“Can I lower my electric bill?” Questions like these send me on quests.
I’ve been reading and watching a bunch of these prepper shows lately. It amazes me how out of touch some people are, in both directions really. Some folks are clueless about how to function without every creature comfort possible. Others are so prep minded, that it’s amazing that they can function in a pre-apocalyptic world. I never stopped to realize how much common sense and environmental wisdom my family instilled in us. I will try to pass on these tips as I find them in my life. They are truly simple and profound.
One of these is using passive solar energy to heat and cool your home. Sounds important right? It means in the winter you open the curtains
You can use the same principles to cool your home in the summer. (If it ever gets here…)
In the evening, when the outside air is cooler than the inside air, open the windows, so the hot air escapes. In the morning, when the outside air starts to warm, close all the windows and curtains
One tip: The heavier the drapes are, the more effective this trick is. If you don’t like heavy drapes, consider putting up blinds
Using this age old method saves us a ton on heating and cooling. It doesn’t take any extra time, you just have to decide to do it. I dare you to try it. Let me know how it works for you.
Great post! What is nice in the winter is that our living room and sliding doors face the South so the sun comes right in. Unfortunately, my husband has blankets up covering the doors because they are very old and let in a major draft so we would have to do this on calm Michigan days. We did plastic last year and it was AMAZING to see how much air flow there was. The plastic billowed out constantly but it was nice to have the sunshine. I feel like I am in a cave right now. 🙁 But these practices may prove lucrative for us. Thanks for the ideas. 🙂
I know the feeling we have several windows in our house that need replaced. We put plastic on them until we get to that project. They are bulged out a couple of inches most of the time. We used to do blankets but it always feels like the bat cave. Good tip though…start looking now. All the stores start to sell their winterizing stuff cheap. I buy all the plastic I can afford and put it away. It doesnt go bad. and the tape lasts for years. Put it in the closet and next year you can get your windows done and skip the blankets, usually at a fraction of the cost. If you buy the window plastic, you can use the tape to seam it and cover a door. works fine. I have done this with patio doors and big old bay windows that leaked horribly. Good luck and stay tuned.
I typically do this in my downstairs living and dining rooms where I am regularly but I don’t really think about or take the time to do this to all the windows upstairs and I should. I could be saving more money. Thanks for the tips!
No problem. I know it changes the ambient temperature in my house and the amount of drafts we have immensely. It’s not like you’re going to need to open the windows anyway. Another trick -if you wrap the screens with one layer of plastic. Then put a layer on the inside of the window. It helps a bunch too. Any extra layers can help keep down drafts to a minimum.