Save Money this Winter by Insulating your Windows (Cheap and Easy) - YouTube

Welcome to Dec's Projects In one of the rooms in my apartment I have

a set of crank-style windows and an ac unit.

Unfortunately none of these parts are sealed well enough to stop drafts.

It's bad enough that even with a space heater, sleeping soundly is difficult because cold

air wafts down from the window.

To solve this problem I will be using a window insulation kit purchased from a local hardware

store.

Here's the process you will want to follow for successful installation.

Inside your kit you will find shrink wrap film and double sided tape.

The only other things you need are a hair dryer and something to clean the wall where

you will be placing the tape.

Step 1: Prepare windows.

Make sure your windows are fully shut, if you have an ac unit make sure the exhaust

is closed, and adjust your blinds or curtains in such a way

that you will be happy for the next few months.

In my case I closed my blinds, but flipped the middle section so there was a little more

light coming through.

Tuck away any wires that might be in the way, and you're

ready to start.

Step 2: Prepair for taping.

Tape doesn't like to stick to dusty things, so use a slightly damp cloth or paper towel

to gently clean the surfaces you will be taping.

Step 3: Cut the Film.

You'll want overlap the heat shrink film over your tape by about two inches on every side.

That way you have some room for error when you

install the film, but not so much material in your hands that it's hard to work with.

You'll want to measure your window, and cut the shrinkwrap to be about four

inches longer than your measurements.

It's easier to cut the film before you unfold it.

I lucked out and my top to bottom measurement was the perfect size, but

if you have to cut the film for the verticle measurement, I would wait until after you

have installed the shrink wrap because making a straight cut would be easiest then.

Step 4: tape.

Grab your double sided tape and --making sure you have both parts to the tape-- hold the

start one point within your two inch margin for error at one or the corners

around your window.

Hold it steady and pull your spool of tape to the other corner of the window.

The same distance from the window as your first placement, hold the tape over that

point and look along the tape line to make sure it's inline with the window.

Then firmly stick your starting point and pull gently on the line of tape to strighten

it.

With the tape line straight, start sticking your tape working from the first point.

If you see and variance in the line, lift or lower your ending point to compensate.

Once to the end, tare off your tape and give yourself

a couple inches extra.

Then go back over the line of tape and firmly press it to the wall.

That should give you a very straight line of tape that has no wrinkles and is perfectly

within the margin for error.

Step 4.5: wash up.

Tape doesn't stick to dust, it also doesn't stick to oil, so before you handle the shrink

wrap more, go wash your hands with warm water and soap until

when you thoroughly dry your hands they're perfectly free of natural oils.

(Ideally it should be really easy to snap your fingers.)

Step 5: laying the film.

Remove the top layer of tape's wax paper.

Then on the ends, peal back the paper so the whole of the top line of tape is exposed.

Unfold the shrink wrap, and in a similar process to the tape, stick one corner of the wrap

first, making sure you have two inches of overlap to the top, and two to the side as

well.

With one point stuck, pull your film to the opposite corner, and make sure your pulling

the film tight.

Adjust as needed, and place the second point.

Starting in the middle of the tape, press the film into the tape working from the middle

to the sides.

This is a great way to avoid winkles that might let air through.

Before removing the wax paper on the side tape, pull the film over and make sure everything

lines up.

Placing this next side is the hardest part.

Once you are sure your film will cover the tape, pull the corner of film down with one

hand, and stretch it to the side with your other hand.

You want to get a feel for how you will stretch and place the film before you could get it

stuck down.

Remove the wax paper and begin pressing in the film.

Starting from the very top, press the shrink wrap into the tape every few inches.

You want to be pulling the film tight with your lower hand, and pulling the film over

with your placing hand.

Make sure to keep the bottom corner of the wrap as close to where it needs to go while

you work, otherwise you might stretch the film on your way down and distort the shape.

Before you stick the shrink wrap thoroughly to the tape on this side, go to your other

side and with the same process, stick the film to the tape.

Don't pull the film too tightly -- you just want to take out the slack.

We'll make the film tighter with the hair dryer in a minute.

Remove the wax paper from the bottom line of tape and only pulling down, not from the

side, tighten and place the wrap working from the middle to the sides.

With the bottom attached, work your way around the sides and firmly press the shrink wrap

into the tape.

Try to crush any wrinkles flat, to make an air tight seal.

If you don't have a hair dryer, you can stop here, and still get the benefit of the drafts

being stopped, but your film will move with the drafts and make noise.

So stop that, follow step six.

Step 6: Heat shrink.

Grab your hair dryer and starting in one corner with the dryer on its highest setting, hold

it about an inch from the wrap and at an angle so your not blowing into the film, but across

the film.

It takes time, but be patient -- the last thing you want is to move too quickly and

touch the hair dryer to the film and melt a hole.

If you do melt a hole, pull the dryer away immediately and turn it off.

Use a piece of clear packing tape to seal the hole and then continue.

Shrinking the plastic will remove wrinkles, but if there's a hole, it

will be made larger.

The hair dryer I used wasn't getting hot enough to work at a safe distance from the film so

I cupped my hand over the air intake of the dryer.

I covered about half of it and that made more heat build up before being moved out by the

fan.

With that technique, I finished shrinking the film by working from the corner and shrinking

any wrinkles that stopped the film from being tight.

When tapping the film sounds like a drum where ever you tap it, you are done!

At this point, you can trim off any excess plastic and enjoy your newly insulated window.