Stay warm this winter by doing the little things
During the winter, most home owners struggle to keep the heat in the house without breaking the bank. If you’re trying to stay warm this winter on the cheap, we will discuss some of the cost-effective ways of keeping the heat in and the bills low. It’s likely that you can do some easy, inexpensive things to improve your home’s energy efficiency and keep it at a comfortable temperature. Here are the 25 low budget hacks to keep the cold out this winter.
- Keep the door shut – If you live in Green Bay and have a busy household, the front door often gets left wide open, resulting in heat escaping. When there is heat in the house and you have the door even just slightly ajar, you will be inviting far more cold air than you might imagine.
- Attic insulation – It is vitally important that you get the attic insulated if you want to make sure the heat circulates around the house and proves to be cost-effective for you.
- Add a mudroom – If the front door of your house opens directly into the living space, you should build a small vestibule or mud room. This will protect the interior from wind blowing when the door is open to keep the heat in.
- Put up heavy curtains – It is wise to put up sets of heavy curtains; it will block drafts on both windows and doors. You can open these curtains during the day time, when the sun is shining, and draw them at night or when the weather is cloudy to keep the heat in.
- Position your furniture in the warmest area – You can actually keep the heat inside your house during winter by positioning your furniture in the warmest area, and close to each other. The furniture will suck up the solar heat and radiate it throughout the room.
- Get snow off your roof – As much as you may try to keep your house warm, this may not be possible if your roof is full of snow. For proper insulation, make sure the snow on your roof has been removed.
- Cook at home – Cooking at home is always a good idea, and in winter it helps to keep your home warm, as steam from cooking raises moisture levels in your home. Cook anything like soup, make tea or coffee, bake bread or cookies; this will keep your kitchen and the house warm.
- Light candles – You can also light candles in some parts of your home to keep it warm, but do not leave them unattended. Candles can be cheaply purchased from any shopping store, and it is an easy way to keep snug at home.
- Seal up cracks – You should consider sealing up your home’s cracks. There are probably a lot of places where your home is leaking energy. Doors and windows are common culprits. A tube of caulk and package of insulation strips are cheap to buy in the hardware store and can save you the cost of heating.
Make use of a thermostat timer – A thermostat timer is a great way to keep your home at a comfortable temperature while you’re there, but at a lower temperature while you’re away. When at work, on errands or on vacation, make sure you turn down the heat; no sense in heating your home when there’s no one there to appreciate it- Check exhaust vents – If you have a gas furnace, find where your exhaust vents to the outside. If there is soot built up around the vent or if you smell a foul odor there could be a problem. The heat exchanger may be cracked leaking dangerous carbon monoxide.
- Save bags or leaves or haybails – If you have a basement that isn’t finished and is partially above ground, you can keep the cold out better. Placing haybails or this falls leaves in large plastic bags next to the exposed foundation can provide some insulation. The block will stay a little warmer inside and you will notice the basement is a little warmer this winter.
- Clear Supply Vents – If you have children running around your home, then you probably have stray toys lying around. Remove any toys or other obstructions like furniture and books from the supply vents.
- Change your filter – As a general rule, the filter should be replaced every month. Visually inspecting the filter every couple of weeks will not only remind you to change the filter, but also to let you see if it should be changed sooner. A cleaner filter leads to better flow and a warmer home, as well as a furnace that is working easier.
- Keep wet clothes out – You should not keep wet and dump clothes in the house. They add humidity in your dry home and this causes much cold.
- Rugs and carpets – Floors, if they are wooden, can lose a lot of heat. Add some warmth to your rooms and add a little bit of class by using rugs and carpets (with a decent underlay). Match them with your furniture and you have a fashionable way of keeping the room cozy.
- Reverse your ceiling fans – While we love to have the ceiling fan blasting air down on us all summer long, it should be switched during the winter. We want to pull the cooler air from the floor up and circulate the hot air down. It seems a little silly since the air is moving either way but it does have merit.
- Place tinfoil on radiator’s back – If you use radiator to heat the rooms, place tinfoil on its back, it will help reflect heat back into the rooms instead of letting hot air rise to the ceiling. You can use either a special reflective radiator foil or just go with the kitchen variety.
- Hot water bag – Using Hot water bags or bottles can be a great way to keep a person warm and comfortable during the winter. Hot water takes hours to cool down, so 1 or 2 of these water bags can keep you warm throughout the night.
- Get a wood fire heater – For those of us living in forested areas, a wood heater can be an excellent device to fight the cold cheaply. Modern wood heater designs have become extremely efficient and safe, and if wood is plentiful you should think about getting one for your home to stay warm this winter.
- The space heater – These units are placed in a specific room and can be moved around as necessary. Use one in each room for maximum benefit. These use up less energy and can be placed where needed. Most have variable heat levels which can be adjusted as needed to stay warm this winter.
- Clean out gutters – You should make sure your gutters are clear of leaves and other debris so that water can flow quite easily. If water clogs in the gutters, ice dams form and this makes it hard to keep the cold out of the house.
- Close unused rooms – You should make sure all the unused rooms are closed to help contain the heat in one area. It’s hard to heat up a room if all the doors and windows are open.
- Use orange peel as a fire starter – The oil in the skin of an orange makes the peels great fire starters. In order to maintain freshness, you can dry the peels on a sheet and toss them in a paper bag with a silica packet.
- Maximize your hot water – After taking a bath, don’t waste your hot water down the drain. Keep it in the tub until it becomes room temperature to keep your place warm and add much-needed humidity.
Hopefully this list provided some new ideas to help you keep warm this winter. Just remember, if you need hvac help in Green Bay, we are just a click or call away.