"Home Made" Heat Saving Tips

[dagobah_19]

Does anyone have any family tips or secrets, passed down from generation to generation or through experimentation, how on how to save on heating? Things like throwing an older blanket over the windows, etc.?

[sweeps]

1. Dress warmly. Put on socks and slippers.
2. Place a rolled-up towel or rug at the bottom of all your external doors.
3. Drink hot tea and hot cocoa. Eat lots of soup.
4. Do more cooking and baking in the winter. After you're done baking, leave the oven door open so the heat escapes.
5. Open up the blinds/curtains during the day (especially on the south side of your home) to let in heat and light. When the sun goes down, close the blinds and curtains.
6. Turn the heat down about a half an hour before you leave the house.
7. Run the dishwasher in the morning to help heat up the kitchen.

[sweeps]

Here's another one. Consider getting a microwaveable heating pad. Keep it next to you when you're on the couch or in bed and it makes a big difference.

[mom-from-missouri]

I am in the process of making "fireplace jackets" for my fireplaces to wear when not in use. Basically they are a large square, of thick fabric (old comforters and blankets in the middle, with decent looking corderoy on the outside) with a triple layer of heavy cardboard in the middle to keep it stiff. Looks like a big flat pillow. They will overlap the fireplace opening by 4 inches on either side to block air from coming in. I will stand them there with a plant or vase in front of it to hold it up. It that comes out well, I plan on doing the same thing on a larger scale for 2 windows in the house, on the north side. However, those I plan on attaching to the window frame by putting a small cuphook on either side of the window, then stretching a ribbon across from hook to hook holding the thing up. That way, I can remove it during sunny hours and put it in place at night when it is dark and cold. However, the one, I will fancy up a bit since it is for my daughters room, by possibly also letting it double as a bulletin board. It can be stored behind her bookcase when not in use. My grandmother would hang quilts over her windows, but air seeped around them. But by keeping these snug to the window, and stiff with a cardboard center, I hope to avoid that.

boiling or simmering water adds moisture to the air, which makes it feel warmer.

layer up--wear socks

when real cold, my girls all sleep together. we can block off one bedroom that way (the north one) and they share the electric blanket.

i have heard that burning pumpkin and cranberry scented candles tricks the mind into thinking it is warmer

sleep with a nightcap on (the kind you wear on your head, not drink)

dress warmly and go outside and take a brisk walk. when you come back inside, your house will feel much much warmer to you for a couple of hours.

make draft snakes for your doors, shut off rooms not in use (being careful to not shut heat off to rooms with waterpipes)

move large scale furniture over doors or windows you don't use on the north side (but not electronics). I move my upright piano every winter to partially block a large window that even with plastic on it tends to be breezy. (its my next window to replace with a insulated one) Just don't block fire routes

make insulated curtains, or back your existing curtains with a cheap vinyl felt lined table cloth form the dollar store. (I get did this a couple years ago and it made a huge difference!)

get the foam insulators to put on the outlets and switchplates on outside walls.

do the candle test on doors and windows to test for air leaks. Then seal up those you find with caulking or the foam tape insulation

try having a night away from home each week or on a saturday--go enjoy someone elses heat, such as the library or community center. But, if you are away from home less than 4 hours, you spend more energy reheating your house if you turn your heat down and back up again.

don't turn your heat too low when you are gone. your furnace will have to work harder to catch back up

get or make a hotwater heater blanket

insulate your attic access

check where your dryer is vented--usually a major loss of heat
remove screens and insert glass in your storms. If you don't have glass, cover with plastic. You can find storms used, or even new ones for around $29 for the cheap ones. Any glass is better than no glass. It blocks the wind.

if you use your clothes dryer or oven, try to do so either during the colder part of the day as they both add heat, or during a time when you are trying to "warm up"

ask your electric company if they do electric or heating audits. mine does them for free.

use rugs--esp on hardwood floors or upstairs.

try to not run your vents (bathroom and kitchen) as they also suck out the warm air. to remove steam or odors, try buring a candle instead.

exercise before going to bed. It speeds up your metabolic rate to make you feel warmer. If you don't like exercise, then pick that time to vacumme. Then, take a warm shower in the morning to warm up again.

drink warm milk before bed (thats an old old one) I'd rather have my warm milk with some cocoa in it!!

wear footie jammies!

invest in flannel sheets. they feel cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

dress in layers

hang quilts on the walls. It done nicely its dectorative and another layer of insulation.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by mom-from-missouri

try having a night away from home each week or on a saturday--go enjoy someone elses heat, such as the library or community center. But, if you are away from home less than 4 hours, you spend more energy reheating your house if you turn your heat down and back up again.

don't turn your heat too low when you are gone. your furnace will have to work harder to catch back up

Tons of great tips! But these about the furnace are a myth. The longer you can keep your furnace at a low temperature, the more energy you save.
http://www.acdoctor.com/enegry_saver...ats_energy.htm

[mom-from-missouri]

Not according to the owners manuel with my heat pumps. It states that turning it too low will cause the motor to run longer and harder to catch up. And, last year, I had the downstairs on on "off" while we were gone for 3 weeks. When we came back, it ran nonstop for almost 2 days when I moved it to "on" and set it for 68 degrees. The result was a burned out fan motor. The repairman said the same thing as the owners guide--I would have been better off to put it on 50 or 55 degrees than to let the upstairs get to 38 degrees and try to warm it up.
I would say it probably depends on what type of heating system one has.

[sweeps]

Point taken.

[mom-from-missouri]

which is also why i noted not to block off rooms with water pipes....same incident also resulted in a frozen and broken water pipe in the upstairs bathroom. I thought with the downstairs heat on, since heat rises, it would keep the upstairs above freezing. It probably did during the day, but not at night.... We came home from that trip to find a cold wet nightmare.

[Dingoluv4eva]

I dress up warmly before going to bed, so that when i wake up in the morning i am warm

i guess it doesnt save heat.. but it helps me get out of bed.. and go to classses.

just a new discovery i found out.

[dagobah_19]

Thanks everyone! If you had to estimate how much money you saved based on these tips, what would you say? $10, $20 or more?

Obviously by taking these steps there must have been a noticeable difference...

[34saving]

This is a little off topic, but . . . Maybe this will motivate some of you Your body likes to operate at a consistent temperature around 98.6F. If your house is at 60F instead of 68F that's 8 more degrees your body has to compensate for. How does it do that? It burns food and/or fat. Remember a calorie is just the amount of heat it takes to raise 1 gram of water one degree C. So, how about making your body heat the house instead of paying the gas company to?

[Russell]

Great tips here but I just wanted to say be very careful of smoke etc. Each year several families die from trying to keep the house warm by using a bbq grill, open flame on the stove, leaking gas etc.

Just a few weeks ago a 2yr old died in CA when the family left her sleeping in the running car with the A/C on...in their garage!! - poor thing, I really feel for the little baby and I'm sure the parents must be going through hell with what happened even if they meant well

I know everyone here is smart but accidents happen, just be careful.

[sweeps]

Good advice, Russell.

Everyone should be using a carbon monoxide detector. I personally prefer the ones that have the numerical display.

Also don't forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors this weekend.

[mom-from-missouri]

I would say I save around $100 a month. I base it on this: When I was still married, and my ex lived here, the heat was constant 24 hours a day. It was never turned down while we were gone. We had an average electric bill during winter months of $300 or more. (I live in an all electric home, 2 story, 3200 square feet). Now that he is gone, I use the ideas (and more) that I mentioned above. I am now on the level payment plan, where I pay the same amount every month for my electric year around. Right now I pay $111 a month, and I have a credit of over $400. It will be re-evaulated again my the electric company in Dec, at which time I expect it to be lowered again (it has been lowered every 6 months when they do their re-evaulations). I estimate it will come down to around $78 a month. I have more ideas of things I do in addition to those above I can post also, if anyone wants.

[Mamaw]

they even make them that fit on the feet and on the hands. I got the one for hands when I was having a lot of pain in my hand.

[mom-from-missouri]

I just hung up from talking to my electric company. I have Aquilla. I noticed a section in there that said you may qualify for a lower electric rate if you use a electric heat source. I have 2 electric heat pumps (one for upstairs, one for downstairs). So, I called. Monday a tech will come by and verify I do indeed have an electric heat pump. Once that is completed, I will get a lower rate on my bill for Octover thru March for the portion that they believe is used to run my heat.

Several months ago, they had a promotion that if you bought CFL (compacted florscent lights) you got a rebate (in addition to a promotion that if you took your most recent bill to the hardware store and showed it to them when buying CFL you got a discount).

So, check with your local electric company and see what you quailfy for. Mine also does home energy audits, and will finance you if you buy a heat pump or another source of electric heat or some energy star appliances.

[niki_the_tiger]

Are thermal lined curtains worth the money you pay for them? We have a huge bay window in our living room and I was thinking of getting thermal lined curtains for them during the winter - is it worth the cost?

[mom-from-missouri]

It is, or you can make your own much cheaper.

[shengmei]

Get a lap cat

[PrincessPerky]

1- Make babies, heats up the bedroom (and being pregnant keeps you warm, also letting the kid stay keeps you warmer though you gotta move them back out to make the next kid.) Kidding - sortof.

2- Hug a kid, kids are little heaters! hold one for a couple of minutes you will WANT to get a cold drink or something!

3- Drop the temp down by two degrees at a time, that way you can turn it up one and feel spoiled at 66 when you were a former 72 lover.

4 - Stay hydrated, helps make it easier to keep your body at the temp it likes.

5 - Second that 'Get outside' thing, nothing makes a house feel warm like being in really cold weather for a minute (works in reverse in the summer too)