We live in older house. Winter in an older house is a pain. We are hemorrhaging heat out our windows every year. Seriously, some of our windows, when you stand in front of them, it feels like a fan is blowing on you. But we don’t exactly have new windows in the budget even though in the long run it would definitely save us some serious cash. So we do the next best thing.
Every winter when the temp starts to drop, we close all the storm windows and reach for the plastic. Window plastic is super inexpensive and makes a big difference in keeping the air out. It ain’t pretty, I ain’t gonna lie to ya. But when you slap it up and it billows out, you know you have some leaky windows. Turn on the hair dryer and the plastic fits tight to the window. If you do it right you can really minimize how much you can see it. Throw a curtain over it and you are good to go.
What do you do to save money on your heat bill in the winter? For more tips, head over to Life As Mom.
The Happy Housewife
says:
Seriously Jill- no picture?? I am so disappointed! I think you need to put a picture up of your saran wrapped windows. I have always considered doing it, but wondered if you can still see out of the windows…
Toni
The Happy Housewife´s last blog ..Frugal Christmas Traditions
[Reply]
December 10th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
vickie
says:
We used to do this and it really did help with the sheers over the windows -no one can see.
vickie
[Reply]
December 10th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Hannah
says:
Oh man, we totally need to do this with one window in particular. We have a huge drafty window in our bedroom, and it stays so cold in there. Thanks for the tip!
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Alissa
says:
The first year I was in my house, I didn’t do this. I’ve had plastic on my windows year-round for the last two years…and it’s still pretty cold…I’m just not sure how I survived that first year.
On another note, I just saw your husband on the news!
Alissa´s last blog ..God is big — really really big!!
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Jes
says:
Great tip…when I was growing up we lived in a really old house as well and done that every year!
With the house that my husband and I own, we have an attic fan that tends to let ALOT of heat out of…so we cut a piece of foam insulation to size and install that every year… It makes a huge difference! Of course we also seal up the crawlspace good and use door draftguards…every little bit helps and with the way prices are on heating you really need to do it, no matter how it looks!
Great post!
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Theresa
says:
Growing up we lived in military housing. I remember my parents doing this every year. Come to think of it though, no other kids on the base had plastic wrapped windows!!
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Honey B.
says:
Ahh yes, the plastic windows. Marmot and I had the pleasure of doing that this year, so that the couch that was in front of the living room windows no longer ran the risk of frost formations.
Honey B.´s last blog ..Note to Self
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
courtney
says:
We live in a very old house as well. This is a great idea and I will send this to my husband right away
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Amy
says:
My winter tip: After I use the oven, I leave the door open for the extra heat to come into the room. I figure I’ve already paid for it, I might as well get some extra benefit from it.
[Reply]
December 11th, 2009 at 11:20 pm