Tuesday, December 14, 2010

cheap ways to stay warm

Our little apartment homestead is located in a 1907 farmhouse that has been cut up into a few apartments with lots of character and cuteness abound. What we don't have in our place is decent heating...homes in those days didn't have double-pane windows, foam insulation or some of the other cool things that are out on the market.
We do have a heater, but i must admit, i am a little scared to use it...

(if you know how to fix this, come on over-i will pay you back in jam!)

I am a spoiled Southern Californian-I know that already, but i am telling you it has been seriously COLD a few nights (like 30 degrees!!) and I have to wear 2 pairs of leggings, fuzzy socks, and a long scarf that i wrap around my neck and then over my head...and i sleep with all of this on hugging Marge for warmth.
Part of the problem with our house being so cold is that the windows are not the best (but they look cute!) and each of our doors have HUGE gaps on the bottom.

(the kitchen-you should see the other door!)

Our wonderful neighbor Lea saw us freezing our a$$es off and she made these cute draft dodgers for us-her place is covered in them, she even has them on the windows-believe me this simple project made a huge difference.

(check out the FABRIC!!!)

(Lea's window-cute right!)
Our other neighbors Jack and August also gave us this great heater (about $30 @ your local hardware store) and we set it up by the living room door so if any cold air came in, it got zapped with the heater.  The oil-filled heater is actually pretty great-it is inexpensive, uses little energy (compared to some of the electric ones-they end up costing you big time), you can roll it around easily (i have it right in front of me when at my desk), and having one at each entrance of our living room heats our home nicely.


I am going to do a you-tube of Lea making a draft dodger next week, but in the meantime, here are 2 links to making one of your own.
of course Martha making a draft dodger-and it probably matches everything!
Simple Green Frugal Co-op's version

ABOUT OIL-FILLED HEATERS: according to one site, the oil never needs to be replaced.  If your heater is no longer working, there might have been a leak in the heater.  the link above also has a number of heaters to choose from.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have one of those little oil filled heaters. Unfortunately they dont last too long.

Do you know if youre able to fill it up again with oil..?

I still have mine but it doesnt work, Im assuming its cause it needs to refilled with oil.

delilah said...

i didnt know that, we have had ours on for weeks and it is still pushing heat out!
i am going to look into it-would not be surprised if h.depot had oil right about now.
i will add something to the blog if i find out-thanks for the info.