HANDY A TO Z: SEALING WINDOWS
Sealing windows to save energy and increase comfort used to be strictly a pre-winter project. In the summer, screens went on and windows stayed open. Thirty-five years ago, only 23 percent of US homes had central air conditioning, according to the U.S. Dept of Energy. Now, it’s 65 percent, while about 30 percent have window units. With almost every home air conditioned one way or another, sealing windows to preserve AC and save energy in summer looms just as large as sealing them to preserve heat in winter.
Replacement is always an option for old windows that leak like a sieve. But figure about $200 a unit and the same again for installation times a dozen or so windows and the increase in efficiency and comfort has a substantial price tag. Sealing the windows you have already is much less expensive, and depending on how many you need to improve, qualifies as a DIY weekend project. Caulking and weather-stripping can help. But the most thorough way to seal windows makes them inoperable, for example, by adding a layer of heat-shrink plastic inside.
With that limitation in mind, one approach is to leave some windows for ventilation, and use plastic on those that are sun struck most of the day and heat up the room more than others.
*Caulking. Even old windows are built so seams are covered with trim,
