Weatherizing for Winter and Keeping Warm

Weatherizing for winter in a home often means repairing windows, adding insulation, etc. &mdash all efforts to help keep out the cold and save energy. But how do you weatherize for winter in an apartment when you can't (or don't want) to remodel the place? Here are a few ideas.

• 1 Use draft blockers on drafty doors and windows.

• 2 Use an electric blanket to warm up the bed and save on energy bills at night.

• 4 And, or, pile the layers of flannel sheets, blankets and faux fur on the bed.

• 5 Put fuzzy rugs down on the floor to keep your toesies snuggly.

• 6 Insulate your windows with curtains, rubber sealing or film.

If it's your home you're interested in weatherizing, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has a comprehensive Web site that addresses this.

Any other ideas?

More on Apartment Therapy:
How To: Stay Warm at Home Without Much Heat
Chilly? Warm Up at Night Without Turning on the Heat

Image: Photos by Peter Bastianelli-Kerze, "Winter Architecture by David Salmela"

Comments (12)

Weatherstrip, weatherstrip, weatherstrip. It costs almost nothing, is easy to do, and makes a big difference.

I realize this is off topic, but where is that photo?!

As my hero Jimmy Carter said, put on a sweater! :-) It's worth it to buy some warm snuggly leisure clothes and wool socks!

@ lychee

Sure looks like it was taken just down the road from my country house last year, at the beginning of January :-)

Hmm, if you want to save on electricity (we're in a recession after all) you shouldn't use an electric blanket. Just put layer after layer of warm blankets on your bed (looks good too) and wear thermic underwear.

Love Jimmy Carter!...yes..double layer comforters really work and look lucious!..It's the getting OUT of bed the next am..eeeeekkkk

THERMAL CURTAINS! If you get some good ones, you'll notice a difference within hours of putting them up. They're good for both winter and summer - keep the heat in or keep it out.

You can get some relatively cheap ones at Target for $12-$19 by the Eclipse brand. If they aren't your color, team them up with your current curtains.

If you live somewhere cold, invest in a big fat duvet for inside, a fur coat (I know, politically incorrect) for outside so you aren't shivering all day after going out of doors, make sure the glazing on your windows is in good shape, lower the storms, insulate the attic if you live in a house, close the flues if you have a fireplace, and as Jimmy by way of DragonKatinDC suggested, wear sweaters. People who must wear shorts and t-shirts indoors during the winter are the ones with the biggest gas bills.

I have been challenging myself to turn down the heat by one degree each year for the last several years. We're now down to 64 when we're home and awake, 61 when we're away or sleeping. We installed a programmable thermostat so the heat comes on automatically just before the alarm goes off, so the temperature is up to a comfortable level by the time we have to climb out from under the covers. Human beings have survived quite well without central heat for a long time, so I figured we can adjust, and generally it's not really uncomfortable once you have adjusted (I get over-heated in other people's houses, I've adjusted so well! I often forget to turn up the heat if I'm home before the heat goes back up automatically, and I don't notice that it's only 61 degrees.) I swear by polar fleece and sweaters. We also keep an extra down comforter on the sofa for tv viewing (as an extra bonus, snuggled up in a down comforter makes you a kitty magnet!)

My wife and I live in a drafty apartment and we keep the heat completely off most of the time, and only turn it on in our bedroom at night to keep things manageable. This may sound ultra ghetto, but I put cardboard in the draftiest windows. Hobos know how to stay warm; cardboard insulates really well. I felt an increase in heat just a few hours later after I put it in.

I can't believe no one has mentioned increasing the humidity. Greenhouse effect, people! I keep a pot of water steaming on the stove all day and a humidifier running in my bedroom at night. In addition to reducing the number of nighttime cracked-lip injuries, it keeps the whole apartment about five degrees warmer than where we set the thermostat. If having the stove on all day makes you nervous, you can just hang a wet towel over the radiator (which is what we used to do in our dorms in college).