Surviving a Low Thermostat (2)by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 30 Jan 2008 07:52 AM In yesterday's article, I talked about some practical ways that you can feel comfortable in your home while keeping the thermostat down low. This can save you a ton of money, especially with today's rising costs in home heating oil, gas and electricity. If you missed that article, you can click here to read it now. Surviving a Low Thermostat. Do you dread being cold at night? Turn the temperature up a bit at night (a degree or two) a few hours before bed. Your body may be winding down and less efficient at retaining heat. The extra heat will help your body stay warm. Then when you go to bed, turn the temperature back down, since you won't need it for sleeping. Here is another tip for bed. Take something warm with you to warm up the sheets. We keep the upstairs heat turned way down in the 50s, since we spend most of the day downstairs. I heat up microwavable heat pads and put them under the covers while we brush our teeth. The beds are nice and toasty when we are ready to get in to bed. There are more tips to keep you comfortable during the day, too. Use rugs to keep hard surface floors warmer and wear slippers or shoes in the house. Blankets or throws on the couch will make your feel warmer if you are curling up to a book or television. Take advantage of your oven and bake. Not only will you be providing frugal meals and snacks for your family, but you will help to warm up the house at the same time. I like to do this in the middle of the day, if I can. It warms the kitchen and adjoining rooms for hours afterward, putting off the time I turn the heat on. Look for the next article about surviving a low thermostat. I'll share a couple of ideas that will warm you up quickly when you are tempted to turn that heat up. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: One Simple Way to Lower Your Heating Cost Save Money on Home Heating: Install a Dryer Diverter Save on Heating: Fireplace Tips Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments jonesx6 (1606) 30 Jan 2008 10:05 AMI really want to keep my thermostat low at night and during the day, it's just way to cold in our home. We do the slippers, blankets, etc and by the end of the day I am weary from being so cold. Do you have any other suggestions? We are seriously considering using some of our tax money and putting in a wood burning stove. The only thing for us to consider is that we don't plan on being here for more than 2 years. I wonder if it is worth it? Laura  Mary Ann Romans (26886) 30 Jan 2008 10:42 AMJust keep in mind that your home insurance may go up with a wood burning stove. Maybe you could look into ventless fireplaces? You can take them with you, if you want to, and they don't require all of the chimney work. I found that I can keep the temperature down during the day, and then I raise it up around 6PM. That seems to help. Also, I will be adding some more tips here today or tomorrow. marinemom8 (125) 30 Jan 2008 05:51 PMWow, you can stay comfortable with your thermostat that low? I am freezing keeping ine at 68, maybe I just don't dress warmly enough. We all spend half our day in front of our gas fireplace (the best spot in the house!) Nights aren't a problem, I invested in very warm fleece jammies for the little kids, and warm down comfortors for everybody. I do like the idea of lowering the temp just 1 degree a week, I think I could handle that-great suggestion. marinemom8 (125) 30 Jan 2008 05:52 PMWow, you can stay comfortable with your thermostat that low? I am freezing keeping ine at 68, maybe I just don't dress warmly enough. We all spend half our day in front of our gas fireplace (the best spot in the house!) Nights aren't a problem, I invested in very warm fleece jammies for the little kids, and warm down comfortors for everybody. I do like the idea of lowering the temp just 1 degree a week, I think I could handle that-great suggestion-Karen Mary Ann Romans (26886) 31 Jan 2008 05:34 AMTo be honest, this week I discovered that our old thermostat is actually off by 4 degrees, so although I set it to 60, it is really probably 64. Getting used to it is a big factor. My husband, who is a heated building all day, can't tolerate the temperature that low. Down comforters are the best investments ever! jonesx6 (1606) 01 Feb 2008 11:51 AMMary Ann, I didn't realize that about your insurance possibly going up w/ a wood burning stove. I had better look into that. Down comfortors would be great but we are all allergic to down. :( The past few days I have lowered the thermostat down to 60 when I leave the house. lol Progress!! ;o) Laura Mary Ann Romans (26886) 01 Feb 2008 12:23 PMThere is an EcoDown that you might try. This has worked for me. If you buy somewhere such as Macy's, you should be able to return it if it doesn't work for you. jonesx6 (1606) 04 Feb 2008 11:48 AMThanks Mary Ann! Mary Ann Romans (26886) 04 Feb 2008 03:02 PMSure! Let me know how it works out, if you decide to try it. Community Tags frugal, heating, oil, saving money, thrifty Discuss this article
|
Frugal categories |
