It’s starting to get cold out. I find it surprising since last winter was extremely mild, but I am embracing the season change this year! It’ll mean a lot to our gardens as well as my mental stability! It’s just not winter without snow, you know? Ah, spoken as a true displaced Minnesotan.
With that cold weather, I’m sure you’re starting to notice that the heat is slowly starting to be used in your home. It is in ours, but to a minimum. We tend to leave our thermostat at around 65 degrees during the winter. It’s a comfortable temperature and means your furnace will be running less frequently. There are several other ways to keep your house warmer this winter that I’ve thought of, so here they are.
Seal Up Your Home
-I’ve noticed in our house that there are a lot of places where cold air leaks in (well, really it’s the heat escaping) that are easy fixes. Some examples where I’ve found unwanted cool breezes are around outside doorways, doors to the basement and attic, and holes or cracks in the foundation. That last one probably isn’t entirely common, but we have a 70 year old house that just got it’s foundation supported, thus cracks and holes. The doorway example is very real. Our solution was putting up a weather sealing around the doorway. It has helped significantly. With the attic, of you have a hatch at the top of the stairs like we do, close it for the winter. That will keep the cold air from the attic falling to your warm living spaces. Finally, if you can seal around the basement door in any way it can keep drafts from coming in (it doesn’t make complete sense to me since hot air rises and cool air sinks, but I definitely felt a draft from our basement door). As for the cracks or holes anywhere in your home, fill them up! It’ll keep the cold and pests out of your house.
Insulate
-Another idea is to re-insulate your house. We found when we built our kitchen some of the walls still had the old balsam wool insulation. Unfortunately with the balsam wool, it had been corroded and wasn’t any use at all. We speculate our bedroom has the same problem. Having insulation with higher R-value in colder climates will seal the heat in your home more efficiently. Find out more about this for your area here.
Window Treatments
-You can of course find window sealing kits at the stores. You stick up the plastic around your window then shrink the plastic to create a tight barrier. Another option is to get some energy efficient window treatments. You could also make them. These energy efficient curtains are simply thick lined curtains that keeps the cold that is transferring through your pane from coming in. Plus, it adds a to the look of your living environment.
Fireplace
-If you’re lucky enough to have a wood or corn burning fireplace you can save a lot on gas or electricity. Growing up we had a decent size wood burning fireplace in the basement that we would have going. The heat would rise through the floor and warm the living space above as well as the basement. In our home now, we have a small fireplace that we plan to use this winter. We also hope to rig up a blower system that my dad gave me so that the heat can be moved around the room more efficiently. If you don’t have a wood burning fireplace and live in a place where wood is easily accessible, you may want to invest in the future.
Layer Up
-You can always simply layer your clothes and blankets when in your home. You’ll stay warm but not have to use excess heating to stay warm. We do this most of the time. If the room is too cold at night, we simply throw on another blanket!
Other ideas could be changing your heating system. We are looking into geothermal some day and then would hook up the electrical for the blower to solar panels. It’s an investment, but would get you off the energy grid and make yourself more self-sufficient. For now, that’s all I have for you. A simple, yet effective list.
What other ideas do you have to save money on heating costs?
{ 3 comments }
