Saving Energy is a Cinch

by Chriss Krowchenko
(Woodstock, CT)

by
Chriss Krowchenko


In 1995 I moved into a wonderful home in Woodstock, Connecticut with my husband
and two young sons. Although not built in traditional New England style, I loved it
immediately reminding me of my childhood in California.
The home is located on 7.4 acres of rolling hills with natural woods surrounding the
perimeter. With a running stream and pond for the boys to spend endless hours
exploring and an in-ground pool for summer comfort, I could not have found a better
property to raise my family.
My husband, a native of Connecticut, was somewhat taken back by the thirty-five
windows and four sliding glass doors not to mention the 20ʼx 45ʼ living area with
cathedral ceilings in the one level dwelling. The previous owners were quick to assure
us that storm windows made the home quite comfortable in the winter when combined
with the large wood stove for heat. This was to be my first winter in Connecticut. How
bad could it be? I was sold and there was no turning back.
For the first nine years we lived in the home I never felt a need to cover the windows at
all. The setting is extremely private and we all enjoyed the openness afforded by the
landscape. We all got used to bundling up a little more in the winter and using the
electric baseboard heat combined with the wood stove to stay relatively comfortable.
In September 2005 two life changing events occurred in my life; my youngest son left
for college and Connecticut Light & Power announced their plan to increased rates by
17.5% effective January 1, 2006 with an additional rate increase of 4.9% as of April 1,
2006. All together our already astronomical winter bills were now going to increase by
22.4% in the next six months! Just in time to catch winter at its worst.
I am first a mother and a wife, second a proud American, and third a believer in the
American way: namely, capitalism. However, this blow to my familyʼs economy, already
stretched thin with two boys in college, seemed a bit excessive. Of course there are
always numerous ʻreasonsʼ for this “necessary” increase: ”a more than doubling of the
utilityʼs cost of purchase” , ” increase in wholesale prices due to hurricanes on the gulf
coast”, “fuel shortages”, and “wholesale market rule changes in New England”. All about
as meaningful to me as “ the price of tea in China”, “the anticipated monsoon rains in
Japan”, and ʻthe increasing number of bubbles in champagne”. I was faced with a
daunting problem; what can I do to lower our energy usage that can be implemented
quickly and not cost me a fortune?
I knew our entire attic was well insulated so I was not particularly concerned with
loosing warm air through the roof. The main area I felt cold pockets of air was near the
windows. I always suspected the windows could be draining precious heat from our
home; little did I know.
With a little research I found references to windows as ʻthermal holesʼ that let thermal

heat escape in the winter and allow solar heat gain to occur in the summer. And that as
much as 30% of the energy used to heat or cool a home is lost through windows. After
learning about R-value, the thermal resistance of a material to heat flow, I began
researching methods of insulating my thirty-five windows.
I first tried to find a pre-made window treatment. All of the pre-made products had fairly
low R-values ranging from 1.07 (Venetian blinds) to 3.5(Roman shades with two layers,
plastic retardant & insulating material). Price range for the size of my windows was
about $100 to $300 per window. Ouch. There had to be something more effective and
less expensive.
I finally happened upon a fabulous patented multi-layered fabric with an R-value of 6.39.
The manufacturer offered names of establishments that would make shades from this
fabric for me or I could buy the fabric and they would supply the directions on how to
make the shades myself. I am able to sew a straight line and I did not want to incur the
labor costs to have them made so I opted for plan B – make them myself.
The manufacturerʼs directions were for a Roman type shade requiring cord, rings,
pulleys and mounting boards, which I would need to screw to my thirty-five window
casings. I would also need to attach magnetic strips into the lining of the shade and
mount magnetic tape on three sides of the window casing to get a good ʻsealʼ. I am a
patient person and I am fairly good with my hands but with winter starting to rear its
formidable head I needed to come up with a much simpler design if I was going to finish
before my youngest son graduated from college.
My primary goal was to create a highly effective yet inexpensive insulating barrier
for my windows. They needed to go up quickly without compromising the surrounding
window casing or adjacent walls. They should be adjustable to let in winter sun when
desired. They should store compactly when not needed. If I ever decided to put up
decorative window treatments, I should still be able to use the insulating barrier in the
winter. It didnʼt seem too much to ask. As it turns out, it wasnʼt.
The Energy Cinch is born.
They say the best inventions are created out of a need the inventor has. This was
certainly the case for me. I now have a patent-pending product which I believe can help
every single homeowner, renter and building owner to reduce their heating and cooling
bills by as much as 30%. After making fifteen prototypes and installing them (each one
taking less than a minute to install) my kilowatt usage dropped by 38%. and continued
in the two digit range the entire winter. This winter I will have the remaining twenty
windows installed plus our four sliding glass doors. And for the first time, I am looking
forward to seeing my energy bill.