Steam Out the Cold

Did you know that if you increase the humidity ratio in your house, you will feel warmer? It would seem that the old-timers knew this long before science announced it. They always stood the kettle on top of their wood-burning cook stove to steam away into the atmosphere all day long.

By keeping your home at a humidity level of twenty to forty percent, you can make yourself feel warmer! This increase of the moisture in your air could increase the heat index in your home by as much as eight degrees. This means if you usually keep it cool at sixty eight degrees, you can turn your thermostat down to sixty and still feel warm.

Tips like this may be important this winter, as we are being warned that the winter will be four percent colder than last year. The United States Energy Department has also warned that heating costs will be up this winter. Due to a large increase in prices, oil heating will be up by thirty one percent and natural gas heating bills will be up by eighteen per cent.

Before you rush out to find an axe to chop wood, and pick up the phone to get the chimney swept, won't help. An open fireplace will actually lose your heat as fire needs oxygen to burn and all the warm air from your room is sucked up the chimney..

The first thing to do is to try and draft-proof your house. Or maybe go out and buy thermal underwear! Well, of course you can definitely drop your thermostat by a degree or two if you are wearing warmer clothes in the winter time.

Let's consider some of the tips that the Energy Department and others suggest. If you have rooms you do not use, close the door and turn off the thermostat. Try heating the bathroom only for the times when you have a shower or a bath, then turn off the heat. In hallways, keep closet doors closed.

Insulation is the first thing to check. Is there a place where you feel a cold spot in your house? Is your attic thoroughly insulated? How about the interior walls, between the dry-walling? If your garage is attached, insulate the wall between your garage and the house

If it is a sunny day, turn off the heat and open the blinds. It may be cold outside, but the sun's radiation can still heat your living room! Keep an eye on the late afternoon cool-down time and then turn up the heat and close the blinds.

Be sure to seal all your duct leaks. This is a very common waste of money, in fact, the Energy Department claim that a typical duct system loses approximately 25% to 40% of your furnace's energy.

is forecasting a large increase.The U.S. Energy Department also points out that most homes use If you have natural gas you could supplement it in one of two ways. If you live in a warm place, you could look into the possibility of solar heating.

Another option is wood. Although an open fireplace is not cost-effective, there are some air-tight stoves which can heat large areas of the home. Also they are not usually decorative as most have a black cast-iron door. However, whilst not esthetically pleasing, they will give out a cozy old fashioned heat and that will please your bank account. They may raise an environmental question mark, but at least you will not see your breath in the morning!