How to Warm Up an Old House
- 1). Check you attic. A major source of heat loss is right up through the roof. Adding insulation to whatever is already in place in your attic will greatly reduce your heating bills. If putting more insulation in the entire attic isn't in the budget, however, you can help reduce heat loss by making sure the attic access is well insulated. In many older homes, these doors don't have any insulation and attaching some batt fiberglass insulation onto the door itself will save lots of heat.
- 2). Remember your windows. Old-style windows weren't well insulated, and over time, small gaps have likely opened up around the edges allowing cold air inside. The best solution is to replace any old, leaky windows with new energy-efficient ones, but that can add up to a lot of money. Alternatively, consider adding some clear plastic window film over the entire window. The film is clear so you can see out the window, but the plastic covering prevents drafts from coming in around the edges. A rolled up towel (or a "snake" sewed from old towels) will block any drafts from coming in along the bottom.
- 3). Add weather stripping around the edges of your doors. Adhesive foam insulation that you simply cut to size, peel off a backing and stick onto the edges of the door is inexpensive, and the $10 you spend on weather stripping will be repaid during the first month of winter.
- 4). Consider your fireplace. Here again, old fireplaces aren't anywhere near as energy efficient as modern ones, and lots of heat from inside your home goes right up the fireplace chimney. Close the damper in the fireplace when it's not being used to stop inside heat from going right up the chimney. You can save even more heat by installing fireplace doors to cover and close off the fireplace opening.
- 5). Reverse the blades on your ceiling fan so they will push air down to where people live, rather than letting it stay up near the ceiling.
- 6). Think about closing off any rooms you don't use regularly. Shut off any heat vents in the room so the heat doesn't get wasted, close the door and block off any openings around the edges to prevent cold drafts.
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