Wednesday, November 28, 2012

::Frugal Fodder ~3~ FULL TILT! ::


As the weather changes; so do my living arrangements. 
I move the furniture around so to get closer to the warm fire in the wood burning stove. 
I pull the chairs and couches in away from the windows...with a table behind the couch as a buffer. 

One thing I always try to do-- Change the TILT on the blinds in all the rooms. 



In the Summer time-- I keep the blinds 'tilted' down. 


                                              Blinds Turned Down

 Most people would argue "that allows the light to stream into the room, thereby heating up the room." BUT I SAY, NO.  By tilting the slats on the blinds down or inward...YOU KEEP THE HOT AIR OUT.  
Hot air rises...so if there is HOT AIR in the room ...it will rise UP AND OUT of the room through the slats in the blinds. 



Now that it's cooler outside and I want it stay warm inside. Eliminating the need to turn up the heat... I say "TILT" the blinds UP or outward... 

Blinds Turned Up
This does two things... First, since COLD AIR FALLS and the cold air outside NEEDS TO STAY OUTSIDE... it can't come through the slats and fall onto your shoulders as you sit in your comfy chair...trying to stay warm.  Second, the warm air from the heat source (in our case wood burning stove) that is rising into the room and keeping us nice and cozy; IS NOT LOST BY RISING UP AND OUT THE BLINDS, BECAUSE ...they are tilting outward. 


Maybe you know this or maybe you don't
I thought I'd share it with you. It is something you can do for FREE in your home. I don't know how much it will save you monetarily...but it improves the comfort of the room to some degree.  If you're like me and you have old drafty windows you can try this. Also... lined curtains help, too. Opening and shutting them according to the breeze, sunshine and time of day helps. 

I also learned something from Elaine, Sunny Simple Life (rather, she made me aware of) . If you're trying to conserve energy--regardless the season (but mostly summer time)  and you have ceiling fans. Turn them off when you leave the room for long stretches of time. Ceiling fans are designed to give comfort to those in the room. The room doesn't need to be cool or hot; only the people or pets in that room. Running them while no one is in the room is a waste of your money and/ or resources. 

 
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Remember I still have a sale going on in my shop 9th and Denver 
I've added new things to the shop this week and will continue to add so check back often! 


USE CODE:  YEAREND12 
For 20% OFF at checkout! 



He has told you ,O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you?  But to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:8

 

3 comments:

Sandy said...

Interesting Theory.. when I lived in
Central Illinois in an old drafty rather
large farm house I put plastic on all windows.
I don't know if they still make them but
I used a hair dryer to shrink the plastic
when finished applying. The house was
toasty. I also had heavy drapes up in
the winter.. our average day was sometimes
-2' there... was awful! Thank goodness I
had the good sense to move to Florida!
Sandy

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I need to replace one ceiling fan. Hopefully I can find one in clearance this winter.

Melanie said...

Never considered this, but now I will. Thank you so much for sharing this tip, I have never heard of this, but it is free and I am going to try it!!! The biggest problem I have in this house is stained glass windows in the kitchen. They were here when we moved in, they are pretty, but southward facing and extremely impractical!!! I put up a light blocking shade over those windows. I can pull the shade to keep sun and cold out.