Bubble Wrap Window Insulation
 

Bubble Wrap Window Insulation


Hi,

New guy here and my 1st post...:)

It's that time of year again when we all try to keep the cold out of our homes. This stuff really works and is my 4th year of using it.It turns single pane to double pane and double pane to triple pane window insulation. I've used a IR thermometer to validate the results and found that temperature of the bubble wrap and adjacent wall are the same.You can buy a box of it at wally world for $10 that will do several windows (or half windows). I have a large sliding glass patio door that I use it on and several other windows in the house. It made a big difference in how comfortable the rooms felt, not to mention the savings in energy.

builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm
(corrected link)


(since I have less than 5 posts I can not post a link to the site that has the information. Just add the w w w . in front of the above address.)


Try it, you'll like it...;)

>

p.s.

I'm looking foward to particapating in this great forum that ya'll created. (I have also joined EcoRenovator...:thumbup:)

redneck

>

Buy a box? Save it from packages you get, or - if you're a real redneck - get it from the neighbors' trash :-)

Any way you want to go about obtaining it is fine...;)

If you have a little bit laying around from a package, do a test. Try putting it only on half of a window. Then place your hand on the bubble wrap then the bare window.

You won't believe the difference.

>

I'd believe the difference all right-i've used Bubble wrap for about five months, paid $20 for enough to cover every window in the house and made my money back(with interest) in a month! The fact I started with high efficiency panes in the first place didn't hurt much either...

And just for the record Redneck, I stole the idea from the same webpage:

BubbleWrap

Fantastic place isn't it? I hope to have one of the simple DIY Solar Air heaters done in a few weeks-my version will use Soda cans since my neighbors literally inhale the stuff...assuming my 50+ hour weekly schedule doesn't cause a stress induced coronary of course. :(

BTW, have you wrapped your water heater and pipes yet? It's another cheap mod with really good returns-I think I may have gone a touch overboard as my cylinder tank rapidly became a rectangle...

Oh, and welcome to Ecomodder!

Have you figured out how to get the tops and bottoms off the cans? I've tried hole drills & cutters, but the sides of the cans are so weak that the drill just grabs and twists them out of shape - if it doesn't send the can flying.

With the bubble wrap, I've made wooden frames that just slide into the window openings. A bit of foam around the outside edges makes a tight seal.

I don't actually remove the tops and bottoms- I use a pair of small tinsnips to enlarge the top hole into a large diamond, then use a nail punch to start the bottom and do likewise...when the tube is assembled with high-temp gasket sealer it's essentially going to be 'ribbed' on the inside. With my ten hour shifts and two-way commutes I allocate only a half hour per night, giving me an easy half-dozen cans per night.

Assembling and painting the case, creating an SIP (Foam-cored double plywood board) window block etc will have to be done outdoors and will need to be done after the Holidays.

As far as mounting the Bubble wrap, I did the lazy thing-cut to fit, dampened each panel and slapped it on. I'll need to remove them with a butter knife if I ever need to replace any though...

I've actually done this myself. When heating a poorly insulated house with natural gas, it makes a noticeable difference. Just have learn to get over the 'your house looks like a meth lab' comments.

just putting plastic sheeting around the windows helps a lot

sunscreen - much better than bubblewrap
 

Bubble wrap did not work well for me, not at all. I got bubblewrap from E bay especially for the purpose of insulation of the windows. I had already determined that the side of the window with a screen was about 1 degree warmer. Well it turned out that the bubblewrap was no better than this. Also it almost completely blocks the visibility through the windows. One thing that it might do is to help cut down on drafts.

This past fall I replaced a regular screen with sunscreen, and was surprised to see a significant difference. I don't have the figures in front of me, but it was about 5 degrees difference. As a result, I got more frames and put sunscreen on all the east and west windows of my house, which has made a major difference! I used to have to get a fire going if the outside temp was lower than 41 degrees. Now it can be several degrees colder. For example, last night it was 36 degrees and I didn't even consider to get a fire going, because it wasn't that cold in the house.

The sunscreen keeps the house warmer in winter, cooler in summer, and it makes a great privacy window! If someone was right outside of a window, they would not be able to see the people inside.

I'd like to hear more about that sunscreen...that could work for me. ...got any more info?
I've got two large glass doors that I'm going to cut clear plexi sheets for...cover the doors entirely, on the outside, leaving +/- 1/8" gap all the way around to vent moisture build-up but block wind gusts. These doors (one opens, the other is fixed in place) open out to our mudroom/main entryway, the glass area is huge and I'm guessing it releases beaucoup heat to the outside. I would do the bubblewrap/plastic but the dogs scratch at the glass when they wanna come back in...and bubblewrap probably does give a kinda neo-methlab look...not that that's a bad thing, not at all.

The sunscreen is working quite well. I like it a lot. :)

Home depot has it, in the same section as the frames.

I would not put it where dogs would be scratching.

I use shrinkable plastic film that is sold specifically for insulating windows. When installed you cannot see it.

The advantage is it is transparent and it still works really well.

I'm a little concerned about visibility. It is important for me to see outside, and with the bubble wrap I don't think I can do that! However, I will say that plastic can be a great alternative if you are in the same boat as me! I'm going to reach out to an Indianapolis handyman to see what other types of alternatives there are.

.

It's Bubble Wrap Time again... :)


I've been doing this mod for 8 years now.

It's simple and works. ;)



BubbleWrap


>

Yeah, time to dig those "panels" out of the closet and get them up!

I just fold them down in the winter.

It doesn't reflect, it insulates...

You still get the solar gain with the bubble wrap. With the windows and sliding glass door that I have it on, the sun still heats the floor around it from the sunlight. (radiant heating)


Try it, you'll like it...

:)


>

.

To expand a little more on my last post.

Adding a layer of bubble wrap is like adding a pane of glass. Double pane being better than single. Triple being better than double. Having double or triple pane glass has some effect upon radiant heat transfer. However, multiple panes have a huge effect on conductive heat transfer. Double and triple pane glass use a layer or multiple layers of sealed air to insulate and reduce conductive heat transfer. Bubble wrap just adds another layer.

Bubble wrap has a added insulation advantage of being made of plastic, which is a poorer conductor of heat as compared to glass.

Having less radiant heat "hours of sunshine" during the winter months also makes insulating a high priority.


:)

>

Northerner problems!

***fixed - see pic below***

:D

I'll wrap up every year, thank you. :p

http://americablog.com/wp-content/up...orst-State.jpg

Oddly enough I kept my bubble wrap up all year long and benefitted both Winter and Summer. Due to the slower rate of heat absorbtion, I could heat the house early morning to mid-afternoon and "coast" nearly all afternoon and night...in Summer, the house would just begin to retain the daytime heat after dusk, and I could open the screens on my doors and get a free 'cooldown' from the night air, dumping most of the stored heat without the AC.

In fact when I sold that home and downsized to an 8'x30' Travel Trailer, the new owners decided to keep all my improvements intact. I only hope they remember to disconnect the thermal Solar window units every spring though-using them in Food Dehydrator mode should maximizr thier garden use next year...

I tried this with the "spray water on the window" option... the bubble wrap fell off almost immediately. Of course it was dawn and water mixed, and 20-something degrees F outside.

I'm thinking I might just buy a 4x8 sheet of insulation foam and prop that against the sliding glass door instead. Right now it's a couple huge pieces of foam covered in aluminum foil on the warm side. They're not big enough to cover the whole door height though...

I use water only with a spray mister that applies a even mist. If your having problems with it falling, use tape to hold it in place at the top. When the water dries, it will stay in place till it is pulled off.



>

I use 48" x 25" REFLECTIX on seven of the nine windows of my travel trailer. Mainly for summer heat. Bubble wrap on steroids. Some aluminum tape to join sections. Press-fit into interior window frames. Rigid enough to store well if not in use. It has other uses for me as well. I think of it as GP -- like duct tape -- as it is easy to use, can be doubled up, cut, re-cut and taped in any of a number of configurations.

I need to try that-thanks!

I probably should have stated that Reflectix is aluminum foil on both sides. That the (corrected) three windows of nine I do not cover are the ones best suited to admitting light throughout the day without undue heating of the interior. The others are now blacked out. I can remove the panel in one second and replace it in two. And store these standing in edge.

When I think of the poor-as-a-church-mouse 1960s, I remember a 60-watt light bulb hanging over the kitchen table and bubble-wrap on the windows.

When I moved into a 35' R-license park model trailer I bubble-wrapped the windows, but I've been replacing it with pop-in pieces of paper-faced tape-edged 1/4" foam.

Old thread (surprised it appears to be the first post of "redneck" and he has 693 posts now) but winter is coming again. It may be HOT now, but in a relatively short time it will be cold again. I'm already thinking about my winter preps.

I've heard of using bubble wrap but didn't know how useful it actually was. Was going to experiment with it this winter. Scored about a hundred or so feed of heavy duty bubble wrap for free about a month ago (the kind used to ship heavy commercial fridges). Been wondering how I will use it exactly. Was interesting packing it all into the car to make one trip do (whole backseat, trunk, and front passenger seat was packed lol).

I'll have to do more research but I considered trying a layering on the north side windows and maybe a layered panel on the south side windows. Maybe window glass, aluminum foil, bubble wrap, cardboard in that order. For north side windows, they would be covered all winter and likely have a layer of plastic over the whole thing. The south side windows I want to be able to open up to let in sunlight during the day but wonder what can be done to reduce heat loss through the crappy single pane windows. At night could just put the "panels" in the windows and be done with it for the night.

What got me thinking about bubble wrap was a few years back I spotted OLD bubble wrap on an OLD house. They had it blending in rather well. It got me to thinking. I found online some say it works but I wanted more verification. Never got around to testing it. This year probably will.

Bingo... ;)

I have several windows that are left covered year round and have been very pleased with the results.



Bubble wrap has little effect on sunlight entering the room. It allows radiant heat gain while simultaneously reducing conductive heat transfer. That's a win, win, win, in my book.

Each layer of bubble wrap is roughly equal to having another pane of glass. Multiple layers are easy to do if needed.

Also.

Be sure to caulk all cracks around the windows to reduce drafts.

:)

>

Once it gets colder might give it a shot and see how it goes. Got enough bubble wrap to ship a car (if USPS would accept it and bubble wrap would even be useful lol). Right now the south side windows are already pretty well covered and my cooling strategy means it doesn't "really" matter if they are covered right now or not as there is multiple whole house air exchanges with the outside air a day.

.

It's that time of year again.

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...psb4idkrns.gif

Time to put up that bubble wrap.

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...pswy1licpa.jpg


And remember... Be careful out there...


http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...psx14uopqy.gif


:)

>

Happy new year, don't shoot yer eye out, LOL.

regards
mech

I used that silver reflective bubble wrap to block out sun on my 2nd floor to help cool my house... done as an experiment. Holy Moly it made a huge difference. It was colder on my 2nd floor than on the first floor by about 10 degrees. That's proof in the pudding. At first my wife hated it, but then it grew on her once she really experienced the positive effects for a while. I then put that in the 1st floor windows as well the following Summer. Incredible how much less often my AC was running and how cool the house was. Now my tree on the West side is getting larger and helping as well.

What I've found is bubble-wrap after about five years adheres to the glass and degrades. Then you can't clean it off. What I've gone to is pieces of 'clear coroplast' greenhouse glazing, cut to press fit inside the windows.

The unexpected benefit is that the horizontal flutes reflect light up to the ceiling and brighten the room. :thumbup:

That unexpected benefit sounds great! Thx

.

It’s that time again... ;)




:turtle:

>

I removed the largest REFLECTIX panel the other day to install a thru glass MIDLAND antenna for same brand weather radio (and this week received same brand antenna & design for restoring the “campground radio” CB), and found the panel was now past its useful life.

The trailer has not ever been out of hot Texas summers. The window covers did survive six summers both in and out of direct sunlight.

Given the cost of doing all those windows with one $50 4’ tall roll of REFLECTIX, I got my money’s worth and then some.

The second go-round will be easier as I can use the originals as templates. May even use spare material and double up on some of them (ribs in between with open spacing & sealed edges). I also need to use it in a few interior spaces.

I’ve been using the same approach (cut to press fit) in the tractor-trailers I run. It’s an enormous difference.

I’ll have to try the clear bubble wrap on a pair of the three windows I allow light to traverse.

Granted, I’ve meant to build a complete set of interior storm windows, but that DIY will have to wait awhile longer.

Thanks for waking up the thread.

.

.

It's that time of year again.

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...psb4idkrns.gif

Time to put up that bubble wrap.

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...pswy1licpa.jpg


And remember... Be careful out there...


http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/f...psx14uopqy.gif


:)

>

.

Just a little reminder…


:turtle:

>

.