Anyone had any experience doing this and what were the results?

Our house was built in 2004, has high ceilings in the living/dining area, and that end of the house is fine. The other end of the house where our bedrooms are ranges from 6-10 degrees colder. While that's not a problem for us, I do get concerned about our 6month old and wanted to poll tww and see if adding a layer of plastic or something over the windows in his room would help.

So with that in mind, a couple of questions:

1)Would plastic over the windows be the right material?

2)The panel box is in his room, and while I haven't felt any draft coming from it, the box itself is noticeably cold to the touch. Would covering that in some way help?

12/1/2011 8:05:46 PM

Quick question: Are you closing the bedroom doors?

In our last home, our son's bedroom would become quite chilly if we closed his bedroom door. As long as the door was open, the temperature was pretty much the same as the rest of the house.

PS. Blanket sleepers are pretty awesome.

12/1/2011 8:11:52 PM

They make plastic that you put over windows and then use a hair drier on to tighten up. My parents used it every winter for years and it worked pretty well -- a noticeable difference between just before they got around to doing it and after.

I've never bought it personally, but I have helped put it up and it's very easy.

12/1/2011 8:12:05 PM

^^Yea this is with the door open...when we close it off the temp drop is more severe depending on the length of time the door is shut. At the present moment he sleeps in a swaddle sack, but we're pretty sure that's coming to an end. With less direct insulation coming, I wanted to see what I could to to abate the real problem

12/1/2011 8:13:49 PM

I would recommend just buying a cheap space heater for your little one's room. It would probably cost way less than the "temporary insulation" shit you are talking about itt. And I can almost guarantee you will find way more uses for it other than heating his/her room.

[Edited on December 1, 2011 at 8:18 PM. Reason : a]

12/1/2011 8:15:35 PM

we got a small heat "dish" at costco last year, and it saved us a ton. We just use it in the cooler parts of the house, or when needed instead of cranking up the heat.

12/1/2011 8:19:15 PM

^^ Yeah, like when he gets big enough to bust out of his crib, he can knock it over and burn the house down.

12/1/2011 8:24:51 PM

^that was our conclusion on having a space heater in his room unsupervised.

12/1/2011 8:32:31 PM

^for heating a room over a period of more than 20-30 minutes you'd be better off with an oil filled heater. It's much safer (you can touch about 98% of it and not get burned), and the heat won't dry the air like a ceramic/IR/dish heater will. Keep in mind efficiency is irrelevant here - indoor electric heaters are considered 100% efficient (every watt is distributed via heat whether it be inefficiency of the heater or it's heating elements.)

They make special window seal stuff that looks like little rolls of stick on window tint for additional insulation. You can also seal any unused vents upstream of his to force more air through there. Or you can get a supplementary fan for his vent to make sure more air circulates into his room.

Looks like these: http://www.atrendyhome.com/durebofan.html except you can get them at lowes / homedepot.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Company-2141-Indoor-Insulation/dp/B00002NCJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1196625084&sr=1-1
(the whole window kit - not the stick on)
http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Glare-Control-Window--84-Inch/dp/B001MYLEIK/ref=sr_1_24?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1322789361&sr=1-24 (stick on type)

As for the electricity box - I'd leave that thing alone. Not worth the fire risk.

[Edited on December 1, 2011 at 8:33 PM. Reason : oil heaters also cut themselves off automatically based on timer/temp/tip over. very safe.]

12/1/2011 8:32:41 PM

If you are worried about safety with space heaters they have some extremely safe ones. I'm sure with some looking you could find a bigger version of this guy: http://www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-DFH132-SafeHeat-Fan-Heater/dp/B00006WNN6

12/1/2011 9:09:19 PM

A space heater is certainly an option. But right now you're burning money for heat that is not keeping that end of the house warm because of a supposed draft from windows. I wouldn't pay for a space heater and pay to run it while not doing anything to resolve the problem itself -- or at least addressing the draft more directly.

You can find something like this for even less than the $15 here:http://www.amazon.com/3M-2141W-Indoor-5-Window-Insulator/dp/B00002NCJI

Put that up over the windows at that end of the house and see if it helps, or just the one room. From my experience, I'm going to say it will if the issue is actually a draft from the windows.

[Edited on December 2, 2011 at 1:01 AM. Reason : .]

12/2/2011 12:55:46 AM

paging CalledToArms

12/2/2011 7:46:50 AM

Quote :

"Would plastic over the windows be the right material? "

We did this back when we were living in a shitty apartment that had single pane windows and no central heat. God I hated that place.

But anyway, yes, plastic helped a lot. We bought heavy duty plastic and taped it onto the window frame using painter tape. Make sure the plastic is taut and there's no gaps in the tape. It made a significant difference in the draft that would go through the room.

Quote :

"You can find something like this for even less than the $15 here:http://www.amazon.com/3M-2141W-Indoor-5-Window-Insulator/dp/B00002NCJI Put that up over the windows at that end of the house and see if it helps, or just the one room. From my experience, I'm going to say it will if the issue is actually a draft from the windows."

We used that our second year and it definitely helped as well. That seems more expensive than what we paid though. I feel like you can go to the hardware store and find something similar for less than $10.

[Edited on December 2, 2011 at 8:29 AM. Reason : a]

12/2/2011 8:27:29 AM

Quote :

"because of a supposed draft from windows."

Honestly I don't think its the windows so much as the high ceilings at the other end of the house...the window are double-pane and locked tight as best I can tell. I was (admittedly guessing) that the heat simply rises to the highest point, leaving the other end of the house cooler. Since I can't put a stop to that, I wanted to explore other ideas. If we need a space heater, so be it, but that was kinda my last resort.

12/2/2011 8:44:09 AM

^ I don't think the ceilings would have much to do with it. There's vents in the colder room right? The air is more likely to go up out of the ceiling than travel down the hallway and to your living room.

12/2/2011 9:13:08 AM

I think it's more likely your HVAC system just isn't balanced properly.

12/2/2011 9:24:57 AM

just point one of those kerosene blower heaters at the crib and you're golden




[Edited on December 2, 2011 at 9:31 AM. Reason : asdf]

12/2/2011 9:30:24 AM

hahaha

12/2/2011 9:45:18 AM

Quote :

"I think it's more likely your HVAC system just isn't balanced properly."

Could be, I'm no expert tho...what are the other symptoms of this?
Or just that one end is colder than another?

^x4 ah, didn't think of that

^^

12/2/2011 6:15:42 PM

Let em be cold it would toughen the kid up.

12/2/2011 9:16:36 PM

If the HVAC is unbalanced, it will be pushing tons of air into some rooms and less into others. The ducts under or above the house will usually have adjustable dampers for each branch of the house that you can use to fine-tune the volume of air delivery to each room or area.

Is for the window being drafty, why not just replace the window (or windows) and be done with it for good? I would be a bit concerned that a 7 year old window is giving you sealing issues already, but builders seem to be willing to skimp on just about anything lately.

12/2/2011 9:39:41 PM

We rent a drafty, 100+ year old house, and we solve the shitty insulation problem by running the heat around 50 so the pipes don't freeze, and using oil filled space heaters in the rooms we actually live in (work rooms/bedrooms). We use the plastic sheeting duct taped over the windows.

12/3/2011 1:30:13 PM

So you live here:

12/3/2011 7:35:01 PM

^

Most rental houses in Durham are old and drafty, although not quite like that.

12/3/2011 8:28:10 PM

Quote :

"f the HVAC is unbalanced, it will be pushing tons of air into some rooms and less into others. The ducts under or above the house will usually have adjustable dampers for each branch of the house that you can use to fine-tune the volume of air delivery to each room or area."

While I would have eventually discovered this by sheer trial & error, I'm glad you posted it. We have 4 vents in our living area, as opposed to 1 per bedroom. I closed off 3/4 to to about 80% shut last night, and the temp in his room rose two degrees almost immediately when the heat kicked on again. Only thing now is our living room sounds like an overbooked tarmac, but hey, I'll take that trade any day

12/4/2011 7:03:58 AM