Do you have storm windows? There are better quality storms that seal better and have insulated e glass - for less than the cost of new windows and they look better than the cheapo ones. Also you might want to take a more wholistic approach and make sure all the gaps and air leaks around the house and into the attic are sealed - it might be worth hiring someone to inspect (and do the blower door test) and then do all the work - they know just where to look, It made a big difference in my drafty old house - as it was explained to me, if there are gaps into the attic an updraft effect is created that will actually suck in cold air from around the windows and other gaps and openings.

Agree with Current Resident about blower test, etc. Just yesterday, an architect-friend of mine who’s done a lot of historic preservation work told me about Magnetite interior storms and I checked out the web site. Very interesting. They look easy to install and operate. I would never replace my wood, double hung windows.

Magnetite interior storm windows

We have interior storm windows on ours. They were installed by a previous owner and really make a difference. They are held on by magnetic strip all around the window. The "glass" is some kind of flexible plastic or plexiglass (not sure what it is?) but they definitely help. ***Edited to add: I just noticed beanibakes posted about these! I suppose that's what we have. When we bought the house 11 years ago we wanted to replace the windows with the same look (craftsman look) but we had 23 windows and the quote was over $10,000 so we've stuck with these. LOL

tylerandabby.. yes, yours sound like Magnetite. It’s good to have real-world feedback. Do you remove the panels during the summer? I see that they make screen inserts too.

Yes to storm windows if you don’t already have them

we also experimented adding authentic ‘spring bronze’ weatherstripping in one of our old windows. It made a big improvement and we will extend it to other rooms as we refinish those windows

I don't really know what storm windows are! I'm in sunny California!

Actualy, the magnetite seems like just what we need! DH is counting the windows as we speak! LOL!

We had an unofficial energy audit done (just have to find my notes), but I hadn't heard of the blower door test.

I had a guy come and flip all of the insulation in the attic (it was all upside down), didn't help much, had a gas insert installed (we only have to heat 2 rooms instead of the whole house)

Next we'll get our guy in to caulk and weatherstrip everything.

Hopefully we'll be warm/cool by next year! Until then, I love my heated throw blanket! Nancy

I wish I were in sunny California! Here it is almost Spring and it was 9 degrees this morning with 4 foot snowdrifts around my house. Grrr...

I had a blower test done as part of an energy audit. Follow the link below for information on the test.

If you buy magnetite, please report back and let us know about the experience. The web site doesn’t provide info on installation, pricing, etc.

Good luck.

Blower door test

Our house isn't THAT old, 1960. It has single-pane, true double-hung, with double-hung storms added at some point. The storms help, but TBH, we add 3M film every December and take it down in April, though there are some windows where it just stays on! It really is barely noticeable when you do it right. Over the kitchen sink I decided I didn't like the film so I just used insulating tape around the edges of the windows. It helps but isn't as good.

The biggest culprit for "cold windows" is air infiltration and not radiant heat lose due to the single panes. Old windows with a pulleys can have a lot of points of air infiltration. In addition to the storm windows already mentioned a good tube of chalk on the outside around the window trim and anywhere that sir can leak into the window system. The blower test that was mentioned is excellent for finding these leaks.

http://www.oldhouseguy.com/windows/

https://thecraftsmanblog.com/replacement-windows-the-real-story/

https://www.windowpreservationalliance.org/Library

http://www.oldhouseauthority.com/archive/old_windows

http://www.communitypreservation.org/windows

Hope this helps

We have storm windows on our 1908 home and love them! Less outside noise and temperature fluctuation. We are toasty warm in our Colorado winters.

Also, we will never have to worry about broken seals, which has been an issue in all of our contemporary homes.

If you don’t know what storm windows are, I would suggest you don’t have all the original windows.

The lack of storms is a huge reason why you have air filtration.