By Matthew Nusser, Contributing writer
There are three basic and effective ways to insulate windows.
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The first is to use thermal adhesive. This comes in a material called window film. This can be the best approach to take in insulating your current windows in your house. First, it is fairly cheap. The price per square foot is on a whole much cheaper then other conventional insulation practices. Secondly, it is easy to find.
Window film not only can be bought online or at most any home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowe's, it can be bought in a wide range of colors, tints, designs, and density. You can make an ordinary window look like a stained glass, or a crackled glass finish, or even be reflective for security purposes, but still allow light to come in.
The plus side to all of this is that the film itself is mainly designed to insulate your windows from cold/warm air loss or gain.
Lastly, window film can be done by yourself. You can have a professional install it if you want a warranty for workmanship, but if you don't mind taking the time you can buy a kit to do it yourself and it doesn't require tons of work.
The second is what they call a thermal screen, which attaches to the outside of the house around the window. Basically, this acts like a storm door for the window, shielding it from cold/hot air from outside, moisture, and UV rays which can fade items in your home. This can get rather expensive depending on the type, amount, and size of screen you use. On top of that, it almost always requires a professional to install it.
The last solution would use items such as weather striping and caulking (silicone is best for this). Basically, you would be adding weather striping to portions of the window and outlining fixed portions inside and out with caulking to prevent airloss and moisture. Keep in mind that there are portions on double paned windows that are left open. These small holes are called weep holes and should not be covered. These are left to allow moisture to evaporate from the inside of the two panes.