tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post3911852220125736919..comments2024-02-26T06:06:10.884-05:00Comments on Adventures of a Thrifty Mama on a City 'Stead: Time to Freeze My Buns?Chris K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/12054057713267875769noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post-79384222444366106392011-10-18T13:29:22.505-04:002011-10-18T13:29:22.505-04:00We are going to be doing this challenge too. We h...We are going to be doing this challenge too. We haven't decided on a temp yet (think we will have a family discussion lol) but I am thinking 65 and 60. We all get sore throats from sleeping open mouthed at night so any colder may not work.Lydia Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post-12544469442856361102011-10-18T11:36:13.856-04:002011-10-18T11:36:13.856-04:00I remembered another blogger I followed had posted...I remembered another blogger I followed had posted something about keeping warm in winter, so I asked her if she could direct me to that post...instead, she wrote a whole new post about it. Here's the link:<br /><br />http://happilyhome.blogspot.com/2011/10/chilly.html<br /><br />Really, her writing style - and what she says about frugality and self-sufficiency is similar to your own views. And you are an author and she just published a book....seriously, sometimes I mix the two of you up!Patricialynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16656235987162214880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post-85004962325043153962011-10-15T13:46:32.688-04:002011-10-15T13:46:32.688-04:00Like others, I have been known to hang hand made q...Like others, I have been known to hang hand made quilts and other pretty fabrics on walls to help insulate. I will be doing that in my own room this winter! :) We try to heat mostly by wood when we can, a renewable resource and one that we can do most of the work for ourselves, and we get wood from places local that are not clear-cutters. When the wood stove is going, the furnace gets set to 50 or 55, and we use the stove for heat. Right now, we're putting it at about 60, which means it's on at night a couple of times, but during the day it's almost never on. We have a lot of passive solar heat from the big windows, but I suspect we may also lose heat from them, as well, as they are not the new windows that capture heat. <br /><br />I would tell your friends to put shrink wrap plastic on their inside windows, and clear plastic taped on well on the *outside* of their windows, making a double barrier against the cold. In a trailer home especially, though, leave one window undone because otherwise you'll have massive moisture build up which really sucks. Cheap carpeting on floors and even walls will help retain heat, as well as putting hay bales around the base of your trailer (all the way). This helps with some types of houses as well, though not most.<br /><br />I have a tiny electric space heater that I use in bathrooms in the winter time. It's such a small space that I will go in and "heat it up" for the kids (or myself) before bath time, then take it out before the water gets turned on. So long as they keep the door closed, it holds the heat for a pretty long time. This lets warm baths occur without having to heat the whole house for the joy of it.<br /><br />Warm foods help. Keep a pot of broth on the back of the stove or in a crock pot, and help yourself from it liberally. If you don't like broth, swill tea or warmed cranberry juice. I sometimes use the crock pot to make a bit pot of mulled wine or non-alcoholic cider for parties (or just because), and let people serve themselves as they please.<br /><br />Warm snuggling is always a good thing, too. Hot bath/shower before bed, while warming the room with a space heater or even with hot water bottles or clean bricks/potatoes warmed in the oven, then hop in under warm covers and snuggle with your sweetie(s). And a night cap... which sounds awfully funny but it helps the body retain heat best!RevAllysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08647500969442410706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post-91546443256149258572011-10-15T08:28:49.509-04:002011-10-15T08:28:49.509-04:00Whoops! Forgot another suggestion. Trailer home wa...Whoops! Forgot another suggestion. Trailer home walls can be rather thin (at least, that's my memory from living in one as a child, but it's been thirty years so maybe the newer ones aren't as bad). For extra insulation, hang blankets, quilts, or comforters up against the walls, and use thicker curtains over the windows. I remember my mother doing this interesting layering thing with blankets in my bedroom, in coordinating colors, and the effect was pretty. My room was the envy of all my friends!Patricialynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16656235987162214880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post-36568776263322923702011-10-15T08:25:51.232-04:002011-10-15T08:25:51.232-04:00Ack, I typed in a long comment and it got deleted....Ack, I typed in a long comment and it got deleted. Ugh. Anyway, I had mentioned hot water bottles (for keeping warm at night - an extra comforter on the bed plus a well-positioned water bottle equals comfort all night long).<br /><br />Secondly, for your neighbors, suggest they invest in a small, energy efficient space heater. I don't mean the old fashioned kind that was a fire hazard...rather, something like this:<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Dimplex-CS1205-Compact-Electric-Stove/dp/B000GLHVQE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1318681085&sr=8-3<br /><br />That's very similar to the one we had to pick up earlier this spring during an unusual cold snap...our heater was temporarily out of order, and it was dropping below freezing. Fortunately for us, this model was 50% off, so we didn't even spend that much - and even on the low setting, it took the chill out of a large room rather quickly.<br /><br />I would recommend putting the space heater in the living area, and hanging fabric - some type of curtain or a quilt nailed to the wall - over the doorways. You'd be shocked at how effective a single sheet of fabric can be at keeping heat in a room - and a thicker fabric like a thin quilt can work wonders.<br /><br />On really cold nights (when hot water bottles just won't cut it), the family could either camp out in the room with the space heater, or the heater could be moved into a common bedroom and everyone can sleep in there.Patricialynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16656235987162214880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4007490949582525706.post-78783585300230724232011-10-15T08:24:07.360-04:002011-10-15T08:24:07.360-04:00I used to use old army blankets hung in the hallwa...I used to use old army blankets hung in the hallway to keep the 1/2 of the trailer that we weren't in all the time from sucking up all the heat,as well as closed off all the heat vents to that end.<br /><br />Ours was an old,falling apart trailer,so we often put plastic on the windows during the colder months,and sometimes hung blankets over the windows too,as it was a very drafty,leaky old place.<br /><br />Now that we are in a house,I keep the thermostat set at 64 in the winter,and it does not get bumped up.Since our room is in the lower part of the house,and partially underground,is gets much colder in there than is comfortable sometimes,so we simply open one of our camping sleeping bags all the way up and use it like a comforter on the bed.The sleeping bags are rated to minus 15 degrees,so it keeps us plenty warm enough.<br /><br />I don't think we could do the passive solar energy thing,as we've only got sun directly at the front of the house for a couple hours in the morning,and then the rest of the day it's blaring down on the side that has no windows. <br /><br />I'm gonna have to look up this challenge you're speaking of,sounds interesting.Lee Rnoreply@blogger.com