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Shrink to Fit,
RV Window Covering
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| January 15, 2007: While visiting my son Ben in Reno, I noticed he had applied a plastic film to the inside of his windows even though they were already double-pane. I decided this might help our RV especially since our windows are only single pane. |
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The idea is to create a vapor barrier between the outside pane and the plastic film in our RV windows. These days have been single digit temperature days and the windows have been extremely cold. An application of this film will also stop any air leaks around the windows. A disadvantage is the loss of ability to open the window. So, we chose to seal only half the windows, the windows on the north side of the trailer. |
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| I purchased the kit at a Lowe's Hardware store but I'm sure, about any home-improvement store would have the kit. It sells for about $8. The kit supplies double-back tape, one side goes to the window frame. Once the tape completely circles the window, measure the plastic to be applied at the window. |
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When the plastic is sized to fit, pull the paper covering on the tape. Start sticking the film to the tape at the top, pulling the film tight but don't worry about getting it perfect. Stick the film to the bottom tape next then complete the seal on the sides of the window frame. (This particular window had no clearance at the top from the window shade so I did not put tape at the top. It still worked well so I'm glad I did not go to the trouble of removing the shade frame. All the other windows, I was able to seal all four sides.) The plastic sticks easily to the tape and is easily pulled from the tape and repositioned if necessary. I decided this little box contained a sort-of intelligence test. The plastic is 62 inches x 210 inches. But I could only open it to 31 inches |
| wide. I worked for an hour trying to separate the last fold of the film without success. I finally looked up the MD Building Products Web site for help in separating the last fold of the film. They had instructions for installation but no help to separate the film. I used their form to send them an email asking for help. After sending the email, I thought to myself that "creating and using tools" is what separates us from the other animals. Surely I could figure out a tool to help. I thought of the tape sitting on my desk. I folded a piece of tape onto itself for a short "handle" with an equal amount of sticky tape left. I stuck one piece to the corner of one side of the film and another piece of tape to the other side of the same corner and pulled on my "handles". |
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The two pieces of film immediately separated, now my film was the full 62 inches wide. I decided this was an intelligence test. The smart user would have figured this out in less than ten minutes, the "handicapped" user would take an hour. I still haven't heard from the MD Building Products company with help, perhaps they've never tried it themselves and must ask a user how to do it.
The hair dryer works perfectly. Point at the photo to the left to see the action. The film really does shrink tightly around the window and it really looks good. You don't touch the film with the dryer but keep it about an inch from the film. |
I sealed the largest rear picture window in our fifth wheel as well as several others. I figured this was a huge area where we were losing heat. I don't know of a method to test this product. I simply don't have thermometers sensitive enough to compare the difference between a sealed window and un-treated window. However, the concept seems sound. I know it would at least stop drafty windows. I can tell you that the plastic is closer to the temperature of the room while the single pane window is the temperature of the outside air. It was easy and relatively quick to apply too. By-the-way, I did wash the inside of the window before the application of the film. |
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