DIY Internal Window - Why thermal and sound window proofing is good

It might sound funny to those in colder countries, but Australian winter indoors "sucks". Windows in most apartments/units/houses are just simply substandard and are more suited for a garage than home. Most often only have one glass sheet and if older, they have alluminium frames. 

What can you do about them? You can either have internal ones made to order (and shell out thousands of dollars this way), OR, with a little research and effort, you can simply make them yourself 3 to 4 times cheaper. Here you can read how in a series of articles.

Each winter, when temperature goes down below 15C (that is PLUS 15 degrees not minus), people 'undust' their convector heaters and start making the electricity providers rich without a single look at their home's insulation - a practice that I will never fully get in a place with such a mild and friendly climate. All the energy they use is instantly gone, not making much difference to the interior at all (yes, you’re still wearing a thick jumper).

Last winter I realised that windows in my place were so thin and bad, that sometimes I’d had a real problem working out whether I was “technically” still living inside or I was actually sort of camping. With cold air draught being felt one and a half meter away from them, no wonder, all family got finally ill for an unusually long time, predominantly with dry cough. Then, in summer there is a similar problem when scorching heat gets in through the same crappy windows. Most people's solution? 

That's right! "Get yourself an aircon!"

When you think about that, and stir the thought a bit with the exorbitant prices of Australian real estate, one could be excused to become aaa .... a little rude ...

What can you do about it? Right, you can have them made. Well, and I recommend that to everybody as a funny exercise, get a quote from the very few suppliers of internal windows on the market. I got a few quotes and honestly felt like kindly advising them to have their heads checked. $2900 - $3500 for a balcony window and there were 2 more smaller windows that were to be had for about $2,500. All in all around $5400 for the three of them.

So what’s so pricey about them? Acrylic sheets are not that expensive, you can have Poly Carb ones for about double the price but they would still come relatively cheaply. Wooden framing? There are a lots of suppliers of high quality wood suppliers. They are not expensive either. What else? Screws, glue, magnetic tape, a good measuring device, a few basic tools?

Well, this is how I went about it: probably not a big deal but it may it be an inspiration for those who want to save. In this case, rather a lot.

On this website you can find a detailed instruction how to make internal windows. Before I begin I want to stress that I am myself not a shiny example of a handyman so pretty much everybody can do it with a few basic tools. Also, you should approach it as a fully responsible adult: "If I screw things up, it's nobody else's fault but mine". But if you put your mind to it, there is nothing to spoil.

I am going to watch energy bills but now it's getting warm again, so I am rather curious how this is going to work in summer. What I am already very happy about is the sound insulation which is much better. If you're playing a music instrument like saxophone and you live in a unit, it's a great thing. Your neighbours will hate you slightly less and that guy with garden leaf blower will not blow your mind away along with leaves.

I will update these post as soon as I have further information.