How can I insulate my windows at home?

Why should you insulate your home windows?

Putting in insulation around the windows in your home brings clear benefits in terms of increasing the energy efficiency of your home, as well as bringing down your home heat bills. Studies show that around 10-25% of heat escapes through home doors and windows with poor insulation.

So, improving the insulation around the windows in your home will stop a significant amount of heat escaping from your home. What’s more, installing better insulation around your windows improves acoustic insulation in your home, as well as allowing less heat to escape.

Once less heat escapes through the windows in your home, you’ll find you use less energy to heat your home to the levels you’re accustomed to. This improves your home energy efficiency, ensuring you use less electricity, gas, oil or wood to heat your home. This improved energy efficiency is better for you - as it will bring down your home heat bills - and better for the environment, too.

Of course, all types of home insulation will have a similar effect in terms of bringing down your heat bills and energy usage. Installing improved insulation is a key step in optimising your home energy efficiency!

What’s more, window insulation is vital for improving levels of thermal comfort in your home. Single glazing allows a lot of heat to escape from the home, sharpening the effects of each and every draught you might feel in winter. Double glazing, however, is much more effective in keeping heat inside the home and keeping the winter cold at bay.

The good news is that it’s possible to add improved insulation to even old windows in your home, so you can improve the levels of heat efficiency and thermal comfort throughout your home.

How can I insulate an old window with single glazing in my home?

If you want to improve insulation on an old window that has single glazing, there are multiple options you can choose for your home: caulking or adding an extra glazing layer.

For all of the solutions described below, it’s advisable to get a window insulation professional to carry out the work on the windows in your home. That way, you can ensure the best insulation results throughout your home windows, no matter which window insulation solution you opt for.

Caulking an old window with single glazing

Caulking the old windows in your home involves adding an effective sealant around the frame of the window. This will stop so much heat from escaping through the window frame.

Adding this sealant around the frame of old windows in your home could be a cost-efficient option for improving their insulation and reducing any draught you might feel from them, rather than replacing or double glazing all the windows.

Adding insulating film to an old window with single glazing

This involves applying an insulating film to old windows in the home, adding an additional layer of insulation onto the window glass itself, rather than working on its frame.

Adding insulating film to your windows is a great option for increasing home energy efficiency, reducing the amount of heat that escapes from your home and increasing your acoustic insulation, too.

Replacing old windows with single glazing with double or triple glazing

For the best results in improving home insulation, you might want to replace your old home windows with new windows with double or even triple glazing. Read more on this insulation option below!

Double glazing and triple glazing for better window insulation

As we’ve seen, windows with single glazing leave us with a lot of room for improving window insulation in our homes. However, there are multiple options for improving insulation on these windows with single glazing, to improve your home energy efficiency and reduce heat loss across your windows.

It’s worth bearing in mind that windows with single glazing are mostly found in older homes, whereas newer builds often have windows with double glazing or triple glazing.

If adding caulking seal around the window frame or insulating film to your old windows with single glazing simply won’t make the changes in energy efficiency and heat loss that you want to see, consider replacing your single glazing windows with double or triple glazing.

Double glazing for improving insulation

Double glazing places a gas layer within two window panes, helping to keep heat in the home. It’s fairly easy to install in the home, making double glazing a practical option.

Triple glazing for improving insulation further

For triple glazing, three glass layers are separated by an insulating air gap. As triple glazing provides improved insulation, it’s more expensive than double glazing. Triple glazing is also heavier and not as easy to install in the home.

What influences the insulation levels of home windows?

Two factors primarily influence the insulation levels of your home windows: how well each frame is sealed and the glazing level of the windows. Bear both of these factors in mind when choosing how to best insulate your home windows.

Improving your window insulation is vital to increasing your home energy efficiency and reducing your heat bills. Make sure to add insulation to other areas of your home, too, as this will help to further improve your home energy usage. There are various home insulation solutions to suit all types of budgets!