This weatherstripping insulated my room from noise and cold for less than 7,000 pesos

Rain, thunderstorms and even snowfall have been recorded in recent days in the central area of ​​the country. Nothing unusual in winter, but May has just started, the peak fall season. The threat was as strong as the morning cold: the Coastal Girl was on her way.

Surely no one will take the message lightly. It is best to prepare the house for the cold and rain to come: cleaning gutters and drainage areas, or sealing leaks from doors and windows, are some of the basic measures recommended. Finally, hold on to a heat source – a stove, your partner, your pet – that provides a pleasant thermal sensation inside the house.

This year, heating the house will be particularly difficult and above all expensive, given the constant increase in the price of oil – at the end of March they increased by an additional 30 pesos – to which will be added those of electricity.

At the start of the year, projections indicated that electricity bills would increase from July between 8 and 88%, depending on the consumption bracket, due to the thawing of tariffs which have remained unchanged since 2019.

Even if the government, through the electricity price stabilization law, will offer a subsidy which will benefit nearly a million households classified as “vulnerable” – to which is added an advantage for six municipalities located in the “vulnerable” energy transition zone” -, the regulations are still pending, so there is uncertainty as to when these services will be available.

It is therefore preferable to adjust the budget according to periods of temperature rise. To do this, it is important to watch out for possible thermal leaks: windows, doors and even walls can be a passage for unwanted winter cold, which will not stop even with the best device on the market.

Some time ago we interviewed María Luisa del Campo, academic at the School of Civil Engineering in Public Works of the University of Talca and expert in energy efficiency, who gave us a series of tips for tempering the house with the lowest energy expenditure.

“A house maintains its temperature according to the capacity of the elements that compose it to preserve it,” he told us then. The walls, the floor, the furniture, the rugs, the curtains: everything accumulates heat during the day, contributing to the thermal sensation. In this sense, it is essential to understand the trajectory of the sun and take advantage of the UV light it provides, allowing its entry when directed towards the rooms.

Then the challenge will be to maintain the accumulated heat inside the house. Some people choose to install windows with thermal panels, whose characteristics make them very effective in thermal and acoustic insulation, but they involve a significant investment. Although over the years it will become cost-effective due to reduced energy consumption, its high cost (the window alone, without frame or installation, costs about 50,000 pesos per square meter) exceeds most budgets.

Double-lined curtains, shutters and exterior blinds are other items recommended to retain heat and thus prolong a more comfortable thermal sensation. The main thing is to close them once the sun changes direction.

And to insulate doors and windows facing the outside, the use of weather stripping – a piece of fabric or rubber – appears to be a simple and economical alternative, usually available in any hardware or hardware store. for the House.

It is this last measure that I recently applied at home.

After a long and exhausting summer, I had forgotten how freezing my apartment could be at this time, where I have lived for about a year and a half. But the memory came back like a trauma in recent weeks, when temperatures dropped drastically. Of course, it wasn’t the cold that made me act.

My apartment is located at the foot of a large avenue, along which several bus lines pass. Outside noise has become my most intimate enemy. She stalks me every night, and I have no choice but to share my anger and regret with my old friend Insomnia, who has faithfully accompanied me, without asking for anything in return other than Insomnia.

In my case, the problem lies in the old iron structure which separates, by a window and an access door, my room from a small balcony. Added to the quality of these materials, which retain heat poorly, are their age – dating from the 1960s – and the wear of their rubber, intended to function as insulation, which leaves several cracks through which cold air escapes. infiltrates and infiltrates. the noise.

A few days ago, I met a neighbor at the supermarket. As if we didn’t see each other almost every day, we decided to have a conversation in the hallway, but not in one of the buildings but in the yogurt building. I told him about my acoustic problem and what I feared could also be a thermal problem during the winter. Since you live upstairs and your environmental conditions are similar to mine, I was hoping you could help me find a solution. And he did it.

“I bought some weather stripping at a hardware store, which is very easy to install and the problem is solved,” he told me. Hadn’t María Luisa del Campo already recommended it to me when I interviewed her? This time I wasn’t going to miss it.

Without having a recommended or preferred brand in mind, I ended up purchasing Tesamoll weatherstripping, a German brand that can be found in almost every store. This product is an adhesive rubber strip, designed to be installed on windows and doors, and as indicated on the packaging, it provides up to 40% energy savings.

Tesamoll comes in different formats to meet different needs. In my case, I purchased the largest size weather stripping, for “extra-large” leaks, as the product states. It measures six meters long in total and is made up of three crossing strips, with a profile in the shape of the letter D, hollow inside. There are also “P” and “V” shaped profiles which separately can resolve offsets ranging from 3 to 7 millimeters.

Their characteristics make them resistant to weather, UV rays and ozone, providing protection for up to eight years, according to Tesa. We will have to see…

For now, I have installed the weather stripping, using the three wide strips, to the side and top of the iron frame, and added additional weather stripping to the bottom “flange” of the door, so that when it meets the irregularities that exist between the floor of the balcony and that of the room, an airtight seal will be made.

Installation was extremely simple, considering the adhesive that the weather stripping has on the back. You only have to worry about cleaning the areas where it will be installed: in my case I had to remove the old insulating rubber whose deterioration was the main cause of the leaks, using sandpaper to remove the remains and a damp cloth and a dry cloth. cloth to finish cleaning.

Without waiting too much and spending less than expected, this turned out to be the best measure. The change was felt from the first test: I installed the weather stripping around seven in the afternoon, when traffic on the avenue was at its peak. It took me about 20 minutes to complete the task. Then I closed the door and heard something like silence.

This Tuesday of rain and snow in Santiago was a test of strength. I didn’t feel very cold. And the best part: I slept well, like every night since the insulation was installed. All this thanks to a measure that is as simple as it is economical.

*Product prices in this article are current as of May 9, 2024. Values ​​and availability are subject to change.