As winter presses on households already strained by the cost of keeping warm, a humble roll of kitchen cling film is being offered as a modest answer to a very old problem: how to hold on to the heat we pay for. Stephen Hankinson, an energy efficiency adviser, is encouraging people across the UK to stretch it across their window glass, trapping a thin layer of air that slows the escape of warmth. It is not the grand remedy of better insulation or extra panes, and he is candid that it falls short of them, yet for those who cannot afford such works it offers a small, inexpensive way to meet the
Cling Film on Windows Could Cut Heating Bills, Says Energy Adviser
A third pane of glass it isn't, but it costs a fraction as much
Mark
So the pitch is cling film on windows. Why does anyone take this seriously?
Mimi
Because the logic is sound on its face. Windows account for about 20% of a room's heat loss, and the film traps a layer of air against the glass, which adds a little insulation.
Mark
And it's cheap.
Mimi
Far cheaper than official insulating films, and nothing like the cost or disruption of major insulation work. That matters when budgets are tight.
Luke
Before we get carried away, where does that 20% come from? It's attributed to the adviser, not to a study cited in the piece.
Mimi
Fair. It's his figure as reported, and the article doesn't link a source for it.
Luke
And there are no savings numbers at all. No pounds, no percentages for the cling film itself.
Mimi
Right. He says it should net some savings, and admits it's not as good as a third pane of glass. That's all we have.
Mark
Does it matter that he works for a radiator company?
Luke
It's worth noting. It doesn't make him wrong, but it's not independent testing, and the piece doesn't claim it is.
Mimi
The practical advice is specific, though: clean the glass, pick a dry warm day, smooth it, check for gaps. Best suited to single glazing and conservatories.
Luke
Which is the honest limit: for double-glazed rooms, the article gives us no reason to expect much.
O Pulso
- Rising heating bills are squeezing household budgets just as the autumn chill sets in.
- Windows, responsible for roughly a fifth of heat lost from a room, are singled out as the leakiest point to tackle.
- Households are being urged to tape kitchen cling film to clean, dry glass, smoothing it taut to trap a layer of air.
- The method promises savings most clearly for single-glazed windows and glass-heavy conservatories, but the size of those savings remains unmeasured and unproven.
As winter presses on households already strained by the cost of keeping warm, a humble roll of kitchen cling film is being offered as a modest answer to a very old problem: how to hold on to the heat we pay for. Stephen Hankinson, an energy efficiency adviser, is encouraging people across the UK to stretch it across their window glass, trapping a thin layer of air that slows the escape of warmth. It is not the grand remedy of better insulation or extra panes, and he is candid that it falls short of them, yet for those who cannot afford such works it offers a small, inexpensive way to meet the cold with a little more resistance.
The advice begins with a roll of kitchen cling film and a clean window. Stephen Hankinson, an energy efficiency expert at Electric Radiators Direct, is urging UK households to stretch the film across the inside of their glass as a low-cost way to keep rooms warmer through the autumn and winter without turning up the thermostat.
The pressure behind the suggestion is familiar. Heating costs weigh heavily on millions of homes, and proper insulation, though effective, is often expensive and disruptive to install. For households with tight budgets, those remedies are out of reach, and Hankinson argues that windows are the natural place to begin, since they account for about 20% of the heat lost from a room.
The film works by trapping a layer of air between the pane and the plastic, adding a thin extra barrier. He admits it cannot match a third pane of glass, but he believes it should still yield some savings at a fraction of the price of official insulating films. The gains should be greatest in single-glazed rooms and in conservatories or orangeries.
Application takes some care: clean and measure the glass, ideally work on a dry, warm day, and smooth the film gently so it sticks without tearing, checking for gaps or loose patches.
A note of caution remains. The advice comes from a firm that sells electric radiators, the 20% figure is his own estimate, and no independent measurements of real savings are offered. It is a cheap experiment worth trying, but how much it will actually save is still an open question.
The advice comes down to a roll of kitchen cling film and a clean window. Stephen Hankinson, an energy efficiency expert at the company Electric Radiators Direct, is urging UK households to stretch the film across the inside of their window glass as a low-cost way to keep rooms warmer this autumn and winter, without raising the thermostat.
The backdrop is familiar. Energy bills, and heating costs in particular, are a heavy worry for millions of households. The better a home is insulated, the more efficiently its heating warms it and the lower the bill. But the usual remedies are expensive to buy and can mean disruptive construction work to install. With budgets squeezed, that is out of reach for many people, which is the gap Hankinson says his suggestion is meant to fill.
He points to windows as the place to start, because they account for about 20% of the heat lost from a room. Even small changes to how a window is insulated, he argues, can make a real difference to both bills and comfort.
The mechanism, as he describes it, is simple. Cling film on the inside of the glass traps a layer of air between the pane and the plastic, adding a thin extra barrier. "Putting cling film on the inside of your windows may seem odd," he said, but it is a much cheaper alternative to the official insulating films sold for the purpose.
He is open about its limits. It is not as effective as a third pane of glass, he says, though it should still produce some savings for a fraction of the cost of other insulation methods. The benefit should be greatest in rooms with single-glazed windows, and in rooms with a lot of glass, such as conservatories and orangeries.
The method calls for some care. Measure the window and clean it first. Ideally, apply the film on a dry, warm day so it adheres well. Then use a soft cloth or your hands to smooth it down and make sure it sticks, being gentle so it doesn't tear. Finally, check the edges and the surface for gaps or loose patches. The film should be tight and smooth to give what Hankinson calls the best insulation.
One caution for readers: the advice comes from an expert at a company that sells electric radiators, and the article offers no independent measurements of how much a household might actually save. The 20% heat-loss figure is his own. For anyone with single-glazed windows or a glass-heavy conservatory, it is a cheap thing to try, but the size of the payoff remains unquantified.
Citações Notáveis
Putting cling film on the inside of your windows may seem odd, but this creates an extra layer of insulation by trapping air between the glass and the plastic.— Stephen Hankinson, energy efficiency expert, Electric Radiators Direct
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