by Archie Campbell on February 1, 2010
One way that people can save a significant amount of money very easily is to draught proof their home. By following a few tips to save on your energy bills by draught proofing your sash windows you will be able to address one of the areas where heat, energy, and money escape from your home on a regular basis.
In addition to heat loss from sash windows, you may want to check the other windows and doors in your home and address the energy loss from all these areas. Properly treating sash windows and making them energy efficient often has the greatest impact on home energy costs because of their size and location in a home.
It is easy to check for heat loss in a home. Moving a lit candle slowly around the frames of windows and doors will make it very easy to identify where cold air is seeping into your home. These will be the areas that need immediate attention. Eliminating the draughts from sash windows often can be affordable and easy to accomplish.
Heavy curtains or drapes are one way that a person can reduce draughts from their sash windows. When sash windows are very old, the need to have the window repaired and made energy efficient may be unavoidable, however using heavy drapes will keep heat from escaping.
Using clear silicone bathtub caulking works very well if you have lose panes in your windows. Older sash windows often have panes that come loose. The silicone will seal the pane into the frame of the window and keep air from passing through any gaps.
It may be necessary to have panes on sash windows re-glazed or have a secondary glazing put on them. This will help to extend the life of the windows. You may want to invest in a re-fitting of the windows to bring them up to code and make them completely energy efficient. When a window has been refitted you will be able to save on your energy bills by draught proofing your sash windows and achieve the greatest efficiency.
If you’re going to save on your energy bills by Sash window draught proofing, you may want to spend some extra time taking care of all of the draughts in your home in the form of sash window repairs London and cut your overall energy cost.
by Jason Latham on January 1, 2010
Are you paying extra because your house is poorly insulated? If you’re in an older home and haven’t given the environmental benefits of drought proofing your sash windows much thought then, yes, you probably are. But even a brand new house could end up causing a lot of trouble in that area. So you think your insulation is fine? Even minor amounts of air flow through the cracks of your windows and significantly change the temperature in your house. You probably don’t even know your house is draughty.
When I say “insulation, ” your first thought is probably heat in cold weather. This is only one half of the problem, the other half being unwanted warm air entering a house in the summer. If your house is well-protected, it will be several degrees cooler in the summer than it is outside. It will also make sure any cool air produced by air conditioning does not just float right out of your house. Remember entropy when you think about air currents; air wants to spread out. Don’t give it the chance.
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the problems you will face due to leakage (increasing carbon emissions and paying far more than you have to for proper temperatures), the next step is to take an active stance against the problem.
Renewable heat should be one of the first things you think about when you think about the environment. Solar panels are excellent, but they don’t stop draughts. You could take a huge chunk away from your carbon emissions by not using air conditioning ever again, but you’ll still suffer from summer heat.
If you’re building a house, oversee the wall insulation and have programmable thermostats installed. If you live in a house already and aren’t planning on extensive repairs or upgrades, take a look at your windows. If there is any sign of wood rot or flaking paint, this will decrease their impenetrability. The corners of windows tend to be the first to go in both of these areas. Look on the inside and out.
Don’t be fooled by the idea of double-glazing; it doesn’t work. If anything, use secondary glazing on the sash, get all repairs professionally done, check on the window putty, and use curtains. The heavier the curtain, the more it will hinder air flow in and out.
If you are plagued by draughts and nothing seems to work, you could do a lot worse than putting towels against the leak; it is surprise how effectively these work. It is an old method and is often times unsightly, but weigh the benefits. Some companies also make special weighted cloths that are more stylish than a bunched up towel. These cloths attach to doors or windows and provide a nice buffer for any leaks.
Seeking affordable sash window draught proofing? If you need window proofing or insulation treatment in London and Brighton, make sure you hire the best company for the job. Find our more now!
