insulate and reduce the amount of heat that escapes. out your windows.
Inexpensive or free courtesy of your online shopping habit, bubble wrap houses tiny little plastic pockets of air, providing a tiny buffer zone of insulation that keeps heat from escaping through windows when applied from the inside, improving the energy efficiency of your home with little time or monetary investment ...
Most brands of foil-faced bubble wrap are only 3/8 inch thick or less, and have an R-value of only 1.0 or 1.1. Since the product often costs more per square foot than 1-inch thick rigid foam rated at R-5, why would anyone use bubble wrap as insulation?
If you seal it well enough to the window frame, it should improve condensation issues, as the condensation comes from moist house air, and this will no longer be reaching the cold glass.
To help with clearing the condensation away, you can make a simple, home-made solution by mixing two cups of water with two cups of white vinegar and a couple drops of washing up liquid. Pour this mixture into a spray bottle if you have one and spray the solution straight onto your window.
Get An Insulation Quote
Improper use of silver bubble wrap won't lead to any improvement in R-values, and could actually cause problems by creating areas of condensation and therefore moisture formation.
Apply the bubble wrap while the window is still wet and press it into place. The bubble side goes toward the glass. To remove the bubble wrap, just pull it off starting from a corner.
The bubble wrap with large bubbles tends to work best because it has a higher volume of trapped air to provide insulation. The effect isn't as good with double-glazed windows since they already have a layer of trapped air inside them – it would likely be around 20 to 25% reduction in heat loss.
For maximum protection, wrap your item with the bubbles facing inward. For example, if you're going to wrap a bowl, place a sheet of wrap on a flat surface, with the bubbles pointing upward.
Bubble wrap will increase the resistance to heat flow by a factor of one. As bubble wrap has air and also an added benefit of cavity wall insulation, it is an excellent barrier to heat loss. Bubble wrap, if used as an insulator, is comparatively cheaper than many other traditional insulators.
Applying plastic insulation film to windows can actually cut the cost of heating bills up to 40%, so says Window Resource. Window insulation film helps homes retain heat more easily, keeping you warmer, longer.
The larger the bubble size, the more protection you have against impact damage. That's because there's more air captured in larger bubbles to create a protective layer around your products. 3/16-inch and 1/2-inch bubbles in particular are great for cushioning any medium-weight items you may be shipping.
Because it's preventing steam from escaping, the plastic wrap gets wet. That moisture keeps it from getting any hotter than 212 degrees. And most plastic wraps won't melt until they get to 220 to 250 degrees.
We've blogged about a bubble wrap “stained glass window” before, but bubble wrap also works as a great insulator when it's cold. See how to use leftover packaging to decrease your heating bill, after the jump…
Bubble wrap is one of the most effective forms of protective packaging – not just because it is fun to pop, but because it offers an unprecedented degree of protection, being both shock absorbing and abrasion resistant. It is also lightweight and extremely flexible.
While it takes 500 degrees of warmth for generic bubble wraps to become flammable and 200 degrees to melt, the merchandise can catch lit easily and quickly because of the combination of plastic spheres and oxygen. Bubble wraps may give off irritating vapours that cause breathing problems if inhaled.
So, which should you choose? It depends on your budget and your long-term needs. Double-bubble may be the more affordable choice, but fiberglass insulation leads to greater savings in the long run.
Salt is one of the most absorbent natural products available, helping to combat moisture around the home. Using salt is the most basic method when trying to make a homemade dehumidifier.
Buy a dehumidifier: Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air and keep it off of your windows. Place your dehumidifier near the windows where you tend to see the most condensation. Move your houseplants: Did you know that the more houseplants you have, the more moisture you'll find in the air?
Squeegee or towels
One of the quickest ways to remove condensation from windows is by using a window vacuum. However, they can be quite expensive. A cheap hack is to use a window squeegee or an old towel to get the same effect.