How many of us have wrestled with double-sided tape and a hairdryer, spending long hours shrink-wrapping our drafty windows before the snow flies? Too many! Enter Window Dressers, a Maine-based non-profit organization, which builds custom-fitted window inserts that fit snugly inside the window frame to block drafts, thereby saving money on heating costs.
Window Dressers has been doing this work for six years and is entirely volunteer-run. Volunteers visit homes to measure windows, then the frames are cut and assembled out of Window Dressers’ home base in Rockland. In the fall, local residents hold a “Community Build” to apply foam-stripping and plastic coverings to the pre-assembled frames. So far this year, there are 19 community builds scheduled around the state.
Window Dressers is hosting a Buxton-Gorham community build at Moody’s Collision Center this fall, from November 11-19. Volunteers will work in four-hour shifts to attach and heat-shrink the plastic covering, apply the foam stripping, and bundle orders.
Photo courtesy of Miriam RubinVolunteers assembled window inserts at a recent community build at Allagash Brewing in Portland.
Miriam Rubin, co-coordinator for this local build, says, “EVERYONE is welcome to volunteer during the community build week in mid-November – no prior experience, tools, or skills are needed. All that is asked is one 4 hour shift, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.” Every volunteer is invited to a lunch party between shifts.
The average price per frame is about $25 and should last about 10 years. Fortunately, Window Dressers’ partner, Sierra Club Climate Action Teams, has received a $5,000 grant from the Horizon Foundation to provide financial assistance to many customers. Each average-sized window insert (2’ x 5’) can save about 10 gallons of heating oil per year, simply by reducing drafts.
“These inserts will pay for themselves within a season or two,” says Rubin. Fellow co-organizer Terri Morin uses the inserts in her own home and rarely hears her furnace kick on anymore. Even if your windows aren’t drafty, the inserts create an insulated air space which prevents heat from escaping through the glass. Rubin stated, “These inserts are a great step towards reducing a household’s carbon footprint!”
While spring just got here and no one wants to think about snowy nights, applications for inserts and volunteers are being accepted, and encouraged, now. Window Dressers is looking to serve about 45 community members and would like to have clients’ homes measured by July to allow time for production. Call 596-3073, visit their website, or email BuxtonGorhamWindowDressers@gmail.com for more information.