How To Plastic Wrap Windows For Winter

Is this a genius flim-flam or a waste of time? Here's what y'all need to know most sealing and insulating windows with Saran Wrap.

If you take older windows in your dwelling, there's a good adventure that they are drafty and none-likewise-insulating. Maybe they're unmarried pane. Maybe at that place are gaps around the frame that icy winter breezes and aggressive summer insects tin squeeze through. Whatever the example, y'all have a problem.

What's the solution? You could accept the windows re-sealed. This can be time-consuming, and options like caulking may need to wait until you accept a stretch of warm, dry weather. Meanwhile, completely replacing the windows is highly effective. It's also quite an investment. Well sealed, double pane windows tin can offer you big savings in your energy bill over the long run. Nevertheless, they are a hit to your upkeep in the short run.

Crafty DIY-minded homeowners accept been turning to a creative alternative: Saran Wrap. Here's what you need to know:

Related:Types of Soundproof Insulation | Types of Soundproof Windows | What Are Tempest Windows | Blackness Out Curtains vs. Blinds vs. Window Films | Types of Windows

Why Saran Wrap Your Windows?

Saran Wrap (and other brands of plastic wrap) come in long sheets. It sticks to itself and many household materials. You can probably picture how this works with drafty windows.

The idea hither is to apply Saran Wrap over the entire window, including the frame. Past overlapping the strips, yous create a continuous surface of the plastic. In theory, this plastic prevents icy breezes and moisture from getting into your home. Information technology besides won't damage your windows. When you want to remove it, you simply peel the Saran Wrap away.

Does It Work?

And so how well does Saran Wrap on windows piece of work? Is it time to toss abroad your caulking gun and invest in a few dollars' worths of stretchy, clingy plastic? Can a humble roll of plastic wrap be the answer your window insulation needs?

The brusque answer: Sort of.

The long answer: It depends on how you lot apply the plastic wrap and what yous're looking for.

In that location are two ways to apply a Saran Wrap. Y'all can stick it directly to the window panes. This is the easy route. You lot can also use it to trap a bubble of air between plastic and glass. This is considerably trickier to pull off. Both of these methods are detailed below, but how effective are they?

Sticking the Saran Wrap directly onto the glass can be useful if you take loose panes, croaky or chipped glass, or a typhoon sneaking in at the edge of the frame. If smoothly applied, it tin can look invisible to a casual glance. Nevertheless, it won't offering any pregnant insulation against temperature loss. You may not be amused by icy drafts, just your heating and Ac related bills will still take a hit.

Applying the Saran Wrap offset from the window glass creates an effect similar to double pane windows. There will be a pocket of air trapped between the layers of glass and plastic. This air creates an insulating result. Unlike the previous method, offset Saran Wrap is quite visible, especially when looking at the window from an angle.

Is this method equally effective as a professionally produced insulating window with multiple layers of drinking glass? No. But it tin can help. According to a study past Free energy Star, compress-wrapped plastic windows can reduce your energy bills past up to 20%.

What Else Can You Try?

If you're looking for Saran Wrap alternatives, some options include:

Thick Plastic Sheeting Cut to Fit the Window

Pros

• This is easier to piece of work with as information technology doesn't stick to itself.
• More than durable than plastic wrap.
• Plastic sheeting is unlikely to deform nether its ain weight, so it's a good fit for big windows.
• You tin probably store and reuse it next wintertime.

Cons

• This won't shrink-wrap in place.
• The tape may loosen or peel off paint from the frame.
• Thick sheeting lets less light through.
• Information technology may expect less attractive.

Bubble Wrap

Pros

• Just similar plastic sheets, bubble wrap is easier to work with as it doesn't stick to itself.
• Yous probably have some bubble wrap already lying around the domicile.
• The tiny trapped air bubbling let y'all insulate windows without time-consuming compress wrapping.
• Information technology creates a unique visual look that many find attractive.

Cons

• You may end up hating the unique visual expect.
• This material blocks more than calorie-free, leading to a darker indoors.
• Yous and your family volition have to resist the urge to pop the bubbles.

Heat Shrink Plastic Kits for Windows

Pros

• These kits are particularly designed for window applications.
• They include nearly of the supplies y'all need.
• The heat-shrink plastic sheets are one continual piece, no seams or overlapping required.
• You can get kits for windows of different sizes.

Cons

• More than expensive than a elementary roll of Saran Wrap.
• Larger pieces of heat shrink plastic are tricky to install solo.
• If the plastic gets damaged or you mess upwards an application, you'll need to buy another kit.
• These don't take all the supplies needed; you'll still have to find a hairdryer.

How To Utilise Saran Wrap On Your Windows

Is Saran Wrap the right method for you? If so, your side by side determination is whether to utilise directly onto the panes or beginning to create an air gap. These methods require mostly the same supplies.

You lot Will Need

• Plastic Wrap (thicker, more expensive versions are easier to work with and may be more than effective)
• Scissors
• Double-sided record
• A measuring tape
• A hairdryer or oestrus gun (for get-go applications)

Pace 1: Prepare Your Area

Brush or wipe around the window frame to remove dust, dislodge spiderwebs, etc. Make clean the inside of your windows if they're muddy. You lot won't be able to do this chore afterwards the plastic goes on. Finally, lay out your supplies.

Stride Two: Attach the Plastic

Lay down double-sided record along the edge of your window frame next to the wall. This volition allow you ballast the Saran Wrap every bit you lot work.

Your ringlet of Saran Wrap is probably too narrow for your window. For this reason, you'll need to apply multiple strips.

Get-go instructions: Pull the plastic strips taut forth the width of the window. Secure the cut edges with your double-sided tape. This will ensure that you're trapping that layer of air in place.

On-pane instructions: Cut strips of the right length and press them directly against the drinking glass, securing the edges on the tape. Smooth each strip down with your fingers and palms. This will create a tight seal with the window panes and the frame.

Both methods : As you get down, one stripe at a time, overlap them by about an inch. This will create a solid surface with no place for drafts to sneak past.

Step Three: Check the Seal

Get around the edges of the frame and make sure all the plastic is secured by tape.

Expect over the window, checking that each canvas overlaps the side by side.

On-pane instructions: See if at that place are any unsightly air bubbles or wrinkled $.25 that still demand to be smoothed down. No? Congratulations, you finished the job!

Offset instructions: Proceed to Pace Four.

Step Iv: Shrink Wrap It

This pace is not strictly necessary. Your window now has an insulating layer of trapped air. Nevertheless, yous'll get more than draft prevention and insulation benefits with a shrink-wrapped seal.

Turn on your hair dryer or heat gun. Aim it an inch or two from the plastic. Y'all'll want to use low to medium rut. For the dryer, cull a low airflow setting so you don't accidentally blow your work off the frame.

Work around the edges and seams, taking your time. You should see the wrinkles lighten or vanish as you become. This is the Saran Wrap shrinking and tightening to a secure fit.

Caution

There are a few things to watch out for every bit you work. First, have y'all ever wrestled with trigger-happy your Saran Wrap on that serrated cutter on the box lid? If and then, you already know the biggest challenge of this DIY chore. Plastic wrap clings to itself. It balls upward hands. It can stretch and deform when you try to straighten it out. Flat sheets stick together neatly. Damaged sheets won't practise for this project.

For this aforementioned reason, wear clothes that you know don't attract static. After all, you don't need to brand this job tougher on yourself.

Endeavor to work slowly and carefully. If a strip of plastic seems likewise damaged (holes, ripples, stuck-together places), you lot're better of scrapping it and getting a fresh piece.

Next, be conscientious if you're using heat on the Saran Wrap. You could burn yourself. Another danger is of melting a hole in the plastic. Endeavour to patch it with a foursquare of plastic wrap and you've created a weak point that current of air and moisture can become through. You may also fill your home with the olfactory property of scorched plastic and take to air information technology out during unpleasant temperatures.

Finally, figure out how you'll protect your shrink-wrapped window. Keep pets away from it, specially cats. Talk to your kids nigh not playing with the plastic. Again, it's unlikely that you'll be able to patch whatsoever holes. Shrinkwrapping your windows is fourth dimension-consuming and may be frustrating. You don't want to have to redo this job anytime soon.

Source: https://www.homestratosphere.com/does-saran-wrap-on-windows-work/

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