does tapeing plastic over windows help very much in winter?
I don't know why you would want to tape windows. The best way to keep a place warm is to have curtains and close them to keep the heat in. That is a fact. Try it and you will see. good Luck. You could buy curtains in a charity shop but have your measurements. No Offence meant
The plastic can help but I think it is a pain. I am a fan of seal an d peel caulk. You use it to seal anywhere where air can seep through. On a double hung window, this would be around the perimeter and where the two windows meet. When the winter season is over, you just peel it off. I would also install storm windows if you don't already have them. They aren't too expensive and they aren't too difficult to install. You can probably find a YouTube video or two to show you how.
It does help somewhat. When you seal a window like that, you're creating an area of dead air (non-circulating) which does help slow down heat transfer. It's like the pockets of air in an insulated jacket or in fiberglass insulation. It also seals up any gaps and leaks in the window itself. I find that to really reduce the heat loss through a window, I use plastic on the inside and the outside and use a heavy material as a curtain. Between the three, I don't feel the chill from around the windows. @Boy Boy - That's what my Central Heating system is designed to do. It has an air-exchanger that trades the stale inside air with the outside air AND has a heat exchanger to take the heat from the air going out to pre-warm the heat coming in to the house. Even without that, homes leak enough air to not develop mold. We're not talking making a hermetic seal here. Every time the doors open you get a significant air exchange. And that's not even mentioning all the office and commercial buildings that do not have windows that open. They have sealed, double and sometimes triple pane windows filled with inert gases. They don't get mold. Mold in the winter develops on areas where condensation on the walls forms. And if you have condensation forming in the house on an exterior wall, then there is usually a lack or a failure of the insulation in that area that needs to be addressed. Before you call someone an idiot, make sure that they're actually doing something idiotic.
