Right now in my house we have the “blanket brigade.” It is the only way to keep warm when the wind-chill is negative 10 and we don’t want to pour our energy cost out the window (and doors).
The blanket brigade is in charge of making sure that there is always a heavy blanket blocking the drafts in the house, particularly the outside doors. We fold the blankets, so that there is a good number of layers and then we place them along the bottom of our doors.
Whenever a family member needs to go in or out of the house, we yell “blanket brigade!” This alerts someone else to remove or replace the blankets that are blocking our drafts.
I have really noticed a difference in the temperature in our home, particularly in the hardwood floors. Before we started using the blankets for draft blocking, it was almost painful to walk barefoot on the floors because they were so cold. Wearing double layers of heavy socks and even shoes were the only way to spend the day in the house. I couldn’t dare put the baby down on the floor to practice his crawling, and the older ones hauled their toys up to the couch or beds to play.
There is one sure test to know that a blanket blocking a drafty door is working to keep the heat in your home. Simply place the blanket against the draft and then come back in a few hours to feel it. If the side facing the inside of your home is warm and the side that was placed against the draft is really cold, then you know you just saved some of your heating cost. All of that “cold” on the blanket could have made it into the house and your family.
Our basement, which isn’t finished or heated is pretty cold, unless I am running the dryer with its dyer diverter. I did notice that blocking the back door with a blanket really helped the basement warm up a bit, even with the door from the house to the basement closed to retain heat in the main part of the house.
Blankets can be used to block windows, too, to keep the heat in the house.
What are your favorite ways to keep the heat in your home?
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