I used to live in a mobile home and it came with storm windows that mounted inside the window frames to keep things nice and toasty in the winter...Now those windows had square corners and I was wondering how to do the same thing to my camper because I like to camp in the winter months when it is nice and cool....the camper windows have curved corners. So I was thinking of getting the plexiglass/lexan and trying to figure out some way to mount them on the inside to create a dead air space to eliminate the condensation and keep the heater from cycling on/off so much....I put some plexiglass on my screen door but it is not air tight.........Any suggestions would be appreciated....
That's a great idea. I would cut the plexiglass sheets to fit (sanding the corners round to match the windows). Then I would mount the plexiglas to the window frame with strips of velcro close enough together to make sure the plexiglas stays flat. The last step would be to caulk around the plexiglas with a product called "Draft Stop" which can be put on and then peeled off in the spring. It comes in a caulking tube and is clear in colour. I now use "Draft Stop" on my patio door in my house because the sliding patio door no longer seals the way it used to... and then peel/pull the "Draft Stop" off in the spring. The one thing you need to know is that "Draft Stop" has a pretty strong smell when it is first caulked into place. Once it is cured the smell is gone... but don't try living in the enclosed space while it's drying because it can be a bit overwhelming!! I have used plexiglas and draft stop on my overhead garage door windows because the condensation without the plexiglas was unbelievable. Now I get absolutely no condensation at all. With the garage door windows I do not remove the plexiglas in the summer. I leave it there year round and it's working great. I would try it on a couple of windows to see how easy it is to install and to see how well it works. If the first couple of windows seem to work well.. then put it on the rest. I think I would also leave a couple of windows without the treatment so you still have a place to introduce fresh air if/when you want/need to. BTW I have plexiglas on my screen door too. I have it (3 pieces) inserted from the inside right up tight to the screen. The pieces are cut to fit with rounded corners and although they are not totally air tight they are pretty close. The pieces are designed to be removed when it warms up outside or to be re-inserted if it gets cooler.
My windows have radiused corners. I had plexiglass cut larger than the windows. Then used Velcro tape to border the windows. Put the 'hook' tape on the plexiglass. For my large front window which is compound curved, I cut Reflectix and used Velcro tape to hold it in place. Works great to stop the cold drafts.
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jspringator wrote: Any way to get it to mount via stick on magnets to the metal window frame?
Your window frame is aluminum and a magnet will not work with aluminum. You could pop rivit some small pieces of steel to the frame, but that wouldn't look very tidy. There are rotating window frame clamps that could be applied.
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I might have messed up but I used the KISS method. Plexiglas, weather stripping and a few screws that were already used to hold the window in. I simply lined up the plexiglas, marked a few holes, drilled them out, removed screws from the frame and went back through the holes in the plexiglas. So far so good,nice seal and the windows havent fallen out yet.
Seems we both have a similar quest. I have been following this post. Double windows, hard to find in the US? and from it, there has been great discussion about RV storm windows and some folks who have made them.
One method listed was to cut the curved shape into Lexan then out a foam rubber type seal tape on the outside perimeter and just presse it into the opening.
Others talk about add on storms that go over the alum edging.
I myself have used the shrink wrap. It is cheap and it works well, however time consuming to put on each year. So I may look into building some storms myself.
However there is one issue to work thru and that is the alum metal edge on the inside that holds the window in place to the camper. That metal edge/flange contacts the outside metal and turns into a cold conductor and it sweats out in side.
Like this
So while we make our storms we need to figure out how others have dealt with that metal flange to keep it insulated from either touching the outside metal or keeping the inside warmth from reaching it. Maybe someone following along here has solved this and can throw us a few clues on how to do it. I have 16 windows in my camper so this is quite a project but if you winter camp, something to look into.
Hope this helps
John
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