Monday, November 10, 2014

Cold and Bright, or Dark and Warm? Pick One

From the inside

From the outside
Last winter, the coldest since' 98-'99, I froze in the Divine Cabin despite weatherstripping, caulking and heavy, doubled plastic sheeting  taped over the windows, a special problem because most windows here are single-pane. They're original, I wouldn't want them changed, but gollywogs, all the propane and space heaters couldn't make up for it and I ended up living in a hooded sleeping bag for two weeks.

This year I began winterizing in August, hoping to use bubble wrap as window insulation--the Internet said it was great. I'd done major spray-styrofoam and caulking when a smart and personable, loyal, humorous, and occasionally prosaic engineer friend visited and said bubble wrap wouldn't work and that in winter he put foam-board insulation over his north-facing windows.

So he did it for most of my windows. The bedroom has pink insulation and some daylight does get through it as you can see. I insulated two doors and left one door and window clear so I could watch the road and the bird feeders.

From outside the house looks either abandoned or under construction, but I don't live outside, I live inside. Or want to. I'm hoping, hoping, because tomorrow comes the test: The season's first polar blast.

2 comments:

Pablo said...

I hope you write a follow up to this post to let us know how well it worked.

We got snow last night in Kansas City. Just a sprinkling, but actual snow.

divinebunbun said...

It works well. Tack the pieces in place so they lie flush against the windows, then use painters tape to seal the last few millimeters around the edges. The covered windows and doors (the doors have windows) can't transmit chill into the house. Use white or pink insulation to get what daylight you can.