13 Low Cost and Low Tech Ways to Keep Your Home Warm

Winter is in full force here in the South and since I live in a 40 year old house it came to mind that we should really check the drafts in our house.  OK, it came to mind as I was standing at our back door waiting for the dog to walk in the open door.

The truth is there are a bunch of easy ways to keep your home more cozy this winter.  Use the cheap ways to make your home heating more affordable, save more money, and keep you and your family warm.

Close Your Curtains and Beef Them Up

Windows and doors are your main ways of losing heat from your home. By keeping your curtains closed at night and adding extra insulation to them you can keep the the cold away from the rest of your house.

There are extra thick thermal curtains you can purchase or you can go the cheaper route and add some fleece to your current curtains.  Another option would be to add a shower curtain in front of you curtains.  All these ideas will reduce the amount of air that gets chilled by the windows.

Open Your Curtains on Sunny Days

So when the sun comes out you want it to shine into those windows to heat the inside of your house.  You can increase the temperature of your home significantly by just letting the warm sunshine in.

Seal Your Doors

This is one I am working on now.  If your doors have a draft they are just leaking in cold air.  This usually happens at the bottom of your door

Use a draft excluder to keep the draft out and keep you warmer.  If  you still have problems you can use the same curtain method that you use with windows.

Re-Seal Your Windows

Over time the seal on your windows will break down and make it easier for heat to escape.  If you have storm windows you will want to check those for a good seal as well.  This only takes some simple caulking.  If you aren’t sure how check out this youtube video.

Check Your Window Panes

The glass on your window isn’t always the best at keeping out the heat.  This is especially true if you have old windows that are single pane.  You can actually purchase window insulation film that works like shrink wrap onto your windows. In a pinch? Bubble wrap will have the same effect.

Cover Older Floors

Crazy to think, but if you have old hardwood floors then they may leaking air.  You can fix this by insulating under your home or by putting down rugs.  The rugs will get the job done short term, but your best long term solution is the under the house insulation.

Leave the Oven Open

Well, not open when you are using it, but once you are done let all that heat escape into the room.  It’s an easy way to heat up your kitchen.

Don’t Drain the Tub

You know that period of time after you get yourself clean and you leave the shower running just to enjoy the water? Well, during that time you will want to plug up the drain and let the water accumulate.  Don’t empty it until the water has gotten cold.  The heat from the water will help warm the room.  This works the same for those of us who have kids that take baths.

Reverse Your Ceiling Fan

In the winter you want your ceiling fans to run in a clockwise direction.  This pulls the cold up from the floor and pushes the heat around.  This will give your rooms a more uniform temperature and you will not need to run the heat as long.

Use Aluminum Foil To Reflect Heat

If you are using a radiator that sits close to a wall or a fireplace, put aluminum foil behind it (in the back of the fireplace) to reflect the heat back into the room.  This is a quick and painless way to push the heat back into the room.

Shut Your Unused Rooms

Close the vents and shut the doors to unused rooms.  This keeps you from having to heat these rooms and will lower your overall energy bill.  The other part of this is that your heating unit is designed to heat your entire home.  So if you close off the vents you can heat the rest of your home faster.

Insulate Your Attic Door

If you have an attic door inside your home then you want to make sure that when it closes it gets a good seal.  Since attic doors are typically in the ceiling, any heat going out of them is just killing the heat in the room.

Switch to Arcadia Power

With Arcadia Power you can support renewable energy and have it come directly to you, even without adding wind or solar to your home.

If you are in an area that you can choose where your power comes from you can do a full switch and receive all your billing through Arcadia Power. Our Arcadia Power review details how even those without the switch over option can support the long term reduction of energy costs.

Insulate Your Outlets and Switches

This is one I never thought about, but your outlets are a place that you can easily lose heat directly into your walls.  They actually make these cool socket sealers that fit directly under the face plates of your switches and sockets.  They are super cheap and easy to install.  Well worth the less than $10 investment.

Using these eleven different methods you can save money on heat and make sure the winter stays outside.