Keeping areas warm

[Jayne]

Our house is old and very poor insulations. Not to mention we need new windows, siding and doors. All things we had hoped to put in when the lawyers extra deductions came through (He didn't take his full pay for our accident and was giving us 17K). Anyhow...that didn't happen. The court ordered it to go to the kids which is fine. They will get it when they turn 18 along with the rest!

So..we are trying to stay warm. When they build this house they put vents in Tylor's room, My room, Alyssa's room, the changing room and the bathroom (Changing room off the bathroom). Tylor's room is freezing. His vent is right by his door so all the air goes out the door since there is no cold air return in his room. (There are non in the upstairs at all) I turned off the vent in the changing room and plugged the one in our room (No turn off ) I have put rugs infront of all the doors so the air doesn't creap out and I have heavy drapes in all the windows.

I just tried turning on Tylor's ceiling fan so it draws air up. Do you think that will help in his room. Would it help in the downstairs if I did this too? Our living room is 30X17 and so hard to keep warm..

Any advice. We have changed the filters so I know they are good to go.

[marcy]

Have you used the weatherproofing (Like Frost King brand) to fill in cracks in window frames, or the plastic to cover the windows? We just got some yesterday.

What if you keep Tylor's door closed? And put the weatherproofing around the door frame? (I'm going to do that today with the door from the garage to the basement, so I'll see how easy it is). The roll of stuff was about $8.

Have you checked w/ your utility company, to see if they do a cold-weather audit? Some do this for little cost.

[Kristen]

No advice, but we are in your boat, too. We still have single pane aluminum windows from the '50! We went to have replacements quoted with Champion and are staring at $12,000 to do the whole house! *sigh* I guess we will wait until next winter to do something about it as I want to be able to pay cash.

We don't have vents in our bathrooms, but wall heaters. I basically keep the bathroom doors closed when it is really cold to conserve heat (they are on the outside wall of the house so it gets REALLY cold) From the sounds of things, this isn't really an option for you.

Have you put that plastic window coverings on your windows? Its inexpensive and works (but it won't stay attached to wallpaper thus no such luck in our bathrooms.)

Just not sure what to do about his vent.

Could you put a heater in his room with the shut-off safety feature? We have one with a timer and use it when first going to sleep. Does he have flannel sheets or a down comforter? You may not be able to keep it warm, but have to choose to combat the cold in that room. Flannel pjs, sheets, socks, and a down comforter should keep him toasty at night.

[Karri]

Plastic on the windows helps a TON :nod: Our house was built in 1929, so we have to do that and we have to weatherproof our back door w/ the strips. yes, turning on a celing fan in REVERSE mode so that it pushes air downward (hot air rises) will help.

[Shanna]

We have plastic on the windows too. Our house was built in the 80's and is in need of new windows, too :nod: And yes, putting the ceiling fans on backwards helps. We have concrete floors - which does NOT help :lol:

[marcy]

http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170

[Kristen]

Does anyone do anything besides the double stick tape for the plastic window coverings? I'm having a horrible time making it stick and would love suggestions?

[Shanna]

Well, since our windows are all covered with curtains, we used blue painter's tape :blush1: We're getting new windows this spring, so I'm not too worried about residue after a long period of time :lol:

[Jayne]

I did the plastic one year nad it was just awful. The half that did stick now left perminant tape on my woodwork. Not that is is the greatest and yes it is covered by drapes but it doesn't change the matter. If there is a better way to put it up I would love to know. I have some left over.

And..how do you use it around the doors?

[Karri]

We use both the Frost King and the 3M brand kits for the windows and have never had issues. We have gorgeous woodwork in our house and it has never damaged it. And the kids bedrooms have painted windows and its never peeled the paint in there :dunno: Chris puts it on, but I take it down and I've never had issues taking the tape off, either.

[Jayne]

When Dan gets home tonight I will take a picture of what it did to ours. Maybe I put it in the wrong area :dunno: THe actual Tape is still there because it wouldn't come off.

[Kristen]

Will blue painters tape stick to painted walls over time? What about wallpaper? We don't have woodwork around our windows to stick the tape to.

[Lynn]

We use both the Frost King and the 3M brand kits for the windows and have never had issues. And the kids bedrooms have painted windows and its never peeled the paint in there :dunno: Chris puts it on, but I take it down and I've never had issues taking the tape off, either.
Ditto all of this (except insert Keith for Chris). We just did our front bay window this weekend and I can tell the difference.

As far as having it stick, make sure you use those alcohol wipes that come in the package of plastic. We started putting the tape on the sill and it didn't stick so we used those and it made a huge diffrence.

I've never had a problem taking our tape off and all of our windows are painted.

[pfisher]

I use plastic on the outside of our basement window and it works well. It comes with the double side tape as well and I haven't had any problem with it sticking.