Posted by Snow in 
Truss Built Home
Now is the time when everyone wants to get the bills lowered and the food budget raised. Just one problem: in a sustainable household the math doesn’t alway meet in the middle. Here are some ways to change that.
How many have you accomplished?
1. Lay down the Rug
Lay down the law on high heating bills by getting a leg up on winter time foundation freezing. Lay down an insulating layer or carpet and a tough and densely worked carpet over that. If the shade doesn’t match Ralph Lauren or Martha Stewart, who cares? They are not paying your heating bills.
Extra fibers between feet and freezing ground or cellar air insulates living spaces. This prevents winter circulation problems, existing circulation problems worsening and some diseases. People forget about the floor and wonder why their heat envelope wastes away.
Extra carpet means another emergency insulation in case of power outage. Heat can stay in longer and heat conducting humans moving about will create heat and form a cocoon. For chores this will help as well. Warm feet will work better, since heat travels upward. Cold feet starts a chill that extends upward.
2. Utilize Bath Heat in Zones
A warm bath or steaming shower in winter is the ultimate luxury, especially in falling snow or freezing rain weather climates. This can form a pocket of heat in the area immediately around the bathroom on all sides.
Make sure heat doesn’t travel fruitlessly through air ducts to expire. Block up expanses of single windows and skylights. Have other family members use the warm bathroom for their bath instead of starting the bathroom warmup on a separate occasion later on.
Insulate a circle of heat in a zone around the bathroom so bathers aren’t lingering in the hot water for the heat alone. Homework time or chores can be done to maximise heat distribution. If kids are getting tucked into bed, it’s a great time for one of the shared walls with a bathroom to get heated.
3. Go old-school with Heating Bricks
Ever walk out of someone’s drafty house where everyone shivered and out into the cozy garage, where the laundry machines and bright lights kept the garage comfortable?
Transit the heat away from shelves and storage bins and where humans are. One way is using heating bricks or blankets. If you steadily remove heated bricks from a warm garage into a cool bedroom, the house will share warmth that otherwise goes to waste.
Think about the heat in your car’s hood when you arrive home. You’ve paid for the gas to heat that engine, and the hood will just evaporate the heat into the unpopulated garage. Ventilation is key. Trap heat so that it helps the house when garage or bonus rooms get heated and lit.
Keep hot items inside the oven in spare spaces when roasting meats or cooking at high temperatures. Simply moving an assortment of heated metal to the bedroom will make it more comfortable in 15 minutes to go to bed.
Or…you could lay down some insulated blankets and return for them in about 15 minutes. Lining the living room windows and carpeting the doors just made the family room 5 degrees warmer, free. Keeping large rooms warm is easier than heating cold ones.
InnerWear:
If kids can hang out inside in their outdoor wear, then they do not have adequate protection. The minimum standard of outerwear protection should be ten degrees cooler than current conditions. Extended periods of outdoor exposure should make kids cold, not frostbitten. Coming inside means less foot sole protection and more freedom of movement for relaxation and rest. If you plan on turning down the thermostat to save heat costs, make sure the kids have adequate slippers, bathrobes, and even finger gloves if they sleep in overly cool attic or exposed wall rooms. Exposed walls to the coldest outdoor extremes can get a sudden frost, shocking sleepers inside.
5. Fort Beddy Bye
Make sure the bed is an oasis of warmth, or kids won’t want to go to bed. Instruct them patiently and make sure they know how to adjust heater controls. Make heat-safing bedtime bedrooms part of the nightly routine. Shut windows and adjust vents.
Teach kids how to stuff flannel clothing into duvet covers to add extra warmth and how to keep hands and heads covered during sleep to conserve heat. Set electric blankets on low, but not so low kids can’t get frustrated and switch it up. Keep vitamin C on hand in plentiful supply.
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