Insulating our windows

Enough to seal five windows with plastic.

Some time back, I saw a product advertised on one of the lifestyle shows for cheaply insulating drafty windows. A recent post by Michael Mobbs reminded me that it was a 3M product by the name of “Indoor Window Insulator Kit”.

Strangely, the product isn’t actually available for purchase in Australia (I asked 3M), but it was easily ordered from Amazon.com.

The basic idea of the kit is simple enough. Double-sided tape is placed on the window frame, and a thin layer of clear plastic is then stretched across the whole window. The goal being to seal the gaps and to create a “poor man’s double-glazing”.

Very useful in the old part of the house (the renovation is all double- or triple-glazed).

It’s cheap (just over US$20 delivered for 5 windows worth of plastic), and simple to install. It should at least eliminate drafts through our old and poorly-fitting double-hung windows. It’s cheap enough to seal the windows during winter, and to remove it during summer (purchasing a new pack the following winter).

I will say this, however: it’s disconcertingly like wrapping your windows with glad-wrap (albeit a quite thick glad-wrap). I think visitors will wonder what on earth is going through our heads. So I’m not going to rush off and do every window, just the ones that are in less-used rooms that leak the most heat.

In summary: worth considering, particularly for old houses with poorly-fitting windows. But I’d still love to have real double-glazing one day.