How To Put Bubble Wrap On Windows

Chimera Wrap Window Insulation

I've used bubble wrap on windows for two 3+ years now, and I'm amazed how quick and piece of cake it is.  This year, we are even roofing the windows in the guest room -- we just take the bubble wrap down when guests come, and put it support when they leave -- fifteen seconds a window. This is a unproblematic technique for insulating windows with bubble wrap packing material.  Bubble wrap is often used to insulate greenhouse windows in the winter, only information technology also seems to work fine for windows in the firm.   You can use it with or without regular or insulating window shades.  It also works for windows of irregular shape, which tin can be difficult to find insulating shades for. Its been v years since I put this page up, and I've heard from MANY people who are quite happy with using chimera wrap for window insulation. The view through the bubble wrapped window is fuzzy, so don't use information technology on windows where you need a articulate view.  But, it does let enough of light through. I like the medium to big size bubbles.  The larger ones appear (from surface temperature  measurements) to insulate a little better, and you notwithstanding get a nice artistic effect looking out of them.  The small bubble warp totally obscures the view, but you yet get low-cal.  Most people seem to adopt the large bubble version. Nov x, 2013 -- added a Comments and Suggestions section...

Installation

• Cut the chimera wrap to the size of the window pane with scissors.
  

• Spray a film of water on the window using a spray canteen.
  

• Apply the bubble wrap while the window is still wet and press it into place.
  

• The bubble side goes toward the drinking glass.
  

• To remove the bubble wrap, only pull it off starting from a corner.  Yous can save it and utilise it for several years.  Information technology does non leave a mess or stains on the window glass.

If you lot have problem with the bubble wrap separating from the window when the movie dries, yous can try adding a picayune Glycerin to the water, but this probably won't be necessary.

A few small pieces of double back tape can be helpful on actually stubborn windows.

The bubblewrap can be installed in the autumn, and removed in the spring.  Judging by how mine looks after a year, it may last quite a while.

When you have the chimera wrap downward, put a pocket-size number in on the upper right corner of each piece of chimera wrap, and write down which window that number goes with on a slice of paper.  Salvage the paper for the installation next fall.  This tells y'all instantly where each sail goes, and which manner its oriented.

Some places to get chimera wrap:

- Save up chimera wrap packing fabric that you and friends receive

- Check places that sell larger items like canoes or furniture -- bubble wrap is often used for packing these.

- Check for wholesale suppliers of packing material in your surface area -- these places will often sell a ringlet to the public.

- Hither is one potential online source: http://www.uboxes.com (I've not actually tried them, simply looks OK)

- As a final resort, places similar the UPS store have it, but the prices are usually high.

.

Suggestion from Pat:
"Bubble wrap pocket-sized chimera and large can exist had for complimentary by contacting furniture retailers or rental shops. They throw it away by the tons!"
I've heard the aforementioned thing for places that sell canoes.

(2/27/07 --   run across note below on reported chimera wrap life)

Installation:

Click pictures to enlarge:

Spray water on glass with bubble side toward glass

Smooth bubble wrap out and then that h2o contact holds information technology in place.

Double Chimera (added Nov 15, 2007)

I thought it might exist worth a endeavor to see if two layers of bubble wrap might be used.

This may be going a bit far, just it does seem to work.

I applied a second layer of bubble wrap over the get-go layer in exactly the same mode as the beginning layer was applied to the window glass.  That is, spray the showtime layer of bubble wrap with water mist, and while its still wet utilize the 2nd layer of bubble wrap to information technology and smoothen information technology out.
For both layers, the bubble side face up the glass.

It has been a couple days since I did this, and information technology is staying in place OK -- not sure if it will stay up with the added weight in the long term or non.

The two layers of bubble wrap fuzzy the view a bit more than one layer, only it even so seems to transmit quite a flake of lite.

The surface temperature on the 2nd layer is higher than the surface temperature on the first layer, so it is adding some insulation value.

Click on images to enlarge.

View through single and doubled bubble wrap.
Blue tape is to accept temperature readings on with the IR thermometer.

Payoff

The bubble wrap has a short payback in cold climates.  About ii months for unmarried glazed windows, and half a heating flavor for double glazed widows.  Details on payback:

For an 7000 deg-day climate (northern US), and unmarried glazed windows, the bubble wrap increases the R value from about R1 to most R2.  This cuts the heat loss from the window in half.
Heat losses with and without chimera wrap for 1 sqft of window are:

    Estrus loss w/o wrap = (7000 deg-day)(ane ft^two) (24 hr/day) / (1 ft^2-F/BTU) = 168K BTU per flavor

    Heat loss with wrap = (7000 deg-twenty-four hour period)(1 ft^2) (24 hr/solar day) / (2 ft^2-F/BTU) = 88K BTU per flavor

If yous are heating with natural gas at $1.50 per therm (100 CF) in an 80% efficient furnace, then the saving for one sqft of wrap for the season is:

    Saving per sqft = ($i.50)(168K - 88K)/(100K*0.viii)  = $1.65 per season per sqft of window

The bubble wrap price nearly $0.thirty per sqft, and so the payback period is about ii months -- non also bad!

If yous echo the numbers in a higher place for double glazed windows, the saving is $0.60 per sqft per season, and the payback period is a about ane half heating flavour.

If you employ a more expensive fuel like propane, fuel oil, or electricity, the savings will be correspondingly more than.

Performance:

Here is my Rough Performance Test

Some interesting work washed by students at LIU on insulation value of packing materials.  Probably not exactly applicative to windows, but interesting.

Does Bubble Wrap Help In the Summertime? (added March 2016)

There have been a few questions on whether bubble wrap is effective in reducing unwanted rut gain in the summer. The answer is that it does help some, but there are probably better approaches.

The bubble wrap adds insulation, and then just as this added insulation helps to reduce heat loss from the warm room to the common cold outside in the winter, it as well helps to reduce oestrus gain from the hot outside to the absurd room in the summer, and that is good and helps the room run libation. Just, heat gain too comes from the sunday shining right through the window and the bubble wrap and then being absorbed when it hits a surface in the room. In the winter, this direct absorption of solar radiations is a good affair in that its free heat gain -- its one of the nice features of bubble wrap that it allows the sun to shine right through it and get beneficially absorbed in the room. But, in the summertime this direct absorbtion of solar radiation in the room is a negative and its a large part of summer heat gain for windows that get a lot of direct sun.

For summertime heat gain with windows that become direct sunlight its really important to prevent the sunlight from shinning through the window and into the room. The best mode to practice this is to stop the sunlight exterior the window by shading the window on the outside in some way. The shading can be things like shade trees or bushes, shade screen (which still allows some lite into the room, but blocks most of the heat gain), or completely opaque shades on the exterior of the window that block all of the lord's day. If its not possible to shade the window on the outside, than some other approach is to identify a reflective surface (similar a shade) but inside of the window with the reflective side facing the window. This reflects much of the sun right back out the window so it is not absorbed and converted to heat within the room. Surfaces like aluminum foil or a reflective white paint are skilful at reflecting sunlight back out the window.

The section on passive cooling has a lot of ideas and schemes for reducing summertime oestrus gain. The window shading page in particular has ways to reduce estrus proceeds through windows.

Bubble Wrap Life:

Doug reports that bubble wrap that he installed 6 years ago has most had it.  He thinks the life is around 5 to 7 years.  In his application, the bubble wrap stays upwards twelvemonth round.

He reports that at the finish of its life, it tends to stick to the glass, and so replacing it before this happens might salve some cleanup work.

The bubble wrap he is using was intended for packaging, so this still leaves open the question of whether the bubble wrap intended for greenhouses will last longer.  The greenhouse bubble wrap we installed is on its third winter, and is still doing fine.

Comments and Suggestions

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2/27/07, 4/28/07, 9/4/07, Nov eighteen, 2007, November 24, 2010, added Comment section Nov 11, 2013

Source: https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm

Posted by: jacksonackles94.blogspot.com

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