1/13/2010

Utilities in the Winter

I`m not sure about all of you folks, but for me, winter is the hardest time of year to keep the utility bills down.  It's cold and costs more to heat the house, and people generally spend more time inside and at home (using more resources).  Rainy Day Saver has spoken about her struggles with this as well.

To try to combat the house heating woes this year, we installed some special indoor glass plastic over the windows that is supposed to act as an insulating double pane.  I did this before Christmas, and as the heating part of the utility bill is always a month behind, we`ll see the effects on the bill at the end of the month.

Before that happens, I wanted to share with you how easy it was to install!!  I did it myself while Jordan was watching hockey.

Before:                                                                     After:




Other then a bit of shine, you can`t tell the difference between the two!  I`m really hoping that in a few weeks, I`ll be able to share how much $$ we saved!

Further to the fake double pane, we also where sweaters and use a small room heater when necessary - so we're only heating an extra small space instead of the entire place. We keep the house at 20C, and I turn it down to around 16C when we leave for work in the morning.

Do you live somehwhere where you have to combat the heating bill each winter?  I'm also wondering if folks have used this type of insulating plastic before and if you noticed a different.  We used it on our the bedroom/bathroom windows as well as the door - all of the major heat loss affenders.


9 comments:

  1. We've used it before, and I am not really sure it made a big difference because we didn't have anything to compare it to (we moved in and we put it on...never paid a gas bill before). We've taken to keeping the house at 19 in an effort to conserve on gas. Our December bill was less than last years December bill, so it's working. Our house is 40 years old and the windows are original, so we lose a lot of heat. Can't wait to see if this saves money for you.

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  2. We have old windows that badly need replacing. We always plastic the worst ones. Not sure if it helps on the bills but you can definitely feel that the air around them is less cold

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  3. We have really old windows (replacing them this spring) and use the plastic. It seems to cut down on the drafts, and we did notice an increase in our utility bills in the year we were lazy and didn't put any on. So I'd say it does cut the cost of heating in the winter.

    I can't wait for new windows!

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  4. I've definitely used the plastic before, and it did make a difference. Not a huge difference, but it helped. We've been trying to keep our thermostat set at 63F during the day and closer to 58F at night -- we supplement the heat at night with an oil-filled space heater in the bedroom. We don't have anything to compare to, since this is our first winter in our new home, but I'm hoping it keeps the bill at a reasonable level.

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  5. Have you noticed less ice buildup on the windows in cold weather. I would bet you save $$ because for sure we have less drafts with the plastic.

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  6. We have used the plastic before and did find a difference but we ended up having to paint all of the window ledges when we took it off as it took a lot of the paint with it. So careful when its time to take it off.

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  7. @ Tables, I'm hoping I'll be able to compare this bill with the last few years and be able to share that with you.

    @ Jolie/Mom - there defn. is less of a draft, the plastic is sure cold though!

    @ Canadian, thanks for the feedback - I'm looking forward to a reduced bill!!

    @ Rainy - Gas bills are the worst! I was inspired to share pictures of our efforts after reading your post.

    @ Mom - I have noticed less ice buildup - that's a great point!

    @ Anon - thanks for the advise!! We'll defn. try to be careful come time to take the plastic off.

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  8. When you go to take the plastic off it helps to heat the tape a bit with a hair dryer. If your walls are in good shape the paint will remain on the wall if they are a bit cracked or have some moisture damage the paint will lift regardless. Our savings were substantial and our rooms were much warmer plus that was 2 inches of ice that did not build up and then melt/absorb into the window sash/walls/gyproc.

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  9. I'm on equal billing for my natural gas so I don't notice it go up or down, but this summer we installed a programmable thermostat and change the temp when we're not here to 16 and it goes back up to 21 when we are here. I've been meaning to try that window thing though.. we bought our house new but the windows have always been VERY drafty. It's probably too late now but I'll def try it next winter@!

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