With chilly temperatures settling in the Northeast, keeping warm is a not just a matter of comfort, but of cost. Here are four ideas for staying warm at home without breaking the bank on that next heating bill.
Make a DIY space heater
Tealights and flower pots are the affordable, everyday items behind this simple solution for heating a room for mere pennies. In just a half hour after building this simple contraption, you’ll find your room is warmer—and that it gets properly hot in a couple hours’ time. Of course, as with any flame, be sure to keep watch. Get the tutorial for making a space heater here.
Make organic heating pads
Rather than using a plug-in heating pad to keep you cozy, make your own pads using the likes of barely, oatmeal, flax seed or beans — then just heat for a minute or so in the microwave. Bonus: Add some lavender, rose petals or peppermint oil to the mix for a soothing aromatherapy addition. Find the instructions here.
Cover windows with shower curtains
Your home loses much of its heat through the windows — but there’s a cheap, nonelectric solution to retain some of that warmth. Covering windows with dollar store shower curtains still lets light in, while minimizing heat loss through the glass.
Stay in one room
Heating an entire house is much more costly than isolating in a single room. Gather the family in a small room of the home, ideally with an adjoining bathroom and few windows through which to lose heat, and cover the doors with blankets to keep cold outside air from leaking in. The kids might even consider the close-quarters bonding an exciting adventure.
Alesandra Dubin is a Los Angeles-based writer and the founder of home and travel blog Homebody in Motion. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and Twitter.