If you haven’t yet prepared your home for winter, you aren’t alone. Americans have had a rough and tumble 2021, with the pandemic, the economy heading south and the attending chaos of both.
Whatever the reason for putting off weatherproofing the windows in your home, it’s never too late in the season to get it done
Weatherproofing requires more than plastic sheets
When you’re ready to keep the cold air out and the warm air in, you can tackle the first step of the weatherproofing without too much hassle.
Begin by cleaning your windows, both inside and out. Not a fun job, but it’s part of the process.
While you’re cleaning them, check every window to ensure the caulking is in good condition. If not, remove the old and apply new caulking.
The U.S. Department of Energy offers handy advice on how to do this. You’ll find it online at energy.gov. Scroll down the page and click on “Caulking.”
Wooden frames or broken panes that require replacing may need to wait until spring as this can be a bigger job.
Gather your supplies
Once the windows in your home are clean, it’s time to take them to the next, energy-efficient level with weather stripping and window insulation film.
If you don’t have these items on hand, you’ll find them at the large home improvement stores and at hardware stores.
Look for self-adhesive weather stripping as this will save a lot of time and energy. Follow the package instructions and check out the brilliant weather-stripping guide at lowes.com. It includes information about how to choose the right type of weather stripping for your windows and walk-throughs of how to apply it to different types of windows.
Once all your windows have this protection, it’s time to apply window insulation film. This is applied directly to windows. Again, check your local hardware or home improvement store to purchase.
The selection may be dizzying, so check out the recommendations at bobvila.com and the product reviews at amazon.com.
You’ll find an application tutorial at energystar.gov.
Although it sounds like weatherproofing your windows will take the better part of a weekend, it’s actually a quick job that you can be done in an hour or two, depending on the number of windows in your home.
The best news is that once you’re finished, you can expect your home to remain warm and snug for the rest of the winter.
