Insulating original windows

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Permalink Reply by Franz on January 23, 2012 at 11:28pm

Physics is a word that frightens many, and most choose to not think about it.  Physics does say heat gives off to cold though, and since I pay for the heat I spent some time with both contact and noncontact thermometers between entertaining visits from wonderful people trying to steal my money with such wonderful products as argon filled triple glazed windows.

Alas I saw the light.  Argon has wonderful properties, but putting it between 2 sheets of glass ¼" apart really offers little.  

Finally I tested the flexible plastic inside storm window, and amazingly found a 8° difference in surface temperature between the inside glass and the inside face of the plastic.  Eureeka moment, glass is a thermal conductor and plastic really isn't.

If I could gain 8° with little more than a plastic bag, what could I gain with Lucite?

Some looking at the construction of the casing and face boards showed me 2/3 of a glazing channel, and adding quarter round would give me the whole channel.  1/10" lucite can be cut with a utility knife and friction fit into the place where casing meets face board.  The quarter round holds the lucite in place.  On a 10° day the inside of the lucite is 15° warmer than the glass it sits 2" from.  That's a good number of BTUs I ain't donating to Mother nature.

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Permalink Reply by Rod Paine on January 24, 2012 at 1:11pm

Glad to see you share your observations and your findings, which are not much different from my own, involving an infrared non-contact and a Fluke contact probe thermometers to measure what my Climate SEAL interior thermal windows were doing. I talked about these in my 12/28/09 posting to this subject. Our location doesn't typically get as cold as yours, typically in the low 20's at its coldest. My interior windows are showing an 18-20 degree differential, between their surfaces, measured as you have measured your installation. Your installations cost less, but my internal installations were only 28% of what the Anderson Insert system windows cost me, replacing the original windows I couldn't save. So, I am sold on interior thermal configurations. My installation is shown here.

-Rod

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Permalink Reply by Franz on January 25, 2012 at 3:49am

Very nice writeup.

Pondering on my situation I recall doing the first experimental lucite insert in 1994.  Oddly many people suggested I had lost a portion or all of my ability to think, because "Everyone knows you can't do that.".

I also recall being told "Nobody uses rigid plastic inside storm windows.".

I should have begun considering changing my name to Nobody then.

The porch I'm sitting on faces West and has 1950s double windows made up of fixed and sliding wood storm sash on 3 walls.  in 1993 even with hydronic baseboard it wasn't comfortable.  When I finished the lucite internal windows in 95, the porch became very comfortable and usable.

On windy days I can watch the lucite balloon and grin thinking about how much cold air isn't infiltrating.  The little woman has admitted (to her friends) I wasn't nuts, at least not about the internal storm windows.

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Permalink Reply by McCall Emerald on January 30, 2012 at 2:39pm

One of the best looking at home solutions I have seen for the hole around the rope area is a thick piece of felt brown in this case and about 1/2" thick looked like they used Felt rug padding, it was cut to fit the profile of the window parts, stop etc and cut to go right around the rope. It was maybe 3" setting on top of the lower sash,  one on each side. I believe you could even open and close the window with it in place, though taking it off or on would be no trouble at all.

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