One of the disadvantages of a wooden window is cracks and crevices through which cold air enters the house. It's easy to get rid of it. Thermal insulation of wooden windows is performed in a variety of ways, both outside and inside.
Signs of the need to insulate wooden windows
A wooden window, especially an old model, does not form the degree of tightness that a plastic one implies. This is not a design flaw, but its peculiarity: the wooden frame always lets in more air due to the gaps between the elements and the structure of the wood itself. If the room has wooden windows, there is no need to worry about ventilation, excess moisture leaves the room naturally.
However, over time, the tree shrinks and cracks. The frame changes its configuration: “extra” gaps appear between the sashes, between the frame and the wall, between the wooden elements and the glass. The window does not visually change, but it is not so difficult to find the gaps.
A clear sign that it is time to insulate the windows is an increase in heating costs, with the same outside temperature and the same tariff. Some of the warm air escapes through unintended slots. The inhabitants of the apartment, trying to maintain a comfortable temperature, heat more intensively and spend more.
You can detect the cracks directly: just bring a damp hand to the sash. If there is little air flow, the frame is leaking.
An even more obvious sign is the appearance of frosty patterns on the glass.
Leaks can also be detected in the summer. A lighted candle is placed in front of the suspicious area. If the flame deviates, you need to insulate the windows. It is better to do this until the air temperature drops below +5 C.
Preparing windows
Before insulating the window, it is prepared. The frame and glass are washed, dried and treated with some kind of degreasing agent.
The wooden structure is examined in any of the above ways to determine where the cold is entering the room. Most often these are slopes, a window sill, the places where the frame and sash meet. A cold bridge appears between the glass and the sash frame. If the tree dries up badly, frosty air also passes through the deep cracks.
The window sill, ebb and slopes are sealed from the outside, the sash and frame from the inside.
The best ways to insulate
A wooden window is thermally insulated with a sealant, paper, seals, and polyurethane foam. How to insulate windows is chosen based on the number of cracks found, the condition of the tree and the required degree of insulation. You can make wooden windows as airtight as plastic ones.
Newspaper and paper
A cheap and sometimes even free method of sealing cracks in a wooden window. Choose one of the options:
- Paper - better white, but loose, not for a printer, cut into strips 4–5 cm wide. Prepare a soapy solution or paste, grease the strips with adhesive and stick them along the docking flap, frame and wall. The same result is provided by masking tape. In the spring, the glued strips are soaked and removed.
- If the gaps are too wide, do otherwise.Newspapers and paper are moistened, rolled into tubes and filled in voids.
- To close up thin cracks in a cracked tree, paper or newspaper is torn into small fragments, soaked to a mushy state and the cracks are covered with it. Insulation is not removed in spring.
- Another option is used to seal thin gaps. Small newspaper scraps are mixed with a glass of flour and diluted with water until sour cream. The composition is used to cover up the thinnest cracks that cannot be repaired. The mixture can also be used to seal the gaps between the frame and the wall, for example.
Pasting with paper guarantees a high degree of tightness. To ventilate the room, you need to open the window.
Cotton wool, fabric and tape
Slots and gaps are sealed with technical cotton wool: push the material with tweezers, scissors or other sharp object. Then the cotton fabric is cut into strips 4–5 cm wide, moistened with soapy water, lightly squeezed out and sealed with strips of gaps and cracks filled with cotton wool. The fabric is selected in one color, otherwise the window looks sloppy.
You can seal the gaps with masking tape, and use a linen cord instead of cotton wool. The method is more practical. The fabric does not turn yellow like paper and comes off the frame much more easily. Cotton wool from the cracks is also much easier to remove.
Foam rubber
Foam tape is an insulating and lightweight material. She has a short shelf life - 2 years, but the material is also cheap. Foam rubber does not deform when compressed, so insulated windows can be opened.
The foam rubber is cut to length, the protective strip is removed and the voids are filled with them or glued at the junction. If the gap is too deep, several strips are laid.
The width of the compressed foam strip should be equal to the width of the gap.
Paraffin or sealant
You can make a wooden window tight using silicone sealant or paraffin.
For insulation, a moisture-resistant composition with anti-fungal properties is taken. This is usually a polyurethane or theokol sealant. Silicone is squeezed out using a nozzle and any kind of void is filled with it. The surface is immediately trowelled to distribute the sealant in an even layer and remove excess. Cured material is extremely difficult to remove. The result lasts for several years, and the sash sealed with sealant cannot be opened.
Another method is molten paraffin. The substance is drawn into a syringe and the gap is filled with it. Paraffin provides the same degree of tightness, but is easy to remove.
Popular Swedish technology
Insulating windows using Swedish technology is an effective method, but also not easy. It is not suitable for old windows, as it involves dismantling the product and drilling grooves. Such thermal insulation has been in effect for 15–20 years.
- The sash is removed. The window is washed, dried, degreased.
- In the window frame, in the frames of the sashes and the vents, a groove is cut out with a milling cutter. The dimensions and configuration of the groove coincide with the shape of the selected insulation: polyurethane, PVC, foam rubber. No glue is needed as the seal is held in place by the nubs.
- The joints between the frame and the glass are filled with silicone sealant.
- Install the sash in place.
Insulation of wooden windows, made according to Swedish technology, does not affect the appearance of the structure, the sash and window can be opened at any moment. This thermal insulation enhances the soundproofing of the windows.
Insulation of window openings
When gaps appear between the window block and the slopes or window sill, foam rubber or seals are used for small voids, but there is an option that is more convenient - polyurethane foam.
The foam expands to fill gaps of any size and shape.It hardens during the day and provides thermal insulation due to the air bubbles contained in it. The composition is destroyed by sunlight. Painting or varnishing the filled voids is a must.
Window openings must be insulated from the outside and from the inside. Polyurethane foam is the most convenient option.
Features of window insulation in a wooden house
Wood under the influence of heat, moisture, changes in volume over time. So that these changes do not affect the window, it is inserted into a floating frame - a casing made of the same tree. The joints between the casing and the wall are sealed with jute or linen.
Gaps also form between the window block and the casing over time. For their sealing, rubber, polyurethane, PVC seals are used. For internal thermal insulation, it is allowed to use foam rubber, tubular seals.
In a wooden house, complete tightness of the window cannot be achieved. Moreover, it is undesirable, since such a vapor-tight "inclusion" violates the natural regulation of the microclimate.
