I've read that bubble wrap on windows should offer poor man's insulation if double glazing is too expensive.
My windows (roughly 2 * 1 metres each) are already double-glazed but, if this kind of insulation works and it's cheap, why not add an extra layer of insulation?
I have some cheap rolls of bubble wrap that I bought at £-land, but they are too thin and small.
1) Where do you get thicker and larger (by the metre) bubble wrap? and
2) Do they sell black/dark bubble wrap? I've seen some companies selling
Back in the Spring I used bubble wrap for insulating the windows of the church schoolroom which is used by the local Archive for storing its documents and as a research room. The room is large and tall, with long narrow windows on three sides, and gets mighty cold in winter! Whether I used the right stuff in terms of bubble size or whatever, I don't know - I didn't research it - but I got the stuff from an Amazon supplier
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I imagine they do other sizes of bubble and widths/lengths, but whether they do dark stuff, I've no idea. If you don't like Amazon, try e-bay.
Air trapped in bubble wrap is not a perfect insulator. The bubbles are too big to entrap the air and stop molecular movement. You can see mention here, of one of the things that can help make a good insulator.
This is an example of a good insulator.
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"Aerogels may have a thermal conductivity smaller than that of the gas they contain. This is caused by the Knudsen effect, a reduction of thermal conductivity in gases when the size of the cavity encompassing the gas becomes comparable to the mean free path." ["pores just under 100 nm"]
Since the insulation value is sensitive to the chemical method used to make it, there can be a variation by a factor of 2 in the insulation value, when two different companies make Aerogel.
That stuff is hella expensive. Someone in London insulated their livingroom with it, as part of a demo. The panels of it, don't tend to be "builder sized" and if you're lucky, the panels would fit on framing pitch. A truckload of that, costs as much as an entire house.
Since bubble wrap is not a construction material and is just a packing material, there is no reason to make it of anything except the simplest blown material. You won't be finding UV proof versions. It probably burns good, and real insulation materials have to retard fire. Like that Aerogel, you can point a propane torch at it, without effect.
Aerogel is pretty close to an ideal material. Too bad we don't know how to make it.
One problem with any "window project", is how do you affix things without making a mess of the window frame ? When I needed to make some outdoor panels to keep falling water from hitting the house, I used
2x2 for framing up a framework, then plastic sheet was held to the frame, with staples from a staple gun. You can't be doing that to a wooden window frame. "Someone might notice." Even the double-sided tape used in "window film kits", makes a mess.
Packaging companies sell the big bubble kind on a huge roll. Obviously not cheap. I have heard of it in white and transparent but black may not be a good idea if its in the sun. A lot of gardeners seem to use bubble wrap to keep plants warm. I also wonder if you put the bubbles toward the wall or window do you get a better effect than the other way around as between the bubbles you then have some trapped air. Brian
I can confirm that "Bubble Glazing" does make a huge difference under certain circumstances.
We opened up the back of our house last summer leaving a 5m wide floor to ceiling openness. This was duly boarded up with OSB but there was a
9 month wait on the new window/door thing from Austria soooooo I used all the saved bubble wrap from various installations and stapled, overlapped, and taped.
Made a massive difference in our very exposed, elevated position by the Bristol Channel. With the 3" air gap between OSB and Bubble-Glazing we didn't need any additional heat in the lounge. Perhaps last winter was a touch milder than usual?
It's going to look shit anyway so just use the thin stuff and seal the seams with duct tape rather than worry about buying bigger stuff.
You won't be able to see out of the windows as well. There used to be a poor man's double glazing consisting of a sheet of clear heat shrink plastic and a double sided tape to go on the window frame. The application of a hairdryer to it would tighten it to a clear view again.
Only snag was on wooden window frames it encourages rot since the cold glass would invariably condense whatever water got into the gap and more would diffuse in through the thin plastic.
Still available and quite cheap:
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�/p/210014 It mainly works by stopping drafts.
Larger garden centres or online where it is sold for insulating heated greenhouses for the winter at about this time of year. Sometimes remaindered to get rid of excess just prior to when Dracula sits in Santa's Grotto to make room for the seasonal displays.
There is a black and/or pink antistatic grade that is loaded with carbon black or something else to prevent build up of charge. Costs more.
It is sold in big rolls for protecting and packaging larger structures and sub assemblies during shipment.
Somerset side facing West-North-West ish We're pretty much directly opposite the old Llanwern Steel Works, a few degrees to the left is Newport inlet.
The following picture was at the end of March when the windows had been fitted so this is facing South West so the prevailing winds get a clear run up the channel before hitting us.
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Peak summer the sun sets directly opposite over the Welsh hills so had "solar control" glass as we get a double whammy from afternoon sun and it's watery reflection.
Having looked at last winters gas consumption with the boards and bubble-wrap there was very little difference to consumption the winter before so it MUST have been a much milder winter last year.
Ah... just found the same picture from October 2021 with the Bubble-Glazing installed. Looks like I didn't actually tape the seams, just had a good overlap between runs.
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