[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: Insulating Window Inserts

[Benjamin Pratt]

My last house was built in 1904. It came with the original "storm
windows" which as far as i can tell, are exactly what you are talking
about. I made new ones to replace the ones that had deteriorated,
added rubber gaskets to all of them, and filled the holes in the ones
that had been drilled at the bottom. They worked great! zero to no air
intrusion--even on the leaded -lass windows.
   Besides are infiltration, think of the wind-chill factor. The air
around you is insulating. If the wind takes that air away you are
colder. These windows work like a windbreaker. Even with no r-value,
they keep the wind off the interior windows.

Any decent carpenter, cabnetmaker, or even frame shop, should be able
to make these for you at very little cost. Or make them yourself. It's
not that hard. But you do need a table saw and a miter saw.

-Ben

On 11/19/07, Lawrence Lile <LLile at projsolco.com> wrote:
> Sounds like that guy needs to go take a heat transfer class to me.
> Typical of HVAC mechanics, I'll bet he sizes HVAC by the house floor
> area instead of doing any real calcs, just like the guy I argued with on
> my house.  Window insulation does work.
>
> It isn't just the extra R-value between you and the frozen north.  An
> insulating layer on the inside of a window also affects radiation inside
> the room positively.  You will "feel" warmer in a room that doesn't have
> a big area of cold glass, just like you feel warmer inside of a 0.060"
> thick "space" blanket, those heat reflecting emergency rescue blankets
> people carry in the woods.
>
>
> Lawrence Lile, PE, LEED AP
> Project Solutions Engineering
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
> [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Bobbi
> Chukran
> Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 12:14 PM
> To: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
> Subject: [BULK] Re: [Greenbuilding] Insulating Window Inserts
> Importance: Low
>
> >I'm having a hard time finding options for window inserts.  The goal
> >here is a simple one: add a layer to the windows in winter, just like
> >the screens I put up every year before the bugs start hatching.
> >
>
> Hi Jim and all,
>
> We very recently talked to a guy at a local HVAC company about
> getting a new system put in, and I asked him about things like
> insulated curtains, shutters, window inserts, etc.  His opinion was
> that it wouldn't help, because you're still trapping the cold air
> inside the house next to the window.  His opinion was to caulk the
> heck out of the outside so that the cold air didn't get in in the
> first place.
>
> His answer was the same for the summer......do something to keep the
> heat out.  In his opinion, solar screens or films would help, but
> things like curtains, etc. inside the house on the windows wouldn't.
>
> For what *that's* worth.....
>
> bobbi c.
>
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