Keeping Warm in the Winter

Winter is possibly the most stressful part of the year for many families. Worries about staying warm by weather-proofing your home, having enough heating oil, or keeping your heating bill low is a real issue for countless people across the world, not just here in the United States. I hope this blog will help to give you some new ideas about keeping your costs, as well as your worries, low this winter.

First things first, typically I bring this sort of topic up way sooner than late November, so I apologize, unfortunately life has been hectic and so this is the only time I have to do this. Anyway, on to tip number one.

1. The first topic we need to discuss is preparing for winter itself, we want to prepare as much as we can so it's less to worry about and do later. The first thing we need to prep is heating oil if you use it, or setting up a payment plan or setting aside money to cover the higher electric bill. Every electric company has to have some kind of plan to help low income homes or those who will need an alternative payment plan to keep their costs in the winter low by increasing some pricing during the summer. Oil companies will often take payment's, however, not all will do this, it's important to check this out long before the cold weather comes ruling in. Also, oil companies tend to have lower oil prices in the summer, get your oil while the price is low!

2. Time to seal up those drafty areas, namely, with window plastic. Window plastic will make those once breezy areas, air tight with just the use of a hair dryer. I use this stuff every year and it prevents my heater from kicking on constantly. I also use it wherever I feel air coming through to really make my house sealed.

3. While we're here, let's seal up those drafty areas in the place where people don't always think about...your doors. Front doors and back doors are forever leaking in steams of air from underneath. Let's end that immediately with an under door sealer, and yes, I use these as well year-round. Mine are just plastic that slide right onto the bottom of the door. Of course, there are the beanie bags people use as well, however, I'm sure they get dirty and they won't block out all of the air unlike the sealers.

4. Check your thermostat. Does your heat have to be set at 75 degrees all winter? Chances are no. You're not going to freeze if you have to wear long sleeves or a hoodie in your home. I tend to keep my thermostat between 67-70, and that's because of this next tip I'm going to give you.

5. Get your baking on. Yep, I cook multiple times a day, which means about 2-4 hours after I wake up, my heat is high enough that my heat won't be kicking on until that evening. Winter is a great time to bake, anyway, so get your bake on and warm up your house!

6. Wash and dry! Yes, doing laundry will help warm up your house if it's a smaller size. During the spring, summer, and fall, I dry all of my clothes outside, however during the winter months I don't have that option, and that's totally fine. By using my dryer, my house, especially my bedroom and en suit heat up immediately because they share a wall. Just by doing laundry my heat will be off for the day!

7. Eat. Yeah, I know, those winter pounds and blah blah blah. The fact is, a warm belly really helps fight the chill! Winter time for me means a lot of baked bread and soup in the slow cooker all day. Being able to eat or drink something warm throughout the day, even if it's something small, brings not only comfort but some warmth to your body.

8. Heavy heavy. If the plastic option is for some reason out of the question, you're going to need some thick and heavy curtains in each room. As for the bedrooms, you're going to need some blankets. And I don't mean big expensive ones, I wouldn't ask that of you, but you will need crochet blankets, thick and fluffy comforters, weighted blankets, or even some type of fur blanket to keep warm during the night when...you turn down your thermostat to about 65-67. Why? Because you'll be sleeping, and the temperature drops during the night. Meaning, if you keep your thermostat at that 70 degrees it'll be kicking on every hour or less during the night, where as that 65-67 will kick on every 2 hours or even 3.

9. Exercise. I know, the thing no one wants to hear, especially when it's cold out. Exercising is a well known trick to getting warm quickly, something as simple as a 10 minute exercise will warm. Obviously the longer you work out, the warmer you're going to be.

10. Cuddle up and get cozy. Flat out, there's nothing wrong with just cuddling up on the couch with a blanket with good company and watching movies as a way of keeping warm.

11. If you can buy heaters, It would not hurt to do so. This will help during in-between times as well like if you run out of oil, the electricity goes out, or maybe you just turned your thermostat down to 60 like a Viking and decided to put that heater in your room so you're toasty while the house just waits out the night on that low temp. - Just make sure to keep that heater at least 3 feet away from everything in all directions. If you can't safely do this, skip this step.

12. If you have a fireplace that is safe to use, you need to use the previous fall, spring and summer to cut and season your wood. For some odd reason I've met plenty of people who will chop wood in the fall and think they're going to use it that winter. No way. That sap is a great way to start a house fire. Please give your wood a year to season! If you are behind, you're going to have to put money aside or work out a deal to buy seasoned wood from a 3rd party.