The Joys of Homeownership

I spent most of the day conducting a cellophane gamble. Will weather sealing the windows in my house actually keep the place warmer?

The house was built in 1915. It's been remodeled and updated and modified so many times since, that I'm unsure just what in the house is original, and what isn't. It's a lovely place, with a distinct personality that instantly drew me to it as soon as I saw the pictures back in June. We only just closed the sale two weeks ago and finally moved in a week ago. 

In that time, the weather in Minnesota has gotten colder. Winter is coming, and there are many indications that it's going to be long and chilly. I've never lived in a place as old as this house, so I did not expect just how drafty and cold the place can be when winter creeps in. Yes, we have central heating, adequate venting, and everything else. Even so, it's an old house with many windows, and that lets out a considerable amount of heat. 

Yesterday I drove out to the hardware store and picked up several window insulation kits. Basically, it's a roll of plastic film with some double-sided tape. Apply the tape to the window, cut the plastic to length, apply the plastic to the window. As a finishing step, you can use a heat gun or a hair dryer to tighten the plastic and reduce wrinkles. The idea is that this will somehow keep the cold out by adding another membrane and sealing off any air channels. 

I hated this stuff growing up. It got in the way of the windows, and made it difficult to use blinds. I put up with it, of course, despite my frustration. Now that I own my own place, I couldn't help but notice just how often the furnace ran to keep the place just warm enough to be bearable. Instead of just turning up the heat more and more, I knew that adding weather sealing would help even if only a little.

I conducted a brief survey of the windows. I found which ones were more problematic than others. Interestingly, the front door was also a problem, as it did not seal completely and let in a considerable amount of cold air. Thankfully, window and door weatherizing is for the most part, inexpensive. I bought two boxes for the windows yesterday, another today, as well as one for the door. 

It took almost three hours to put it all up. It's not hard work per se, but it is time consuming. By the time I finished for the day I noticed the temperature on the thermostat -- one degree above what I had set. Success, the house retained heat. 

There's still many more windows to do. One of the bedrooms, my office, and the entire basement remain unsealed. The bathrooms and the kitchen are also unsealed, but that may be for the best. I may revise that choice later this week. 

Subjectively, the house feels far less drafty. Pazi and Marion both agree that it feels a bit warmer. Granted, it wasn't the most enjoyable way to spend part of my weekend, but in the long term it'll help.