Upper Green Side

Feel a Breeze? Weatherize Your Windows!

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As Winter finally reaches us here New York, many people are only for the first time feeling the cold air whip into their apartment through all the little leaks and cracks in their windows. If you have major points where air is coming through your windows, you should call your building’s super or maintenance person to see if they will come seal them up. You might remind them that sealing this up is a good way for them to save money on the building heating.

But many of us find that building supers are not as responsive to these requests as one might hope. And many times the leaks are small enough that they are easily fixed by the application of some tape, weatherstrips and plastic covers. Thankfully, there are many simple and inexpensive ways to seal up these cracks to help keep your apartment warm.

First find where all your leaks are and make a note of how many windows need to be weather stripped. If you want to be really exact, measure out the widths and lengths of your windows and add them up to make sure you buy enough supplies.

Then go to your neighborhood hardware store and ask about “weather stripping”. This will include soft cushioning tape to put at the top and bottom of your windows to provide a more tight, snug seal at those points and “cold weather tape” that is clear tape to seal up small leaks around the edges of your windows.

To provide even more complete protection across your whole window, there are a variety of clear film shrink wraps that can help prevent drafts and increase the insulation effect of your windows significantly. With these you just apply the double sided tape to the edges of your windows and then put the plastic wrapping around the edges, cut off the excess and then use a blow-dryer to seal the plastic to the window. When Spring comes and you are ready to open your windows again, the wrapping easily peels off.

You can purchase all of these supplies at your local hardware store for less than $20. Your apartment will be better insulated to keep you warm and you will be doing your part to save energy and reduce fossil fuel consumption.