Window Insulation

tallulah20

Hello,

My little boy's bedroom is the coldest in the house and the window in the room is very drafty.

Does anyone have any tips on how to make the room warmer as we cannot afford double glazing!

We want to sort this out before winter sets in properly!

aloiseb

There's a book called "Taking the Biscuit" by Faith Addis, where the author describes how to put in your own makeshift double glazing using wrapping plastic (from a sofa delivery company) and a lot of drawing pins. You would have to not want to open the window again until spring though.:)
Seriously, we used to do this as students in a freezing flat with no heating and it did make some difference.
Other hints from back in the 70s when the oil prices last went through the roof...
If you put several blankets under his bottom sheet the bed will be warmer.
Hot water bottles in covers (screwed up very tightly + with not too much, not too hotwater in them) are brilliant I think. (My son still treasures his Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer one with the flashing nose!)
A fan heater ready to use just for getting dressed / into pjs takes the edge off the cold.

Sledge_2

When I were a lad, when it was all black and white and we were surrounded by fields.....

We used to use sticky tape to seal the windows, then push pennies into the ice that formed on the inside of the window.

We did the stretching plastic film across the window too, this made a huge difference, but the one I've found, although looking a little untidy, is to fold the curtains, so they sit inside the window on the sill. This keeps the cold air in the space between the window and the curtain and adds a little more insulation too.

I've been experimenting with 'secondary glazing' on the inside of the window, if you could find some rigid plastic sheet (like perspex), then you could construct a simple frame on the inside of the window and place it in there. This effectively stops a lot of heat loss and improves the sound proofing too.

ormus

as above, ive done both in my student accommodation days.
the clear film was cheapest as it was free. the perspex was a bit expensive but far better. we made the wooden battens/frames for free.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Go around frame with fingertips, feeling for cold bits - gaps in wall can be felt even through wallpaper if you take it slowly. Fill every last one that you find, slitting the wallpaper with a stanley blade and then reattaching it if necessary. Gently poke frame in several places when window is shut. If it makes a racket, try putting sticky foam strips in recesses to create a tight seal.

Put up net curtain as it seems to 'swallow' some of the chill. Make sure curtains are thick - if needbe, get a cheap fleece blanket from IKEA/Asda and stitch this to the curtains/back of the roller blind. Make sure that curtains fit to window sill/just behind radiator if you have central heating, to the floor if you don't. Close them the moment it begins to get dark.

Stick foil to cereal packet cardboard and doublesided stickytape them behind the radiator/heater to bounce heat into the room rather than the wall. Check in loft that insulation actually covers the whole of his room - sometimes places get missed. Use mastick and seal gap between skirting board and floor/wall.

Check outside that guttering isn't leaking cold water onto one side of his room/old holes for piping aren't allowing heat loss.

Put extra rug on the floor. Make sure he has socks and extra nightclothes to wear at night if it gets really cold. There's no reason why he can't have a fleece as a replacement for the undersheet and 3 blankets underneath the quilt if you want him to.

Introduce him to the joys of a hot water bottle, even if it's just for warming the bed up before he gets into it.

And, having grown up in an unheated house - look forward to snow and ice - the warmth increase when the ice freezes the windows is very noticeable!