When winter arrives, the plummeting temperatures can quickly lead to rising fuel bills. For those of us who embrace a frugal lifestyle, finding cost-effective ways to stay warm at home without cranking up the heating is a top priority. If you’re on a tight budget like us this winter, you’re not alone in seeking warmth without breaking the bank. In this post, we’ll explore some simple frugal tips for keeping warm in winter and saving a significant amount of money during this chilly season.
Frugal Tips For Keeping Warm
The escalating cost of fuel in recent years has compelled many of us to rethink how we heat our homes. It’s disheartening to think that some people face the difficult choice between buying groceries and keeping their homes warm. I’ve also come to appreciate the environmental benefits of reducing energy consumption. For me, it’s a combination of both concerns, and I aim to adhere to a heating schedule that minimizes our energy use during the milder months while making exceptions when necessary for the well-being of my family.
Keep Your Feet Warm
Toasty Toes: To combat the initial chill, start with your extremities. If your floors are made of laminate, wood, or tile, consider investing in high-quality rugs to add warmth. You don’t need to carpet your entire space; affordable rugs can be found at discount retailers and online marketplaces. For a truly frugal option, you can even use carpet samples or offcuts.
Thrifty Footwear: Invest in a comfortable pair of slippers, ideally with hard soles and a cosy faux sheepskin lining. Warm socks are also your allies for keeping your feet toasty. Consider wearing them around the house and in bed to keep the cold at bay.
Layer Up
Layering clothing is a simple and effective strategy to stay warm. Both children and adults can benefit from wearing a vest, t-shirt, and sweater to trap body heat. Keep a few trusty jumpers and hoodies on hand and reach for them before adjusting the thermostat. Putting on a cosy dressing gown over your clothing while indoors is another budget-friendly trick to stay warm.
Blankets
Keep multiple blankets or throws in every room. They serve as excellent accents for your sofa or additional layers on beds. There’s nothing quite like snuggling under a warm blanket while watching a movie on a cold afternoon.
Keep It Hot
Sip and Savor: Enjoying warm drinks is a simple yet effective way to stay cosy. Whether it’s tea, coffee, hot chocolate, warm milk, Horlicks, or Ovaltine, these beverages can help keep you warm. Invest in a thermos flask or mug to keep your drinks piping hot and reduce the need to constantly boil the kettle. Swapping out your regular lunch for a hot bowl of soup, stews, or casseroles can also raise your core temperature.
Sleeping Bag Hack
A clever sleeping back hack you could try is to place a hot water bottle at the bottom of your sleeping bag and zip yourself inside. This doesn’t have to be at bedtime, you could try this instead of a blanket when you are snuggling up on the sofa.
Get Moving
Physical activity generates heat and benefits your overall health. You don’t need to commit to a rigorous exercise routine – simply engaging in household chores or playfully chasing your kids around can raise your body temperature. If you’re looking to save even more money, consider working out at home as a frugal way to stay fit and warm.
Stop The Draft
Draft Defense: During colder months, homes often lose heat through drafts, especially around windows and doors. Closing curtains and blinds as temperatures drop is effective, and adding an old duvet or comforter to thin curtains can provide a thermal boost. To prevent chilly drafts, place rolled-up towels along the bottoms of doors and encourage your family to close doors promptly when leaving a room.
Candles
Candlelight Comfort: Burning candles not only creates a warm and cosy atmosphere but also helps reduce the need for artificial lighting in the evenings, saving on energy costs.
Share The Warmth
Share the Warmth: If you’re on a mission to save on heating costs, consider visiting family, friends, or neighbours for a warm chat and a cup of coffee. Bring a small token of appreciation, like a homemade treat, to show your gratitude. Libraries and museums can also provide warmth while offering an opportunity to learn and explore.
Insulate
If your attic isn’t insulated then it might be time to invest and get it done. We all know that heat rises but do we actually realise how much heat can be lost through poor insulation in the home?
Heat can be lost through poorly insulated roofs, walls and windows leading to higher energy bills. If it’s within your budget then adding insulation is highly recommended and the investment will pay for itself over the years.
Following just some of these frugal tips can help to keep you warm, you can stay cosy and comfortable throughout the winter without blowing your budget. Plus, you’ll be doing your part for the environment by conserving energy and reducing your carbon footprint. Remember, keeping warm doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune – it’s all about making thoughtful choices and enjoying the cosy side of life, even on a budget.
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We use hot water bottles or microwavable wheat bags, and when the oven has been on we’ll leave the door open to warm the kitchen (we don’t have any small people who could get burnt). If my feet get super cold, sometimes the only answer is to have a nice hot bath 🙂 We could afford for our fuel bills to be a little higher, but we’d rather have money available for other things- that’s our reason for not just sticking the heating on whenever we feel like it.
Those are all great ideas, I love having a nice hot bath when it’s chilly but don’t like getting out afterwards it feels so cold.
Don’t drain the tub after your bath! The heat from the water will keep the bathroom warm for a long time after you get out.
I can’t believe I wasted my time reading this! There’s nothing original about these tips! Just common sense!
Hi Lucy, all I can say is you wasted even more of your time typing your comment!
Hahaha, genius comeback, Angela! <3
I must say I enjoyed the tips… sure, they are common sense, but the article is a great reminder 🙂
Best wishes from the Netherlands
Thanks Linda x
Love your article!
Reading helpful ideas is a great way to improve your life.
This may seem kind of hysterical, but I find wearing a winter hat indoors makes a big difference in keeping warm.
I also wear a tank top then a long sleeve shirt. I then put on a vest to be able to easily move around the house.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment I really appreciate it. I totally agree about wearing things like hats and woollies inside, if it helps to keep you warm then it’s a great idea. We all live in such different climates so sharing ideas with each other is really helpful.
Haha nice one x
Love your suggestions.Common sense is right.I always war always wear socks in winter.
oooooooo….That’s COLD, Angela!
I sort of agree w/Lucy, but not COMPLETELY…So don’t snuf me out!
Here’s one I never read about but it’s a pretty cheap way to heat. Heat lamp bulbs. 250 watts vs 1,500 watts for a space heater. And you can install them into a clamp on aluminum shade and direct them wherever. Flip a switch or plug in and the heat is INSTANT. They are available in clear or red, or possibly other colors… HEY! If they are good enuf for Shari’s or Denny’s…
And don’t overlook the parabolic reflector heaters with the HALOGEN bulb. The dual power switch is usually 400 and 800 watts…Much less than the average space heater… And again the heat is INSTANT… And HOT!
Stay warm! Doni
Hello! I found this helpful too and wasn’t expecting to find anything I hadn’t already heard or read before! Thank you! 🙂
I’m from south Floridawhere we had about 2 really cold days a year. We would just keep the gas stove on and bundle up if we went outside. I thankful for these ideas now that I have moved to where there is four seasons.
Thanks for your comment Rebecca, I can imagine what a surprise having four seasons after just living in sunny Florida was. It’s all about doing the little things to make those savings isn’t it.
Lucy Van Pelt, is that you? There are people just starting out with keeping a home and they might not know about some of these things.
Maybe you should start your own blog.
Thank you for your time and sharing these tips. We need all the helping ideas we can get. Thanks again for your thoughtfulness too
I don’t know where you people live but, in my area if you don’t turn your heat on your pipes freeze and, you die.
Hi Sussie, Thanks for your comment, I obviously wouldn’t suggest these methods if you live somewhere extremely cold. I live in the UK where I suppose we have relatively mild Winters. You have a nice day now.
I live in the Sierra Nevadas. Sometimes it gets below 0 degrees Fahrenheit here. If my house falls below 63 degrees, my toilet tanks crack. Our homes are typically built to withstand the cold, so my pipes have never frozen in the last 50 * years. Closing off unused rooms, dressing warm, cooking with the oven and using that heat to bring up the temp and so many other ways to stay warm keeps my power bill to about $50 or $60 a month. My neighbors are paying over $200!
These are great tips for those moving into their first place! I live in Florida where it does get down in temperature but very rarely to the point our pipes burst… and your supposed to keep them dripping the thermostat has nothing to do with that. And common sense isn’t so common so great posglt!
Thanks for your lovely comment Tara, it really is about doing the little things sometimes they get overlooked when trying to make savings.
Tara
Your comment makes sense for someone that lives in Florida. The thermostat DOES make a difference in areas that get below freezing and below zero. Even waterfalls freeze when cold enough. Pipes will freeze even if they have a small flow going thru them. Some of us also live in homes that still have copper pipes, those WILL freeze, making it MUCH cheaper to just turn your thermostat on! I hope none of those people take your words of advice.
Copper pipes aren’t the only type that freeze and burst…ANY type will, be it the old steel all the way to the new PEX.
Otherwise, your comment is spot on.
I invested in a humidifier and located near a baseboard. Toasty….
Thanks for the ideas. We already do these things and someone said they were just common sense but there are lots of people that either don’t have common sense or just overlook the simple things. And to if you have never had to be frugal before then you may not know these things. I have 5 kids and we incorporate these ideas. Our Climate is iffy. It could be 5 degrees one day and 60 the next. We have been having crazy weather the last few yrs, all yr long. If its to cold for the kids outside then we have fuzzy sleep pants we run around in and fuzzy housecoats. Even though we heat primarily with wood I don’t want to waste the wood. Just my thoughts.
Thanks for your comment Christine, sometimes it’s about going back to basics isn’t it. I like to check I’m doing all the little things before I look at other ways to make savings. It sounds like you are doing a great job with saving on fuel.
My cold-weather hint is to make “Spaghetti Water.” I put a large pot of water on the stove, then bring it to a slow simmer. This puts humidity in the air, & it flows through to several rooms. One cannot actually boil the water–that puts mold on the
ceiling. As for the bedroom, about an hour before going to bed, in very cold weather I will use a spray bottle of water. I can
spray the drapes and my bedspread, & I feel warmer due to the moisture in the air. This also helps to eliminate static shocks
from carpets, if you spray water on them also. I do put some vinegar into the water on the stove, so that I do not have a lime
buildup around the edges. My home feels so much warmer, so I do not have to use too much heat from the furnace.
After my pipes froze, despite keeping a trickle of water running, a plumber told me that I should have kept BOTH HOT AND COLD WATER running. His suggestion to thaw them: open doors under sink, put a hair dryer onto a kitchen chair (not too close to pipes), & very slowly heat the frozen pipes–it worked! And to put humidity into both kitchen & living room, I now put “Spaghetti Water” on the stove–I simmer a large pot of water, with a little vinegar in it, but I do not boil it–that only puts mold onto the ceiling. I use the stove timer to alert me in an hour or two, to check the water level. I also use a spray bottle of water for my bedroom drapes, bedspread, and carpet, an hour before retiring. This makes the room feel warmer, and cuts down on getting static shock from the carpet.
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Hey angela how about turning on the oven. To high then open the door. After you finish baking or what ever your doing with the oven. That left over heat can be used to heat up your kitchen too. Thats the one room everyone seems to gather most of the time.
That’s a great idea Maria !
i have a problem. we have a heater. around the house. it heats nicely, however, i think it’s attached to someone’s house.
so i put the temperature, at a certain degree, then it heats up very nice. However in the middle of the night i hear a ghost, or someone yelling, it’s mine. i hear a couple of voices. my heat becomes an air conditioner. There is no one to complain to. so i got these metal tins, bought a couple of floating wicks, and some canola oil… it heats up the house a little. some of us have a cold. But i just bless the person or people who do it. that they will have everything they want. It’s a wonderful thanksgiving.
When i go to stores, and i feel the heat, or i wish i would also have such wonderful heat. but maybe those who complain need the heat more than we, and so i bless them so they’ll be warm, and won’t have a cold like us.
I live in the very humid south USA. Dehydrating in the hot humid months is practically impossible, so most of my dehydrating is done in the cooler months. I get heat and humidity added to the house while I’m accomplishing preserving food.
one thing I havent seen mentioned is closing off part of your house.
As for myself, I live in an apartment complex facing south on the ground floor. We are plastered by the sun during the day and at night our neighbors are turning their heaters on and we are running a fan year round ( Except in the harsh temps) due to my medical conditions which cause me to break out in feverish pitches from time to time. ( I have Dysautonomia and possible Spinal Stenosis.)
So now, we use their heat without any grumbling as the walls are thin and it soaks through to our own apartment.
We also have drafts that are around the patio door and the front door. Maintenance refused to fix. I found that using drapes on the windows and a towel in front of the front door and throwing a throw over the Air conditioner has dropped the utility bill greatly.
Also using quilts with a warm batting instead of the summery duvets and comforters in the winter months over the top of a crocheted afghan also helps. I put the quilt on top as I have a sweet Senior Shelter Rescue Puppers :). I learned the hard way and now my favorite throw is what covers the AC, as I had to cut it to release her snagged toenail ;’ (.
I also turn on the heat lamp on in the bathroom along with the exhaust fan and that reduces the fog on the mirror and helps warm the apartment after the shower or bath are done.
Our apartment is hyper dry and I am not able to get a humidifier or the air purifier that my breathing requires. I have been using an Essential Oil Diffuser which helps not only the moisture levels but also the atmosphere and mood :). On occasion, I will put a pot of water on. But I always have a container of just plain water sitting around that also helps add moisture to the air.
I also dress in layers, but always wearing two pairs of socks but change them often and take them off at bedtime to prevent fungal infections on my feet and toenails.
I have a little space heater that I turn on only when I need to keep my feet warm. Such as when I am sitting at my PC.
If I am having a flare up of my Inflammatory Arthritis, I simply run my hands under warm running water for a couple of minutes and then I do it as often as required. I also, use microwaveable Heat packs made with white beans. I have another with Rice for when I need a longer extended period of heat. I often use my Electric Heat pad while I am at my PC from time to time. Also putting my clothes in the dryer for a short spin before dressing / before getting into the bed helps.
Have a blessed day y’all’s!
When dressing, we’d always put our socks onto the hair dryer nozzle and heat them up for 5-10 seconds then put them onto our feet and into shoes right away. That extra heat from the socks would help keep us toasty warm. The kids would line up every morning to have their turn to get their warmed socks. 20 years later, I still do it for myself. Hardly ever use the hair dryer for it’s regular function. In this house it’s for winter warming socks, drying/warming the body after showers and sometimes prewarming the bed before bedtime. Went the whole winter last year without turning on the main heater (South West, USA).
Wonderful! Diffusers and/or a humidifier also has a psychologic affect. Try it–you’ll like it!
Thanks for these helpful reminders! It is so easy, in our busy lives, to mindlessly turn on the furnace when it begins to be chilly at dusk. And we all know when we r e a l l y need to use it.
I live in Israel, where winters usually don’t get colder than +4 degrees Celsius. The trouble, though, is that houses are not insulated and so it feels really cold indoors.
I would just like to add one more reminder to the above mentioned. When you m u s t turn on your heating, do so only in one room and gather the whole family there. If you simultaneously use blankets, shawls, layered clothes, bed socks, hot tea/soup with newly baked bread, one small space heater should be enough, even during the coldest of evenings. Rugs help very much too, and so do draperies in front of windows and draft stoppers at doors.
The space heaters cannot be used at night when we are sleeping, due to the fire hazard. Flannel bed linens and toasty PJs help keeping us warm too, together with microwaved rice pouches. – The latter can be substituted for a cat or two, if you are a cat lover. Cats have a higher body temperature than humans and can literally warm your legs, back, feet at any time of the day or night:)
Thanks for sharing! I love your suggestion of going out to warm up elsewhere! I look forward to sitting in the sauna or hot tub at the health club to get my fix!
I used an enclosed oil heater when it’s windy, blankets in the living room, just bought on sale flannel sheets and warm the bed with a heating pad before I get in. Plus my cat keeps me toasty warm at night.
Have had great success with bubbie wrap. Throughout the year, it’s possible to get quite a large supply just with your incoming boxes. Invest in a roll of that blue painters tape, it’s real sticky, but easily handled and inexpensive for all the home uses. Use the bubble wrap sheets against the window glass and ledges. Can come down easily if company is coming. I use long towels hung on skirt hangers to break a draft, just hang from the door top, can come down easily, doors, stairways, windows. Keep the warm air where you need it. Like our grandmothers did. If you’re going outside, hard boil some eggs, keep hands warm by putting the eggs in your pocket. Do some for the kids waiting for the bus, or their crossing guard.
I close rooms off during the winter so that the heat I do use is concentrated in just a few rooms. When we 1st moved in it was a very cold spring in the UK and our heating system was inadequate. To stop the worst of the cold in the kitchen (for an elderly dog!) I used to put my slow cooker on overnight. It did help quite a bit. BTW – the simple tips are often the best ones. Good post thank you.
Hi I think I am probably the youngest person here but these tips are useful for anyone so thank you Angela Webster for sharing them. I will be moving out of my parent’s house just after I turn 18, so in a few months. I am working out plans to save as much money as I can and will be starting to build habits with this intention.
Do you have any other tips for saving money on heating? And do you have any tips for keeping dogs warm, bearing in mind that I have no idea what breeds or descriptions they will be when I get them?
Thanks
These all great ideas. It was a wonderful refresher course.
Hello
In the winter I fold an electric twin size blanket in half length wise. I put it on the couch, then turn it on. Sitting on this is very toasty. Especially with a throw over you. My cats love this !
Keeps the heating cost very low also. : )
I live in the Rocky Mountains in the USA, and spend lots of time in front of the computer. The heat coming from the processor keeps my hands warm while on the keyboard. I sit on a barstool, and built an 8″ tall stool to put my feet on. One year, while on very short funds for heating, I bought a used heating pad, stuck it inside an old pillowcase and put that on top of the foot stool. I can keep the main house temp at least 5 degrees cooler and still be comfortable as long as my hands and feet are warm. The little bit of electricity it uses is much less than what it would cost to raise the temperature of the whole house by that 5 degrees. I also use a microwave heated rice bag to warm the bed/sheets which makes it an absolute pleasure to climb into bed when it is cold!
These are brilliant ideas! thanks for your comment I will definitely try the heat pad idea x
Hi we’re really in need of some sort of hints and tips and help please as to how to keep warm and keep the house warm./in winter-time please.as we’ve got our gas cenral heating in the house.but we’re really trying to economise on our heating./bills and also trying to keep us also warm with out putting the heating on until.its really cold when the snows on the ground and there’s hard frosts on the ground.as that’s when we’ll really need it.and then we’ll need to put it on to stop burst pipes as this is something we really need to safeguard against if we can.as this will cost us some money if we don’t do this and have some sense.
Diane, someone mentioned putting a slow drip on your faucets to keep them from freezing, but what we do is use something called heat tape. It plugs into an electrical outlet and it is like a ribbon, and you wrap it around your pipes and it will heat it very gently. We find we only need it on one pipe… the hot water pipe… leading to our kitchen sink on an outdoor wall. It seems counter intuitive to do the hot water pipe before the cold pipe, but the thing is, because of the unique atomic property of water, warm water will freeze faster than cold water (if you don’t believe me, fill two ice cube trays with warm and cold water and try it). On the cold water pipe we have foam insulation instead, which looks rather like a pool noodle but it has a slit in it and is made to fit around water pipes, and we found that is enough for us, though you might wish heat tape on both. Here in Ohio where we get cold winters and snow, we don’t need the heat tape pipe plugged in all winter, only when we get those “polar vortexes.” The rest of the time we leave the pipe wrapped in the tape but unplugged.
Hi we really want to know how to keep our gas central heating bills down and really keep low.and keep the whole house warm and and keep us warm.but the bills low.all the time. As we are a very frugal family and need to be really frugal all the time and all the time and save money.so we can put our savings to things we really want to do in life.
We are so used to maintaining a regular room temperature all year round that we don’t realise we as a species are physiologically well adapted to seasonal changes in temperature. I find that if the temperature drops gradually you acclimatise to the changes in temperature with less discomfort than if there were sudden fluctuations. Consequently when the temperature lowers gradually I just don’t make any changes. I notice the change but I allow myself to get used to it. And I do get used to it. Now I will not put the heating on until the temperature get to 12 degrees centigrade in the house. This is the point at which I will notice it. Any less gradual changes are dealt with by layering up until I have acclimatised. If I find myself a little better off then I would put heating on earlier if I felt the cold (due to sudden changes in temperature) but finances dictate otherwise usually.
I live in north east New England, cranberry country. Probably five -six miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Get ocean effect snow, and recently some very cold weather. Usually keep heat at 62, broke down last night ( 12 degrees Fahrenheit outside) and turned heat up to 66 F. Shut off second floor a few years ago when ex left. Sleep on the couch under fleece lined comforter. Layer always, fleece lined spandex under sweats, thermal shirt under fleece pull over, leave duty lined socks with slippers. I o run a small Vicks brand humidifier, and hang Landry in front of heat vent in bathroom. Tv throws a ton of heat, so it’s on most of the day. Tried a space heater, but I more than doubled my electric bill. No heat in the cellar, so floors are always cold. Am going to make a second cup of Keurig warm sugar cookie, spiked with s spoonful of hot chocolate.
Hi Sharon,
I learned that space heaters are definitely NOT equal in safety or energy efficiency. Many heaters are energy hogs and some seem downright dangerous to me. I was against them until I went over to a neighbor’s where he had an enclosed oil electric heater. The heat even feels different… gentle, radiant, steady. It takes a while to heat up, but it also heats for a while when turned off, much like a hot water bottle. It looks like an old boiler radiator, with the accordion shape, but thinner, smaller, and easy to roll around to another room. It is also nearly silent, and very adjustable. This type of heater takes less energy when compared to typical heaters. I got one for us so I could boost the heat in one room when I was teaching classes at home (they were mostly elderly ladies), but I also found it to be very handy on our windiest and coldest days, so that I don’t need to adjust the thermostat for the house. Just a thought. It may or may not be right for you.
Volunteer to wash the dishes three times a day in good hot water,use bare hands,no mechanical dish washer.Run the vacumn cleaner every day to get warmed up.We put family size pop bottles full of hot water in our chairs and at bed time we put hot bottles of water in bed with us.Don’t put that kitchen sink full of hot water down the drain till the water has cooled off.lf you don’t want to take a hot bath or hot shower before bed you could still run the shower for a couple of minutes to get some humidity in the air.Make more hard boiled eggs for lunch and boil some potatoes or other vegetables for supper,rice will give you the same humid effect.On sunny days open the curtains facing the south.Grow more houseplants and keep them watered but not drowned.lf you have the space and time eg. years plant a windbreak on the north and west side of your yard.Shovel your drive and sidewalk by hand but don’t risk your health or life doing it.Get a dog or cat and snuggle sometimes a spouse will suffice as long as the spouse doesn’t have cold hands or feet.Make some close friends that live in Florida in the winter make sure they have air conditioning so you don.t suffer too much.lf your stuck at home in the cold do some exercising as a last resort.
My central heat and air went out years ago so I have to use portable heaters. They work well but I still get cold feet. I like you suggestion about good slippers with lining and hard soles. I can buy some nice ones on Amazon for about 25.00.. Thank you!
I put my heating pad into my bed about 1/2 hour before I go to bed. It’s toasty warm when I go to bed. Also using flannel sheets. And my cat cuddles up with me too. So cozy warm.
Love your article!
Reading helpful ideas is a great way to improve your life.
This may seem kind hysterical, but I find wearing a winter hat indoors makes a big difference in keeping warm.
I also wear a tank top then a long sleeve shirt. I then put on a vest for easily move around the house.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who does this, LOL!
My apartment door is metal. I hang thermal curtains on a rod over the door and place a homemade “snake” at the bottom of the curtain. This makes a big difference in the temperature of the apartment during the cold months. I shut the bedroom door during the day. There’s very little insulation, so it’s the coldest room in the apartment. I put fruits and veggies on top of plastic bins in the closet for cold storage so it is at least helpful in that regard.
Insulated drapes are a great way to keep cool air out/ warm air in. Buy enough panels to bunch the fabric on the rod. I hang them as high on the wall as possible and a foot past the window on either side. Inexpensive sheets work well as curtain liners.
I love the frugal heating ideas. We keep our house at 66 ( my husband is a hunter) so I am always layered, socked and drinking
I loved your list and they bear repeating! It makes a very good check list. I do need to find a livingroom carpet. I also loved reading all the comments. There were some good tips there, too!
Here in Ohio we get very hot summers and very cold and snowy winters, too. I have learned to take advantage of “solar gain” when it is cold, and in summer to shut out sunshine from hitting our floor. In the shoulder seasons between hot and cold I’ve learned how to make the house like a battery, ‘charging’ it with sunshine when it is available, and always watching for when it might be warmer outside than inside so I can open up the house and capture a little warmth. All of our curtains are on higher, wider, rods so they can be pulled back to let in every bit of the sunshine when it is strong. Watching and being in tune with the weather and making adjustments helps to keep our indoor climate more comfortable and steady. They call this passive solar energy, and it costs nothing!
I also take advantage of the first cool windy day to plug any drafts. It is much easier to find even tiny ones on a windy day. Most of the drafts I find in my old wooden house (1894), I can plug with a cheap substance called putty rope. It is sort of like modeling clay, but in the shape of a thin rope, and it is just as easy to remove as it is to put in. Anyone can use it! You can even have your kids find the leaks and putty them. I check windows that open along the seams, check the window sashes (it is an OLD house), sometimes I find drill holes that went unnoticed in the floor, and the window latches themselves sometimes leak a tiny bit of air. It really makes quite a difference in comfort.
I like the idea of using carpets to prevent warmth from escaping through floors! By the way, foam mats present an excellent alternative to traditional carpets for insulation, particularly on cold floors. While they are commonly used in gyms and playrooms and may not be as aesthetically appealing as traditional carpets, they are highly effective for insulating against cold in homes and can be a good option for those who struggle with allergies. Foam mats are also a budget-friendly option compared to carpets or rugs.