Photo by starmist1
Since we’ve been talking all about ways to keep warm around the house, another great way to make sure that we are saving energy and saving money this winter is by winterizing our homes.
There are lots of simple, easy and inexpensive ways to keep the warm air inside our houses and the cold air out.
1. Open all your vents and clear them of objects that would impede the heat getting out and circulating around the room.
2. If you have old, drafty windows like we do, use bubble wrap to insulate your windows by placing it between the inner window and the storm window. You don’t want to do this on windows that you actually want to be able to look through though. I’m doing it in our bedroom windows, which we rarely open during the winter.
3. Properly close all your windows and storm windows (if you have them). Just the other day I realized that the storm window on one of our bedroom windows was still open from the summer time. Brrrr!
4. Use plastic window coverings over your windows to reduce the warm air lost out the windows, and keep cold air from entering your house through the windows.
5. Also, put up weather sealing caulk around windows, doors, or anywhere else that you notice cracks where two different building materials meet. You can use the candle test by carefully moving a lit candle around windows and doors. If the flame flickers, then there is a draft that needs to be fixed.
6. Use a draft stopper on your outside doors. Here is a great homemade draft stop that looks easy enough that I could make it! Or simply used a rolled up towel along the door.
7. Hang heavy curtains on your windows to help insulate them. But, if the sun is shinning, be sure to open up the curtains to let the sun warm up your house!
8. Keep doors to rooms that you aren’t using, or don’t use often, closed to keep from heating those rooms. Keep doors to drafty places like the basement, attic, or three-season room, closed tightly, and consider using a door stop there as well.
9. Consider installing insulation in your attic or on your basement ceiling. Extra insulation can really help the amount of warm air that is lost out of your home.
Making small, easy changes like this around your house can help you keep warm, even when your thermostat is turned down!
How do you winterize around your home to save energy and money?
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These are great tips! We just went through a cold streak, and boy was it tough on us South Floridians. Today we are back in shorts and tshirts, and to me that is the best way to winterize:)The windows are open, and there is no need for the A/C…love it.
I would like to invite you to the Fantastic Frugal Fridays blog party . It is a great place to link up your frugal posts of all kinds, and connect with new frugal friends.
We use tp and push it into cracks around windows with a putty knife. Our window trim is white so it’s not noticeable and very cheap! We winterized all our windows with less than a roll! We also put some foam in our windows between the screen and the glass on the bottom.