PowerSwitch

I put filmglaze up over the weekend, turning our double into triple glazing. We have a two-up, two-down terraced house which opens onto the street. I did the two downstairs windows, and the one upstairs bedroom. I didn't do the kitchen, the kid's bedroom, or the bathroom.

It's fiddly to put up, especially for a bloke more comfortable with gross motor movements such as swinging an axe or digging an allotment, but it was fairly straightforward. It cuts down light a little bit. It's not too obtrusive otherwise, blending in quite nicely on our white PVC windowframes.

It has made a huge difference to comfort levels in the house (although I have to say we didn't establish a baseline, to my Monitoring & Evaluation shame.) Overnight without heating the temperature drops only 2-4 degrees (although that may change when the very cold weather returns). Draughts are reduced. The boiler cuts in less often. If you're looking for a cheap heating economy, I'd recommend this (and some draught excluders made out of old stockings). It also cuts down noise from the street, which was welcome.

No connection with company etc. etc. Google it up - there are plenty of suppliers online.

We've just done the same with the two bay windows on the front (north) of our house. Cuts down condensation in the bedroom dramatically. Total cost £15.

The windows are already double-glazed, but it is quite old with only about a 10mm gap.

We're in the process of replacing all the doors and windows as the old ones are single-glazed with metal frames. Over the course of Autumn, I put draft-excluding rubber around the edges, which has made some (if not massive) difference.

However, each window has an internal metal shutter, with the shutter about 25mm inset from the shutter frame, so I've been round and put wooden covers on the shutters with the space between the sheets of wood and the shutter filled with insulation. That's made a huge difference.

Night-time temperatures have been hovering around the -9ºC mark outdoors, and I can now get the front room up to 28º or 29º of an evening, without decimating the woodstore.

Total cost, about €30.

Ted wrote: Cuts down condensation in the bedroom dramatically.

It may have cut down the condensation on the windows, but the moisture is still somewhere. It could eventually give rise to mould growing on the walls.

...no free lunches.

Wow, I'd seen this in B&Q and just written it off as green wash

woodburner wrote:

Ted wrote: Cuts down condensation in the bedroom dramatically.

It may have cut down the condensation on the windows, but the moisture is still somewhere. It could eventually give rise to mould growing on the walls.

...no free lunches.

It could, but moisture in the air only condenses if it comes into contact with a surface at a suitably low temperature. If all the surfaces in your house are above that temperature, it will stay in the air.