No, I agree, I think Wonky's hubby's solution is better. A lot of the draughts in reasonably modern windows are between the frame and the wall, not between the glass and the frame, so WW's secondary glazing will be more effective. That also creates a space that will warm up if the sun is on it, and although that heat won't come directly into the house, having the pocket of warm air there instead of a cold window will help a lot. Bubble wrap on the glass will make the surface warmer, which does help, but it also reduces beneficial solar gain. It would be better to line your curtains and use them.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
We have pull-down stairs to access our attic storage, and I finally built a cover out of 2" Kingspan to cover the hatch. It has helped tremendously with the pocket of cold air that always seemed to be underneath it (and hot air during the summer months). And since my thermostat is only a few feet away, it prevents the heat from cycling on as much.
The sun effect is what I keep droning on about. Yesterday with sun heating off, lounge temp 23.5 at midday. Today fog first thing heavy cloud now, heating ON lounge temp 19.5
The other thing I have done recently is use foil coated bubble sheet behind radiators on external walls. Not sure how much difference it makes yet but the idea is you refect heat into the room and don't waste it heating up the wall behind the rad. It wasn't expensive to buy so thought it worth a go.
In my large, energy-deficient farmhouse I used to wrap the lower portion of the house in thick plastic sheeting to keep drafts from coming in through the foundation. In my home previous to that one, we banked bales of mulch hay or straw against the foundation to keep it warm and prevent pipes from freezing. Plastic sheeting over the exterior of single-paned windows and lined curtains helped with drafts around the casings. Leaving cupboard doors open to allow heat to get in under sinks where pipes might freeze helps, and leaving cold water dripping helps prevent faucets from freezing. I hung a thick lined curtain across my stairs to the second floor to keep the heat contained to the first floor, but I didn't have water pipes going to the second floor, either. Fans strategically placed to circulate heat definitely helped - I like the corner fans you can mount to the top of a doorway. On my woodstove, I had two fans that were powered by the heat it generated, one pointing in each direction - less electricity used. I don't know if they would work on radiators, but it would be interesting to find out. I used to wear two layers of clothes inside most of the winter, but a few years ago I found fleece-lined hiking pants on Amazon and now own 3 pairs; they are so incredibly warm that my 75-year-old mother bought a few pairs and she wears them all winter, too.
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
The foil coated bubble wrap is cheaper if you buy it on a roll and cut it yourself. I have a roll of this for the GH to shield the tomatoes from the sun.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I bought the foil backed radiator insulation panels several years ago as our radiators are mostly on exterior walls. Not sure if it's made a difference or not, not an easy way to measure it. I was wondering also about the little radiator shelves which are supposed to re-direct the rising heat back into the room - does anybody have these? Trouble is our radiators are 6ft long so shelves for all might be expensive.
What does help is having curtains just long enough to tuck behind the radiators but I found it difficult to buy that particular size when I wanted new bedroom ones recently.
The foil coated bubble wrap is cheaper if you buy it on a roll and cut it yourself. I have a roll of this for the GH to shield the tomatoes from the sun.
Yes that's what I used, cut from the roll and held in place with double sided sticky pads.
I had several lengths of the Aluminium/Polystyrene left over from a previous house. I use it in the GH and also to wrap round my large Cycad with an old shower curtain tied over to keep rain off as it is outside. Worked well so far.
We had gas safe plumber install boiler,had massive, inefficient rusty rads, hubby put new, much smaller rads on internal walls. No heat whipping straight outside.
I realise none of you are in a position to make this sort of change, but be aware that the technology exists and has done since the 1990s. Had the government decided to implement this as policy for social homes, thousands more people would be doing much better now. https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/09/social-housing-heating-bills-passivhaus-goldsmith-street-norwich And before you all start shouting about costs, Exeter have had a policy of building to this standard for 12 years. They cost approximately 3% more than a 'standard' build, now they've got the hang of it. When you consider how much house values have increased just in the last year or two, it's entirely affordable. It's a political choice to allow house builders to continue to build poor quality homes and pass on the costs of the bills and the retrofit to those buying them. It doesn't have to be that way.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Posts
Bubble wrap on the glass will make the surface warmer, which does help, but it also reduces beneficial solar gain. It would be better to line your curtains and use them.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
The other thing I have done recently is use foil coated bubble sheet behind radiators on external walls. Not sure how much difference it makes yet but the idea is you refect heat into the room and don't waste it heating up the wall behind the rad. It wasn't expensive to buy so thought it worth a go.
What does help is having curtains just long enough to tuck behind the radiators but I found it difficult to buy that particular size when I wanted new bedroom ones recently.
https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/09/social-housing-heating-bills-passivhaus-goldsmith-street-norwich
And before you all start shouting about costs, Exeter have had a policy of building to this standard for 12 years. They cost approximately 3% more than a 'standard' build, now they've got the hang of it. When you consider how much house values have increased just in the last year or two, it's entirely affordable.
It's a political choice to allow house builders to continue to build poor quality homes and pass on the costs of the bills and the retrofit to those buying them. It doesn't have to be that way.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”