Snuggling on your sofa with a cup of hot chocolate and comfy bunny slippers – is this how you imagine yourself on a breezy winter morning? You surely aren’t alone as the winter solstice is pleasantly welcomed by many in the country.

While your winter experience would majorly depend on your location (sorry Hawaiians and Floridians), many cities across the nation experience cold and chilly winds during the season. And though you may enjoy your drafty apartment during the summers, you wouldn’t want to roam around wearing layers of clothing inside your apartment in winters, right?

One way of getting your house prepared for the winds is by insulating your doors and windows. Read along and know 5 ways to insulate your apartment windows for winter. Along with being quick and easy, these are also cost effective ways to get you going.

1. Use Window Film To Cover Windows

Replacing your window may not always be an option available to you and that’s when insulating your windows seems like a better way to go with. One of the instant ways of doing this task is by using a window film insulation to cover your windows.

Basically, a window film is like a barrier between your windows and your home interiors. Think of it as a protective layer of clothing for your window. Whether you have a single pane or a double pane window, the insulating film will serve as an extra layer upgrading your windows. It will block the cold winds from entering inside and at the same time will also ensure that the heat does not escape the room.

You could either take the help of a professional or go the DIY way to install the window film. The kits can easily be ordered online, or you could also ask at a retail store. They will usually have all the materials that you would need. All you need to do is measure the plastic shrink film and apply it on the inside of your window using a double sided sticky tape. To increase the effectiveness, you could heat the window film with a hairdryer and press it into place, removing all the wrinkles.

Good To Know: Most of these window films provide a two way service. They can keep you warm during the winters by trapping the heat inside and can also have an opposite effect in summers when you want to keep the cool temperatures of your air cooler within your room. Overall, these window films have a great utility throughout the year.

Apart from helping you save money on your utility bills, some window films could also protect your belongings from the UV rays as well as reduce the glare from the sun. Some companies also offer different variations of the window films that could help serve more than one purpose. All in all, for those looking at quick and effective ways to insulate their windows, using a window film is a good option.

2. Install Removable Magnetic Installation

Want to keep the chilly air outside, but occasionally feel like opening up the windows and letting the cool breeze in? An authentic solution to this seems to be the use of removable magnetic window insulation. Because of its magnetic properties, such window insulations work better than tapes to keep the insulation vinyl intact.

You could easily order it from online retailers like Amazon and install it on your own. How you need to go about it is, first measure and accordingly cut the insulating vinyl as per your window size. Next, you’ll have to apply a number of coats of the magnetic paint to your window frame as well as the window trim. And finally, you can affix the magnetic tape to the insulating vinyl. With these steps, you can have an insulated window at times when you need it and can also easily remove it for when you want to enjoy the open windows.

Some other prominent advantages of using a magnetic window film are that they are energy efficient and can also help in noise reduction to some extent. Additionally, they also offer you the flexibility of insulating your windows without hampering their aesthetic appeal.

3. Cover Windows With Bubble Wrap

One of the easiest and inexpensive ways of insulating your windows is through the use of bubble wraps. Yes, these wraps are multipurpose in nature and along with protecting your fragile items during a move, they could also help you keep the chilly air out of your house during winters.

Designed with small air pockets, which surprisingly are also a great stress reliever for many, bubble wraps serve as good insulators to keep the heat within the room. You could easily purchase bubble wrap from retail stores or can also order it online. To use it as an insulator for your window, all you would have to do is spray water over the inner part of your window and hold the bubble part of the wrap towards it. You could firmly seal the edges with tape but know that it could lift paint when removed from the window.

Along with being lightweight and a very cost effective way for insulating your windows, bubble wraps also give you the advantage of covering up all those oddly shaped windows that do not have the regular measurement. You can easily cut the desired shape or size from the bubble wrap sheet and use it effectively to insulate your windows.

4. Seal Cracks With Rope Caulk

Many a times, it is the tiny gaps in the window frames through which the wintry air finds its way into the house. Even if you don’t fully insulate your entire window, you could also, to a large extent, prevent the cold air from coming inside by sealing such gaps. While you could use caulk on the inside of your windows, you could also use silicon to seal the gaps on the outside of your windows.

Rope caulk usually comes in gray or brown colors and is easy to install as well as remove. Before using the rope caulk, make sure that the area is clean and dry, otherwise the caulk may become less sticky and may not be able to seal efficiently. Next, you would only need to cut the desired amount of rope you need and firmly press it into the gap or crack that you need covered. We would also suggest you seal all the gaps on the exterior, especially if you’re living on the ground floor.

While rope caulk will easily help you seal all those gaps, know that you may still need to insulate your window glass as air may seep in through that as well. Overall, using rope caulks is an efficient way of balancing your home temperatures, and at the same time, you could also ensure that all the small creepy crawlies or critters do not get a chance to creep in through those gaps.

5. Use Thermal Curtains For Windows

Curtains are an intriguing aspect in deciding the aesthetics of not just your window but your entire room in general. But curtains have a value far more than that. Along with acting as shades against the sunlight, curtains also serve as great insulators to keep your room warm during the winters.

Yes, we are talking about thermal curtains that have a special lining designed to keep the warm air inside. You could use them in winters to prevent the warm air from escaping, and you could also use it in the summers to block the humid heat from entering inside. Like the other items mentioned on our list, these thermal curtains are also easily available online.

In addition to being energy efficient, thermal curtains also have the ability to block out light and help in noise reduction. So, if you want to quietly read your book, sitting next to the quaint window in your room, having thermal curtains on your window shall only add to your contentment.

What Is The Cheapest Way To Insulate Windows For Winter?

All of the above five ways that we’ve mentioned in our article are cheap and affordable ways to insulate your windows for winters. But out of these, the bubble wrap and rope caulk options seem to be the cheapest and easily available ways to use. While bubble wrap can be used for all kinds and shapes of windows, you could use the rope caulk to easily seal all your open gaps in the windows.

How Do You Insulate Drafty Apartment Windows?

A break in the thermal envelope of your apartment could result in what is termed as drafty windows. And since they are already prone to gaps, if not insulated well, it could easily let all the cold wind slide in. As with your other windows, you could insulate your drafty apartment windows by air sealing the window frame with caulk on the inside and silicon on the outside.

Another way of going about it is to apply window insulation film, and if your house experiences really cold weather, then you could also add insulated thermal curtains to increase the effectiveness of your insulation film.

Also Read: How to Secure Your New Home or Apartment

How Do You Wrap Windows In The Winter?

Using bubble wrap to insulate windows is probably a quick and easy way to keep your house warm. All you need to do is correctly measure the bubble wrap against your window, making sure it fits easily from edge to edge. Next, just spray water over your window and stick the bubble wrap against it with the flat back of the wrap facing you. And that’s how easily you could wrap your windows in the winter.

Conclusion

Winters in some places like in NYC, in Chicago or in Detroit, can be really chilly at times. And even though the temperatures would be consistently falling, your heating bill prices shall surely shoot up. But that is when you could use the insulation techniques to save a few bucks.

All of the 5 ways that we’ve mentioned here are not only pocket friendly but are also good DIY options. So, now that you know a few ways to easily insulate your windows, we suggest that you get going and be all ready to enjoy the cold weather.

Also See: List of Top Apartment Moving Companies in the US | Essentials You Need To Buy For First Apartment | Most Valuable Home Improvements