fiberglass is in rough shape and we are thinking about using something clear and durable but lighter and safer than glass. Plexiglass does not hold up to sunlight, but it seems the lexan did for you.

 

[Gunfixr]

Oh, the lexan is awesome. A hammer bounces off it. Notably more expensive than plexiglass. Can be had tinted.
A glass shop, or real hardware store, not a box store. It can be had in full sheets. I bought it cut to fit my windows. Comes in different thicknesses. I used about 1/8".
There is one window on the house that was cracked when we bought the place. I put a piece of tinted lexan over then, in 2000. Still there, no cracks, gets sun every afternoon. But, I haven't smacked it lately. That piece was scrap from where I worked at the time.

 

[Dobish]

I have done this trick before, and it works really well! Stays on all winter!
https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm

 

[SpaceBus]

I have done this trick before, and it works really well! Stays on all winter!
https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm

View attachment 240189

For a window we don't look out of that would work.

 

[Dobish]

For a window we don't look out of that would work.

if you use the bigger bubble, you can actually still see through it. We switched to insulated blinds and that made a big difference, until we forget to close the blinds at night