On my trip to Madrid I lived in a wonderful apartment (in terms of its location), but it was old and was poorly insulatedThe result? If you didn’t take any climate control measures, such as turning on the heating, it was too cold in winter and too hot in summer. Yes, by turning on the boiler or the air conditioning, you could raise or lower the temperature until you reached thermal comfort.
The problem is that once you turn off the boiler or the air conditioning, it is only a matter of time before the temperature returns to being close to that of the outside. Or, precisely because of this thermal loss, you have to keep these devices on longer than necessary. As I said: A poorly insulated house takes its toll.
Insulation is a passive measure for thermal comfort And this is crucial: unlike air conditioning or heating, which we have to turn on for them to work, these elements are responsible for minimising heat exchange. Improving the insulation of a house completely takes time and money, but there are always options to do it easily and cheaply in key areas, such as doors and windows. A perfect candidate is the classic sliding windows.
Weatherstripping is good, nice and cheap for insulating doors and windows
I have already told you that in my little apartment in Madrid a draught excluder made the difference when it came to improving the insulation of the front door of the house, but there are not only draught excluders for doors, but you can also installing weather stripping for sliding windows. This way, you will reduce thermal loss, which has a direct impact on your comfort and your wallet: raising the temperature of the air conditioning by one degree means an increase in expenditure of between 5 and 7%, so if you manage to keep the house cool for longer, you will save money.
A good example is this sliding window fringe strip from the Ferpasa brand at Leroy Merlin, made of silicone and 1.5 metres long for just over two euros (2.19 euros). Its installation is very simple and fast.placing it on the window track.
Once installed, it minimises the passage of air, so that in summer the warm air from outside enters less and in winter the same happens with the cold air. In addition and collaterally, it also prevents dust from entering and improves sound insulation from the window.
Black window draft excluder 1.5 m
* Some prices may have changed since the last review
Cover | Photo by Ryan Pilato
At Xataka Home | These are the best cheap solutions to better insulate your home when you have already tried all the tricks