Keeping warm in the winter can be tough if your heating costs are through the roof! If you live in a place where you have to pay for heating but can't afford the costs, here are a few things you can do!
Source: The Frugal Vegan Website: http://goddessfreya.googlepages.com
By Lisa from Halifax, NS
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thats funny. i actually bought a sleeping cap from vermont country store. i could wear an outdoors hat but that would be to hot. the hat is a white knit.
Don't forget though that a hot bath or shower uses energy also -to heat up the hot water!
Great tips. I just bought some wool socks to help keep my feet warm. When my feet get cold, I cannot seem to keep from feeling chilled to the bone.
The house that I own is very old and in turn has old drafty windows. Eventually, I'm going to reinsulate the entire house and replace all of the windows. My bedroom windows are very drafty, so in the meantime, I put beads of caulk on the inside of the storm windows and covered the windows with an insulating kit, which helped alot. Also, in the master bathroom, the medicine cabinet is built into the wall and I noticed a very cold draft leaking from around the cabinet. It's an inside wall, but there is a crawl space under that portion of the house.
This might sound strange, but consider giving footed pajamas a try. Footed Pajamas are now made in Adult sizes, and since they cover all the way down to the toes, they are about the warmest pajamas around. You can find them starting at $20/pair from the website below which makes Footed Pajamas a very good christmas gift idea:
Some other Tips
1-use paperboard from cereal boxees to fill cracks around windows
2-reuse cleaned styrofoam meat trays to fill other cold air leaks
3-cardboard attached to outer doors can keep some of the cold air out and the warmer air in.
4-how abour an old throw rug at the bottom of the outer doors at night ?
5-a pot of water on your stove or heater can give you a little more warmth
6-burning a candle in the room you are in gives you a little more warmth.(use in a tin cantainor doubles the heat.
7-A hung blanket at a inner door keep more heat near you living area
8-wearing sweaters or jerseys keep body heat longer
9-Make homemade soups on cold days . it will keep you warm longer
Stay Warm This Winter
Mr. Thrifty
I had a summer house turned into a year round house. In the dead of winter I couldn't get the house past 65F. I had a company come in and blow insulation into the wals and attic. It worked great! I saved soo much on oil and had a nice warm house. They put a hole between the studs on the top and the bottom on the outside of the house. They then blow in the isulation and replace the plugs.
Maybe everybody already knows this "keep warm" tip but I've just rediscovered it. My darling has purchased for me a set of Cuddle Duds. They're actually "long johns" for women. They're silky and thin but surprisingly warm. I wear the long pants and a sleevless shell under my clothes but they make short and long sleeves also.
Sitting with a heating pad behind me with a blanket on my lap seems to help me too. They also make small heating blankets for watching TV with. And I have a heating pad on the bed too. Only makes sense that it costs less to use a heating blanket than to heat a whole room.
Your tips are great, and I want to add one. You know how Wal-Mart has their throws on sale? Watch the sales, and go to Hobby Lobby, you can get them to cut you a throw without any sewing, for a little less price. Just ask HobbyLobby to cut you a piece about 70" long, or however long you want the piece.
Also, if you are snuggling in front of the tv, think of using the fleece diagonally. It covers your feet, and brings it all the way to the top of you, without a regular blanket. It's very warm.
Around Thanksgiving Weekend, Menards has a huge sale on very thin fleece blankets. They are great to use. I need them for my dogs, but they have a knit on them, so I cut the knit on the outerpart, and pull all of it out, cutting again if I need too, and I save the knit in a plastic bag for other projects.
Hi! To me, the ol' rice bag, a few minutes to make, a few minutes to nuke in the microwave, warm for hours under a blanket in bed or on the sofa, is one of my best hints. I make these up for Christmas gifts, etc. but the thing only uses a couple of minutes worth of energy to heat up and hold heat forever. Cold feet, achy muscles, etc... all love it, and it will heat you up so much faster than just your own body heat and a blanket, and must use less energy than running an electric heating pad for a comparative length of time.
Paraffin is much cheaper to heat off than gas in my experience. The old fashioned "Valor" heaters last for years if cared for and can be found on ebay. It cost me £20 a week to heat my badly insulated rented flat off calor, and £5 off paraffin. There is a smell, but I didn't get headaches, and you get used to it.
I also put bubble wrap from parcels I had received over my windows, which makes very good soundproofing as well as heat insulation. I slept in longjohns, socks and jumpers.
1. If you have an attic door with pull-down stairs in your ceiling, be sure to insulate that too. Just insulate it the way you would another window.
2. Do the dollar bill test around all doors leading to the outside: if you can slide a dollar bill anywhere in the crack between the door and door frame, you need weatherstripping!
3. Get self-heating or thermo-reflective material to sew in between fabric for dog and cat beds and your throws.
4. After using the oven, keep it cracked so that some of the heat can escape as the oven cools down. (Be careful around animals and children.)
5. Turn off vents and close doors in rooms rarely used, and put a draft blocker at the bottom of that door.
6.Open curtains and blinds during the day for the extra heat.
7. Curl up on the couch with your kitty and puppy dog babies.
8. Use flannel sheets.
9. Keep a space heater in your bathroom. Turn it on when you get in the shower, so the room is nice and warm when you get out. This prevents us from taking overly long showers because we don't want to get out in the cold.
And, remember not to keep your dogs or kitty cats outdoors in the cold for very long. They can get overly cold and die due to the temperature, just like people.
Drink, Drink, Drink! Keeping well hydrated increases your circulation and tolerance to cold. Substitute warm drinks for cold. They will warm you from the inside out. If you are on a calorie restricted diet use sugar free or artificially sweetened drinks and heat them. V8 juice, herbal teas, hot lemonade, hot apple cider, decaffinated coffee, hot tea, even hot water with lemon are all warming, taste good , and are low calorie, Put a thermos by your bed or TV chair then you can sip something warm without constantly having to heat it and when you wake up thirsty have a drink of something warm. you will be healthier and can keep that expensive heater cut down lower.
Layer clothing, start with some cotton or silk underwear next to your skin, add some close fitting thermals, then your flannel gown or PJs over that and put on fleece or wool socks, Keep a long cozy fleece robe and fleece or foam booties by your bed for when you get up. When you are ready to dress replace the PJs with a sweatsuit or flannel lined jeans and a sweater for lazing around the house,add a light sweater and a jacket or coat and fur lined boots for outdoors. and don't forget a cozy knit cap under your jacket hood. This way you can add or take away layers as needed for you comfort.
If your house is drafty and cold line you windows with plain old bubble wrap. It is amazing how much it will cut down on heat loss. Use old fashioned draft guard snakes ( long tube filled with plain old sand or copy those double tubes with foam coathanger covers inserted under interior doors.
Keep old fashioned rubber stoppers in open sink and bathtub drains, or if you have built in stoppers keep them closed when not in use. Ever noticed how cold the air coming out of your bathtub can be?
Use rugs on your floors if your insulation is not up to par. Especially in the areas where you sit, under and beside your bed, and on your bathroom floors. Put them all the way under your favorite sofa or recliner, Foam backed ones not only help insulate but cut down on the danger of them slipping and causing a fall. If you can't afford a big one consider a thrift store wool or plush rug under you sofa and bed and use some of that foam underlayment intended for floating floors to back it with spray adhesive or double stick tape to hold it in place. This is even more important in houses that are built directly on a concrete slab or have large uninsulated crawl spaces or basements.
Remember heat rises, the warmest part of your house is probably the 2 ft below your ceiling. If you don't have reversable ceiling fans Install a small fan on the wall in a corner near where you sit or sleep and aim it at the floor. It will circulate some of that heat down to your level without creating an uncomfortable draft. and is a lot cheaper to run than your furnace.
Here's ones I use: When it's really cold at bedtime.
Go to sleep in winter hat.
Wool or warm socks on feet, hands and arms.
Wear flannel gowns or pajamas.
Put heat pad in bed to warm it up first.
Drink warm water instead of coco or coffee before bed.
Be grateful! Positive feelings warm the soul from inside out.
Sweet Dreams
Make sure the heaters are the kind that circulate oil. Too many folks have learned the hard way that space heaters indoors is not safe. Here is the best kind and they start at just 29.00 in the big box stores.
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