We just moved. It’s getting cold, and we are now in a much bigger house. Believe me, I am not complaining, we were in a very small house with six people, and now we can spread out a little bit but it’s harder to heat this larger space. Heating it is going to be more expensive, as we just got our first fill of home heating oil (OMG! A bit of a shock, we’ve never had oil before, so seeing that kind of a bill was just, whoa!) so I think I may have to get a little bit creative in keeping our house as warm as possible naturally without cranking the thermostats.

This does not come easily to me.

• Use ‘draft-stoppers, draft dodgers, draft-snakes’ at your doors or windows, you can make them yourself** (check out this really cool one**) or buy them online**. I used to have a really awesome smelling pine one that I bought at the Yankee Candle Factory Store.
• Keep your shades open to let the sun IN, some suggest using a ceiling fan on reverse to push the warm air down.
• Cover those windows at night when the sun is down, thick curtains really do make a difference with older windows that might be a little more drafty.
• Bob Vila says: Caulk those windows, and all the other drafty spots in your home**. You should seal all gaps around windows and doors. Use storm windows – which can reduce heat loss through windows by 25 to 50 percent, and doors, and keep them tightly closed.

I have a lot of work to do. My house is cold. But, we also have two wood stoves that look like they’ve not been used since 1980, so like I said, lots of work to do.

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