Living Green


Forest

Green Tips for Winter Living


These "Green Tips" for the winter months will not only save you money, they can also help save the planet. These tips are simple and generally inexpensive.


  • Cover your windows at night and uncover them during the day. The sun will help warm your house during the day, but once night falls, cover the windows with heavy drapes or blankets to keep out the cold. Use insulated drapes whenever possible, (they will help in all seasons). Make sure your windows are locked, not merely closed. Locked windows make a tighter seal. If you keep your drapes closed to stave off a cold draft from a leaky window, use a "window snake" to keep out the cold. They are generally inexpensive, but if you can’t afford "window snakes", make your own with heavy bath towels rolled tightly and taped or tied in the middle and on both ends.

  • Close off unoccupied rooms. You can close the ducts to unoccupied rooms and close the doors as well. If an unoccupied room does not have a door, you can hang a heavy blanket over the doorway to keep the heat in the occupied room and keep the cold in the empty room.

  • Keep your fireplace flue closed when the fireplace is not in use. If possible, close off the opening to the fireplace when not in use. We use a sheet of insulating styrofoam that is cut to fit the fireplace opening. If this is too unattractive to you, cover it with a yard of cloth and hold the cloth in place with straight pins.

  • Use "window snakes" at the bottom of doors to keep out drafts

  • Use insulating tape around door and window jams to seal off drafts.

  • When using your oven or stove, close off your air duct in your kitchen. The heat from the stove or oven will warm the kitchen and the hot air can go elsewhere in the house to help heat it.

  • Lower your thermostat at night. Dress warmly, wear socks, use flannel sheets, pile on the blankets, use a down comforter.

  • Preheat your bed before climbing in. In days gone by, our ancestors had "bed warmers", brass pans on sticks. Hot coals were placed in the pan, the lid was closed and it was placed in the bed to pre warm it. Bed warmers are still available, but they are only effective if you have hot coals from a fireplace to fill them. In lieu of a bed warmer, use a hot water bottle to preheat the bed, or to sleep with to keep you warm. If you have an electric blanket, turn it on high just prior to bedtime to preheat the bed. Unplug it from the wall outlet just prior to climbing into bed. If you have a down comforter or heavy blankets, they will hold the heat in nicely. One other tip is to take a clean cast iron pan and warm it on the stove or in the fireplace for just a moment. Using a hot pad to hold it, place it in an old pillow case so it will not get the sheets dirty and use it as a bed warmer.

  • Use body heat to keep each other warm. Yes, it helps. If you don't have a spouse or a friendly other then invite the dog, (if you don’t mind the hair, that is). Dogs give off tremendous body heat, but they are known to snore pretty loudly, (well at least OUR "girls" were REALLY annoying snorers).

  • If you are going to be gone eight hours or more, lower the thermostat.

  • Have a programmable thermostat installed. This can save you a lot! It will automatically set the temperature at certain hours, lowering at night for example.

  • Use blankets when sitting around the house, dress warmly, use thermal underwear, layer your clothing. You can keep your thermostat lower if you are dressed warmly and have blankets.

  • Open the vents in the basement and let the hot air rise to the upper floors. When first hearing about this we thought it was nuts, but were amazed how warm it made the upper floors. We had always shut off the basement vents in the winter, being sure to keep an eye on the temperature down there so the pipes did not freeze, but the floor on the first floor was always ice cold and there was a horrid chill coming up the stairs from the basement that that no "window snake" could seem to keep at bay. Once we opened the basement vents the level above warmed up beautifully.

  • If you bathe at night leave the hot water in the tub to help warm and humidify the house.

  • If you have a ceiling fan you can always turn it on "reverse" so that it pulls the hot air downward.

  • Don’t leave holiday lights burning all night, turn them off before you retire.

  • Replace standard holiday lights with LED holiday lights if it fits your budget. LED's can save you about 25 percent on your holiday light bill.

  • Interestingly, candles can warm a room rather quickly. Close the door, cover the window and light candles. Know that candles can dry the air of a room, which may or may not be desirable. If a room is terribly humid, candles may help. Never leave burning candles unattended as they can be a fire hazard.

  • When using your clothes dryer, keep the door to the laundry room open to let the heat warm the home and close the vent in the laundry room, (if applicable).

  • Unplug all appliances when not in use. This includes your small kitchen appliances, your TV, your computer, etc. This is a good tip for every season of the year!

  • Did you know that most of your body heat is lost out of the top of your head? Our ancestors knew it and they wore "night caps" to keep their body heat in. Keeping your head covered with a hat or scarf can keep you warmer both inside and outside the house.

  • If your furnace should fail and you need emergency heat, gather everyone inside a small room, close the drapes, hang a blanket over the door, put a "window snake" under the door, etc. Place a thick board or stepping stone in the middle of the floor and place a large metal coffee can on it. Light a candle in the coffee can and let it burn. The coffee can will heat up and warm the room.