stock windows vs. insulated

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David
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:54 am
Location: Kennewick, WA

stock windows vs. insulated

Post by David »

Here, I'll take the #2 post too.

Anybody have any suggestions for replacing or warming up stock bus windows inexpensively? Here in Eastern WA it freezes from October to April. We have condensation on the windows in our existing house, with double pane vinyl windows, and they're not very comfortable to be near either. I suppose we could insulate with shades, but then we wouldn't get as much daylight in. Two possibilities we've discussed are insulating shades made of transucent materials, like large bubble wrap, or the traditional method of winterizing single-pane windows by stretching clear plastic over them, inside or outside. However, we don't want our bus to be an eyesore, so anything that looks cheap or temporary is out of the question.

Also, for the windows we don't use, is there a way to make them look good from the outside without removing them? Like by painting the insides black or silver before insulating and sheeting over the inside, so they look tinted?

Thanks for the help.
David Field
Sharkey
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Post by Sharkey »

Since it's just you and me so far, I'll post here too.

Original bus windows are pretty sucky all around. They leak, rattle, are difficult to insulate and screen and if they are the type that drop into the wall, prevent you from doing a complete job insulating the side of the bus. Later model buses seem to use better quality windows, with tight fitting frames, but even then...

The windows on my Housetruck were cast-offs that I scrounged from the watchman's shack at the Flamingo Trailer factor in Los Angeles before it was torn down. They are typical HEHR three-pane awning windows. They're OK in the summer, but don't seal well and have zero insulating properties, and no screens.

After living adjacent to a sheep ranch my first year in the truck, I put together some redwood frames and stapled on some vinyl window screen to keep the flies out. The frames simply slide in from the interior. After a few cold winters, I made similar frames with the "storm window" clear plastic in place of the screen. In fall, out come the screens and in go the storms. They make a *huge* difference in the temperature inside, have eliminated drafts, and help control condensation. I couldn't live in here without them. Yes, I spend six months of the year looking through chemically-rearranged oil, I suppose the same design could be made with tempered glass, I just never bothered.

In the Crown, I decided that annoying cheap windows were not a mistake to make twice. I opted for residential-grade units with single pane glass. What? Single pane? Yes, first of all, I dislike the double image reflections that insulated glass gives the view, but mostly, I was concerned that the manufacturer wouldn't honor the warrantee on hermetically-sealed double-pane glass if it was driven over mountain passes and then down to sea level repeatedly. Instead, I have tempered single-pane with a removable tempered energy panel. In the summer, I can remove it, and in winter, it keeps the heat in. The panel can be removed and the space between the glass cleaned and dried as necessary when the glass fogs up.

I'm partial to removing unused bus windows, applying sheet metal to the exterior, and doing a thorough insulating job to the interior. But then I'm a perfectionist (could you tell?)

Finally, if you want screens on your bus windows, avoid applying it to the exterior. I've seen it done, and it makes the bus look like a prison transport!!!

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Granny
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Post by Granny »

So nice to find an old thread about this very same thing. I have been thinking about this (for when I get a bus), and have been scrounging up sheet metal, to cover over the holes when I pull out a few of my windows. Then, I was trying to come up with ideas for "insulating" the ones I leave. I had been thinking about a plexiglass storm window, that fastens inside somehow, that is removable for the summer. And, somehow to slap in screens for the summer. I would like to be able to leave the "original" school bus windows instead of replacing. Also, I had hopes someday, if my bus has roof hatches, to be able to replace one of them with a "sky light". What do you think about old washing machine housings for sheet metal to cover removed window holes?
Jones'n4chrome
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Post by Jones'n4chrome »

In that pic, every time I see it, I can't help notice that the cop has that old school "I'm gonna kick some serious A$$ today boy!" look about him.

The fact that the general population now has a phone with video capabilities, has done away most of the senseless beatings I have witnessed around here in the past. Funny how things change.

Chuck
Sharkey
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Post by Sharkey »

Reminds me of that Michelle Shocked album cover wher she is being held by the throat by a big cop. She's looking half throttled while the cop has a bored "Oh well, another boring day at work" face.

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Good to hear that your local law enforcement issues beatings only when they make sense. :D

That Crown in the photo is probably filled with bruised and battered hippies who were collected at some protest in the 1960's.
osteoderm
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Location: Newport RI
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ah, another of those classic topics...

Post by osteoderm »

On my bus, I deleted about half the side windows, The remainder I replaced with self-made double-glazed wood units. The glass was all salvage from display cases. The first go-round, I installed the glass with whatever random goop-in-a-tube I could find. As I subsequently replaced (and re-replaced) them after vandal-breakage, I used glazier's points and putty; it made replacement simpler, but I wouldn't recommend it for much road-usage.
I spent several -40 winters in the bus, and in retrospect, can't say that the home-brew double-glazing helped much. I did make up fitted "Reflectix" (the silver mylar bubblewrap duct-insulation) panels to line the windows, which did help considerably, but blocked all the light. Trust me, when it's really cold, the only light you'll like inside is the glow of the stove!
As for keeping the heat out in the summer, the most effective low-buck solution I've come by is some sort of external awning or shade.

Where I removed windows, I used street-signs for metal to cover the openings. Old street-signs somebody else already had just laying around, I swear. I like your cheap & original thinking re: appliance housings, but I think you'll find that the enamel and/or galvanized coating on such metal makes for a whole bunch of hassle, whether cutting, drilling, or painting it.

Skylights: oh lordy. I love the aesthetic and the natural light, I loathe everything else. My mom's old GMC breadvan had this flat 3'x6' plexi panel in the roof; crazed, yellow, flexing and squeaking down the road... What memories! I wouldn't encourage anyone to install a skylight in a truck/bus unless it was a serious proper insulated low-E unit, small enough to suit the scale of the space it was serving. Forgetting the heat loss in the winter, the thermal gain in summer sun can be ridiculous!
If life in the tropics taught me one thing, it's this: When you're cold, you can always do something to get warm; put on a sweater, get close to the one you love, stoke the fire, etc. But when you're hot, there isn't much you can do at all, excepting A/C. It's almost always easier/simpler/cheaper to add heat than to take it away.

Another 2¢,

Yuri
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