Reducing Heating Costs - Sliding Glass Doors?

Hey everyone! In my new apartment, we have a sliding glass door that leads out to the patio, and now that it's getting colder, I'm worried about how this will suck the heat out of our apartment. I have a towel down at the bottom of it, and it's shut as tight as can be, and there are floor-length vertical blinds that stay closed in front of it. Does anyone have any ideas as to what else I might be able to do to stop it from killing our heating bill this winter? I thought about it as I was putting towels down at the bottom of the door and windows, and I found one window that isn't sealed well at all and actually has moisture coming in (it's in the bedroom too... no wonder it was FREEZING this morning!! ). But I got dh to go put a maintenance request in at the landlord's office tonight so she'll get it bright and early in the morning and hopefully it will be fixed by the time I get home tomorrow night. Anyways, any ideas for the sliding glass doors other than replace them which I can't because it's an apartment, and we're not allowed to install anything without prior permission...?

[tinapbeana]

which direction does the window face? does it get full sunlight during the day? if so, at nighttime i'd carefully hang a lightweight blanket in front of the door using the bracket up the vertical blinds. if the doors don't get any direct sun, just hang the blanket up and leave it till the seasons change.

[HalMd]

There is a solution for sliding glass doors that is popular in cold states like Michigan.

It is essentially a large plastic film, like Saran kitchen wrap, that you stretch over the frame for the winter months. It works great, but the downside is that you cannot practically use the door during the winter, which may or may not be a problem for you.

Here is a link that I found using a Google search:
http://www.consumerschoicewindowfilm...ndow_Kits.html

[Squantum]

You can pick this kind of window kit up at Home Depot or similar places. I don't know if they make the pieces of film big enough for sliding glass doors, though.

[mom-from-missouri]

Walmart has them for sliding patio doors-even for window AC units. If its a door you have to use, try making a large curtain for it out of tablecloths from the dollar store. Get the kind that are flannel on one side, and vinyl on the other. Just sew (or duct tape) them together. Use some adhesive velcro to put them taunt on the doorframe-you can remove it when needed-but due to the weight, you will need to connect it to the curtain rod on the top (use shower curtin circles for that). The vinyl stops the wind and the flannel is a small amount of insulation. To futher the insulation effect, pin a qeen or king quilt to it and hang with the pretty side to the inside of the apartment.

[LuxLiving]

I put foam backed insulated drapes on ours and use a quilt over it in the winter. But, if you've got moisture coming in then you really need to get that fixed, especially if anything you put up will come in contact with the glass - you don't need a mold problem on top of the cold air and heating bills.

Well, the maintenance guy came and said the windows just sweat bad and are double paned and blah blah blah. Grr, so he wouldn't do anything, so I just stuffed a thick towel down at the bottom. As far as the sliding glass doors, for now I have a thick towel stuffed down at the bottom of the doors and we put a large thick blanket over the whole thing. I'll look into the window insulation idea as well, but I'm hoping I can make due without having to purchase anything. We do have lots more blankets if we need them, lol. Thanks for the tips!

[Btw]

Remember you can approach the insulation issue on both sides of the door. I usually hang thick plastic on the outside of the doors as well.

A board screwed above and on both sides, plastic stapled, then another board over the top and screwed in as well works for blocking direct wind. If you leave one side hanging you can still use the door if needed. It looks like you are preparing for a biohazard attack but it works

[Starlight529]

I have a sliding patio door off my living room. And I ordered 2 of the sliding door kits. Plus I have 2 big blackout panels and 1 small backout panel hung on the inside. Buffalo, NY weather gets quite cold and so do I. Any savings beats none.

[GrimJack]

I know you said you rent and most of the suggestions here have been quite good; a blanket hung on the inside and a sheet of plastic on the out side.

What my brother did in a home he owned was to install a second set of patio doors. He lived in Denver CO and when he closed both sets of doors, it was the functional equivalent of storm windows.

[snafu]

There are inexpensive, easy to install rolls of insulation tape for windows which are cost effective for your bedroom window. The plastic windows kits are easy to install. The cost is offset by reduced heating bill and added benefit is a warmer bdrm. The windows will likely ice up when it gets brutally cold.

[LuckyRobin]

I would thumb tack quilts up over our sliding glass doors when we lived in an apartment. Also thumb tacked lighter weight blankets over the blinds in the bedroom windows. They were easy enough to remove, but added a lot of warmth to the apartment.

My mother has heavy duty plastic sheeting on lightweight frames that were built to just slip into the inside frame of the windows. She stores them in the warm months and then just pops them into place when it gets cold.

[snafu]

Read that others buy flannel sheets @ thrift or charity stores and use small safety pins to attach these to the back side of existing drapes. It would be a simple project to slide a rod through the 'pocket' or create a pocket with fabric glue/stitch witchery tape, or sew on a sheet.