I was looking at some pictures of a house that we lived in when Ted and I were first married. That house was something, it was hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. I remember having to put plastic on the front door and a note in the window to go around to the back door if you wanted in. There were winter blasts that came in through every crack. As I was reminiscing about that place I started to remember some of the tricks that I used to winterize that house. We were very poor and had to be very resourceful.
The first thing that I did was to take old rags and t-shirts and tear them into strips. I would tuck these into every crack that I could find around doors and windows. I would stuff them between the storm windows and the sill. I am still amazed at how much wind that they stopped from whipping in.
I have always hung my laundry, I still do to this day, I don’t care for driers. In the winter I would hang my laundry indoors when the weather was snowy or rainy. It kept the humidity up in the house and made it feel warmer. We used to burn wood then too so the humidity was much needed. A teakettle on the stove or just a pan of water simmering will do the same thing. (sometimes I would put some orange peels and a clove or two to make it smell nice.)
Another thing that I would do is put plastic over the windows (and the front door!) This would keep out the blasting cold wind. I would roll up a rug or towel and stick in front of the door to keep the floors a bit warmer. I would also keep the doors to the rooms that we did not use during the day shut off. I like to sleep in a cold room so there was not much point to heating the bed rooms and keeping the periferal rooms cut off kept the core of the house warmer.
We live in a very well insulated house now, but to remember how to keep warm still comes in handy. We had our furnace go out last year for a while, and had to use some of the methods above to keep the core of the house warm for a few days until we could get the furnace fixed. I hope that this will help to remind people that it does not have to be expensive to help yourself keep warm.
Until next time,
Be blessed, be safe and be prepared!
Theresa
Survivalgal Blog 