Thursday, November 23, 2006

how could such a thin piece of plastic make such a difference?

Tonight I spent time covering the windows with plastic. So the last step in the preparation for winter has been completed.

Not a moment to soon it would appear.

It's snowing up a, uh, a storm out there tonight. And the temperature for Friday night looks to go down to -29C. So we're ready for it.

It really does make a huge difference with the plastic on the windows. Without it the furnace is on all the time and it's always cold in the place. So let winter come, we're ready.

(Course those could be famous last words, but I hope not!)

6 comments:

  1. Well, here I am about to cycle into work on a cold, DAMP (i.e. ice-free) Friday morning. Keep warm, feller.

    Hope Johanna likes southern Europe - my friends in Marseille were complaining about how cold it was: they didn't want to lay on the beach any more.

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  2. Our windows leak air like a screen door in this condo. Our heat cost is built into the condo fees so it is easy to crank it up, but sitting next to this tall window in front of which the computer desk sits most of the day gives me a few cold drafts from time to time. Usually then I pull the binds down which helps probably a bit like your plastic Randall.

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  3. If I don't put plastic up on our windows, we get pools of water under every window. And then wall damage. And potentially rug damage. I made the mistake of not putting plastic up last year...

    And the funny thing is, it's worse now with the new furnace. From one problem to the next...

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  4. I'd like to replace all of our windows with coated, triple-pane, argon-filled, etc. high efficiency windows. What was the previous owner thinking when he put in aluminum sliders? The annual fall ritual of taping and shrinking plastic over the windows is a huge pain, but alot cheaper than replacing those old windows. You're ahead of me, but if I stop wasting time reading blogs I should finish the job today.
    (at least I did get around to cleaning out our eavestroughs this fall)

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  5. Phil: do you put the plastic up to prevent ice and moisture buildup on your windows? Or to keep the house warmer? (Or both?)

    We do it mainly because we get a lot of ice buildup on the windows. We had a guy come by our house last year to see how efficient it was (for the now-dumped federal/provincial grant program). I suggested that we would probably have to replace our windows and the guy said, "No, no. Replacing your windows will only make your moisture issues worse. Your house is too tight as it is" (he meant without some kind of heat exchanger in place).

    So if you're doing the plastic because of the moisture, you may want to think twice about replacing the windows.

    I guess I could just tell you this in church tomorrow...

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  6. Marc: Our house is old enough that we don't need to worry about it being too airtight. I put plastic on the windows to stop some of the drafts and prevent my expensive heated air from leaking out.

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