Plastic up the Windows

Winter is coming and your heat is going out the windows.  Every single home leaks heat out the windows and that is a fact of physics.  Cold migrates to heat and heat migrates to cold.  Even if you have top of the line insulated windows your home is still going to leak heat through every single window.  Why does this happen? Windows are an open box for heat to escape.  No installation of an energy saving window matters because the air space around the window is wide open.  But you can somewhat stop the relationship of heat going out and cold coming in and save you heating dollars.

Plastic and windows are good friends when it comes to winter heating bills.  Every home improvement store sells the plastic window insulation kits.  I happen to be a huge fan of putting plastic up over the windows. 

We have an apartment with floor to ceiling windows in the front.  There has always been a cold breeze that came through the windows even though they are tightly sealed windows for the most part.  You might ask yourself why you should put plastic up on your windows.  This is why.  Heat migrates to cold because that is science and physics.  Cold migrates to heat and this causes a reaction in the battle between hot and cold.  Cold usually wins and your heat goes out the window.  For the sake of a few dollars and a few hours of work you can save large amounts of money and enjoy your indoor heat more.

By simply putting up a plastic sheet over your windows you throw up an insulator to the heat in your home and the cold outside.  The two sides of hot and cold will still fight but there is a mediator that cancels all of their arguments for entry or exit out.  The air trapped behind the plastic warms all day long and that alone keeps your heated space from attracting to the cold windows long into the night. 

Do yourself a favor and try putting up some plastic on a few rooms that you know are cold even with the heat blasting.  Install the plastic outside of the frame of the indoor windows and woodwork.  It makes a huge difference.  An ounce of prevention for so little cost saves tons of money on your winter heating bill.

Stay warm my friends.

Papamoka

Progressive Politics Surge

Former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill once said "All politics is local."  That phrase was never more true than in this past off year election across the country.  Bill Moyers has a great story on just what happened in fifteen political races across the country called "15 Under-the-Radar Progressive Wins of Election 2013".

What is even more amazing is what is reported by readers of the post in the comment sections.  In addition to Bill's piece we have these progressive wins as posted by his readers:

1.  Cape Coral, the 3rd largest city geographically in the state of Florida, flipped from GOP to DEM by voting in Marni Sawicki... the first female mayor in Cape Coral's history!

2.  NJ voted yes to increase minimum wage to $8.25 ( from $7.25)

3.   Barnstable, MA, became the 15th and final Cape Cod town to vote overwhelmingly to shut down the Pilgrim Nuclear Power plant in Plymouth.

4.   Sunnyvale, CA's Measure C - Strict gun control. Passed 66% to 34%.

5.   Florida's fourth largest city, St Petersburg, flipped from GOP to Democrat.

6.   City of Poughkeepsie, NY - seven Democrats and one Republican on the City Common Council now.

7.   In Houston, TX, Mayor Parker was re-elected for a third term as mayor. She and her partner were out long before she first ran for mayor.

8.   Three reasonable candidates were elected to the school board over three Republican-backed "reform" candidates in heavily conservative Grand Junction, Colo.

9.  Ed Murray, Seattle, WA new Mayor.

10.  Rochester, NY, home to Susan B Anthony and Frederick Douglass, elected their first female mayor and the 2nd African American.

11.  Greensboro, NC outed its one term Republican Mayor Robbie Perkins for Nancy Vaughn a Democrat.

12.   Progressive Democrat Andy Ball won the Boone, NC Mayors seat by a landslide in a four way race.  1066 votes for Ball to 502 votes for an Independent, 150 votes for the Republican, and 113 votes for a write in.

13.  Along with the Governors office in Virginia, they also elected a Democrat Lt. Governor, Ralph Northam that happens to be and MD.

14.  Minneapolis City Council: First Hispanic, First Somalian, First Hmong voted in. Seven seats turned over. Six incumbents returned. New Mayor, a Democrat and a woman.

Change is happening and it is all local to begin with.  Comment away if you want to add election results in your area.

Papamoka