I Tested Window Film, Bubble Wrap & Thermal Curtains in My Home for Winter — Not Even Close

📕 The Plain Heat Library, a house checked room by room before the cold and a warm house all winter for less, written down: https://elisplainheat.netlify.app/?b=bundl... Go to the coldest window in your house tonight and hold your hand down low by the sill. That cold slide of air is heat you already paid for. Last fall I put three cheap fixes on three windows in my own house: shrink window film, bubble wrap and thermal curtains. Only one really held the heat, and the curtain that said "thermal" on the package came in last. In this video I show you why, how to put each one up, and the simple way I hang all three together now, on the windows you already have. In this video: • My neighbor's "thermal" curtains, and the cold running out from under them • How I tested three windows side by side (a cheap thermometer and a tissue paper on a pencil) • Why cold glass makes a slow waterfall of air down your window • Bubble wrap: the easiest fix, and where it falls short • Shrink film: why it goes on the frame, not the glass, and my grandmother's storm windows • Rope caulk for the drafts at the frame • How to put up the film the right way, from inside the house • The verdict, and what happened to the wet glass • How to hang a curtain so it actually holds heat • The setup I use now on every north window Figures come from the U.S. Department of Energy (Energy Saver), Build It Solar (Gary Reysa) and the NFPA. My own measurements are one man, three windows and a cheap thermometer, not a study. Safety first: • Hair dryer: keep it moving, a few inches off the film, never in one spot; take curtains down or tie them well back first, and keep the cord where you cannot trip on it. • Never seal shut a window that is someone's way out in a fire. Keep each bedroom's escape window easy to open, and make sure everyone knows which one it is. • Never cover a smoke alarm or a carbon monoxide alarm with plastic or curtains. • Plug electric space heaters straight into a wall outlet, never an extension cord or power strip, keep them at least 3 feet from curtains and anything that can burn, and turn them off when you go to bed or leave the room. • Never heat a room with a generator, a grill, a camp stove or a gas oven. • Keep working carbon monoxide alarms where their instructions say they belong. • Rotten sills, broken glass and windows that will not open are jobs for a carpenter or a window installer. This video is general information, not professional advice. 📕 The Plain Heat Library: https://elisplainheat.netlify.app/?b=bundl... Eli is a digital character who shares the plain ways of keeping a house warm. #windowinsulation #winter #amish #stayingwarm #draftproofing