Low-Cost, insulated, roll-up shades

In Vol 94, No. 1 of Countryside Magazine, there is an article on low-cost, insulated, roll-up shades. The idea behind them is to insulate the house on cold nights or hot days, and roll them up to let the warmth of the sun in during the day in winter and the cool night air during the summer. They provide the “one-way valve” to heat flow, and utilize Reflectix for reflecting radiant heat. The author additionally covered the reflctix with muslin cloth for aesthetics. It cost them $15 per window, 15 years ago.

I know people who put panels of bubble wrap on their window panes.  They claim it allows 90% of the light in, but cuts half of the heat loss.  The two ideas in combination could save a lot of energy.

You can also sew interlined curtains, that might look a bit nicer, is a bit more difficult too.
If you are very handy then I would really consider wooden shutters like all houses had in the past. Unfortunately I'm not handy enough.

I'm one of those bubblewrappers. It works! Actually, bubblewrap deserves its own thread. I'm going to stop hijacking, and start one...

How do you start a new thread?

This guy has good pictures of how to make a reflectix window roll-up shade:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/ThermalShades/ReflectexShade.htm


I'm going to make a couple to try for this winter.

troy

solarguy2003 wrote:
This guy has good pictures of how to make a reflectix window roll-up shade:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/ThermalShades/ReflectexShade.htm


I'm going to make a couple to try for this winter.

troy

Very cool, I think I'm going to try that this year...

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/ThermalShades/ReflectexShade.htm That's my article, also the one in Countryside is mine. We have been living with them for over 25 years, and have made some improvements. Any questions, just ask. Sundug