New four-pane window

Earlier I mentioned that after a windy storm one of the eight small storm windows on my first floor fell off. I decided, in putting it back up, to apply some of the low tech insulating method we used in the sunroom five-pane window inserts. Although the sunroom has not been tested yet I can tell that by adding air pockets of clear plastic in the inserts we have kept the room much warmer. I decided to use the same clear plastic insulating kits on both sides of the storm window. However, instead of using staples to strengthen the double-sided tape I used some clear cold-weather tape I had from previous years of insulating the sunroom. With the addition of two layers of plastic, my small window in the dining room went from the equivalent of a two-pane window, inside window and storm window, to a four-pane window with three air pockets of insulation. The new four-pane window certainly passed the touch test; the inside of this window is much warmer than the inside of the windows next to it with just window and storm. And the window stays clear as you can see in the picture. Since the extra two layers are on the storm I can keep them on the windows all year around, thus saving energy cost also in the summer. Now I have seven more to go.

Now, one can rightly say that these kits are easily and inexpensively available in the hardware storm and there is nothing new in using them. Just like the use of worms in growing, that is true. But using multiple layers of this clear plastic in the sunroom or on the small windows is not normal. People are usually happy with two or three pockets of air and feel that the thickness of glass is a significant in insulating. (The other day I just saw three pane windows advertised on TV. I am sure they are expense.) However, what we are doing is creating four or five-pane windows affordably while keeping all the esthetic value of having clear windows.

Since I observed solar panels in an orphanage in Guatemala (Buried in Guatemala) in April 06, I have been interested in using solar energy to heat. These solar panels were the very effective kind, and had an inverter that could turn the solar energy directly into electric energy. If this kind of solar energy becomes affordable, a combination of this source of energy with the five-pane window system could provide enough heat to keep a Growing Power greenhouse very productive. My friend John, the creator of the five pane window, even thinks that this combination could double Will Allen’s goal of having his greenhouses produce $5 a square foot. Energy cost is the greatest cost of a greenhouse.

So while multi-million dollar Google seeks to use high-tech in its effort to privatize the energy saving field, this lowly, wiki Diary of the Worm is seeking to use low-tech to keep energy savings in the ‘commons’.

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