How to make your home feel warmer (without turning up the heat)

tortoise

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So we are talking about staying warm what temp do u keep your house
When using the propane furnace, 67 daytime, 60 night.

When it's less than 20 degrees, we switch to the wood furnace. It can vary between 65 and 80, depending on the weather. When it's 20 below zero and windy, it's hard to keep the house warm. (but much better since DH insulated and sealed everything possible).

It's an old farmhouse with 2 DIY additions, so temperature varies a lot throughout the house. We added a mini split to help even out the upstairs temperature. We don't use it often though.
 

Trying2keepitReal

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So we are talking about staying warm what temp do u keep your house
we use a wood stove 100% in the winter (except when we are shutting it down overnight to clean in the morning then we use natural gas) like @tortoise said, our temp varies from between about 66 to 80F with the mornings being chillier until we get the fire going but when it is windy and below 0F definitely more in the upper 60s. We too have an old farmhouse, with some updates/additions but also a lot of drafts and more insulation needed.
 

flowerbug

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we use propane here for heating during the winter. 68F during the day, 63F at night. i would keep it several degrees cooler but Mom feels the cold a lot more now so we've gradually been bumping it up over the past several years. when she was away being a nanny i could isolate my room and keep the rest of the house at 55F all day without any problems but that doesn't work now. as you acclimate you can lower the temperature but also wearing more layers and a hat will make you plenty warm enough. i was normally fine at 60F as long as it wasn't too damp outside.

caulking cracks and spray foaming gaps (and then caulking and staining over those to make it all match) is worth the time and effort - even a small crack can lose a lot of heat (or cost more for AC during the summer).
 

Britesea

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we use propane here for heating during the winter. 68F during the day, 63F at night. i would keep it several degrees cooler but Mom feels the cold a lot more now so we've gradually been bumping it up over the past several years. when she was away being a nanny i could isolate my room and keep the rest of the house at 55F all day without any problems but that doesn't work now. as you acclimate you can lower the temperature but also wearing more layers and a hat will make you plenty warm enough. i was normally fine at 60F as long as it wasn't too damp outside.

caulking cracks and spray foaming gaps (and then caulking and staining over those to make it all match) is worth the time and effort - even a small crack can lose a lot of heat (or cost more for AC during the summer).
Used to be an old saying "If your feet are cold, put on a hat"
 

flowerbug

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Used to be an old saying "If your feet are cold, put on a hat"

i don't have slippers and i never wear shoes around the house, my feet would probably be warmer if i did wear slippers but they sweat enough that i much prefer to not do that. just socks - that's how i pick up all the threads and bits of fabric that Mom scatters around the house from her quilting.

the OCD part of my brain has to pick the stuff off my socks when i go to bed or i'll find it in my blankets (i do anyways, but at least i get some of it). cranberry red shows every piece of thread or speck of dust. it looks good for about four hours after i dust the floor and wash the blankets then i vainly try to ignore it for the next six months or so until i clean it all again.

i spot clean here or there but i won't do the whole floor again at one shot. i hate dusting with a passion - some parts of this room i've not dusted very often at all but eventually it will get done again. my boxes of old bottles are probably next thing i should do again but i told myself the next time i take them down to clean them they're not going back up there so... it was bad enough that i cleaned the glass bottles in the window again (once every 7 years seems to be the average i'm getting to that). which reminds me that i have to get some marbles to put on the bottle tops of some of them to keep the dust and bugs from getting back in them.

and the books... not easy now to get at all the bookshelves so the tops of the books and behind some of them don't get dusted very often either. i think once every seven years is probably about right for that too. gack. now i'll be thinking about that as i try to go to sleep until i get distracted again by something else... hmm... where are my beans? :) :) :)...
 

Finnie

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@flowerbug you could try keeping a clean pair of socks for sleeping in that you don’t wear during the day.

Or change into tomorrow’s sock at bedtime. One of our Girl Scout camping tips for staying warm in your sleeping bag all night was to do just that. Because any dampness from the socks you wore all day would cool off overnight and chill your feet.
 

flowerbug

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@flowerbug you could try keeping a clean pair of socks for sleeping in that you don’t wear during the day.

Or change into tomorrow’s sock at bedtime. One of our Girl Scout camping tips for staying warm in your sleeping bag all night was to do just that. Because any dampness from the socks you wore all day would cool off overnight and chill your feet.

that makes sense for people who's feet don't sweat like mine do. i often have them sticking out the end of the blankets so they act like little radiators. i don't have tucked in sheets or blankets, i do not want my feet trapped when i'm sleeping.
 
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