Today Weekend Vew on The Weather Channel interviewed me about how we keep warm when we have our thermostat set at 58 degrees (F) for their 58 Degree Challenge segment.
I find that the best way to stay warm when the temperatures dips is to find and fix air leaks and drafts in your home. This also goes for renters and apartment dwellers.
Ice storms and freezing rain frequently cover the branches of the trees in ice.
Three major places I found cold air coming into my home besides from around the windows were:
- Underneath my outside doors but also form under the doors of my closets on outside walls. I made a no slip stay put door draft blocker and attached it to those doors. The type I made will work for renters because the draft blockers are easily removed.
- Through electrical outlets and light switches. You can cheaply and easily insulate your outlets and light switches. This method will work for renters too.
- Through my gas fireplace chimney. I couldn’t close the damper on my gas fireplace but I could make my own fireplace pillow to Keep Heat and Utility Bills from Going Up the Chimney and block the cold air from coming into the house and to keep the heated air from leaving.
New habits keep us warm. You can read about them here.
- 15 Habits That Lower Winter Utility Bills
- Using Passive Solar Heat in the MidWest
- Home Utility Reduction Challenge Summer Tips and Updates
- 20% Home Utility Reduction Challenge – December Update and Tips
- 20% Home Utility Reduction Challenge – November Update and Tips
- How I Slashed my Electric Bills without Moving into a Yurt
If you are wondering what we're going to do with the money we saved we plan on insulating the garage and the garage door Then we want to put in storage and a workbench/workshop so we can do more DIY projects.
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Wow, I don't know how you do that. We keep our thermostat at 68, which means our *house* temp is about 62. I wear shearling slippers and a sweater at all times, but if I sit down for too long I get really cold -- like blue fingers cold. :( We blocked drafts, but the temperature is the temperature ...
ReplyDeleteCheap - My MIL gave me fuzzy lined slippers for Christmas and they are a godsend. They are so warm that they convinced me buy fuzzy lined Crocs for warm winter dog walking shoes *love*. What makes the difference is that I have a powerful processor in my desktop computer and it gives off quite a bit of heat. When I'm working upstairs on the computer it's one of the warmest rooms in the house. If I'm in another room, I usually have a throw or Blitzkrieg on my lap to keep me warm. Blitzkrieg is much better than a Snuggie IMHO.
ReplyDeleteGood post, nice blog. Thanks for share useful information.
ReplyDelete