DIY Crampons Give Feet Traction In Ice & Snow. 5 Unusual Ways To Keep Warm In A Cold House. Welcome Weather Channel viewers! This morning I did another 58 Degree Challenge interview on The Weather Channel. I talked about how my family stays toasty warm in snowy Ohio with our daytime thermostat set at 58 degrees (F). Here are five ways we stay warm in a cold house. 1. Dress in layers. Sweaters are good but fleece layered over another long sleeved shirt is my favorite. I must have ice water running through my veins because I get cold more easily than Husband. 2.
It's free heat! Notice how gray rope caulk seals small air leaks around my double paned windows. 3. 3. A warm campfire? 4. 5. Blitzkrieg is warmer than a Snuggie! How do you stay warm during winter? 9 Habits To Keep Warm During Winter. 7 Tips For Shoveling Snow. This winter there’s no business! Like snow business! Like snow business I know! Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood since we we broke snow and cold records this winter.
It is warmer in Alaska than it is in the Lower 48 right now. Crazy! Tonight they predicted we will get more snow. Shoveling. And lots of it. If you can't find a kid wanting to make a quick buck on a snow day, you’ll have to shovel it yourself. 1. That’s why I switched to pet safe ice melts that do not contain sodium chloride. 2. 3. 4. 5. If you get a lot of snowfall or have large areas of snow to clear you may want to consider buying a snow blower. My Dad’s test run on his recently upgraded his snow thrower. 6. For larger driveways and sidewalks, consider using a dual-stage snow thrower. 8. 7. This food grade bucket is overkill for ice melt but it was cheaper than buying a regular storage bucket and screw on lid separately. 14 Basic Things To Have In Your Car In Winter Part 1.
Growing up near the Cleveland snow belt on Lake Erie has its advantages. Starting with the first snowfall of the year, the local weather people constantly remind you what emergency items to carry in your car for winter in case you got stuck in the snow (or more likely, get stuck in the mud after the snow melts.) Prompted by the latest snow storm and my car accident last week, I’m spreading the word on what to have your car during winter snow emergencies. You probably already have most of the items on the list. The basic items don’t cost a ton of money and are things you can use year round. I’ll do a Part 2 later this week with the more advanced/prepared items for winter driving. If I don’t this post will be way too long! Most of the items in Part 1 live in our car full time because they are useful to carry in the car in summer and winter. 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8.
This isn’t the biggest, baddest, or heavy dutyist (yes that is a word. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. How to Survive Falling Through Ice: An Illustrated Guide. If you live in a place where snowy and icy winters are the norm, you know the dangers of falling through the ice. And this guide is especially pertinent for those areas of the country where freezing weather only visits sporadically. When frigid temps descend for a short time upon a location that’s not used to seeing them, people, especially children, are apt to go out exploring their neighborhood ponds and reservoirs. As you can imagine, this creates a danger because the cold weather hasn’t been around long enough to create ice strong enough to walk on. That very scenario has happened here in Tulsa this winter, where two young men, in separate accidents, both drowned when venturing out onto a thinly-frozen creek and pond.
So be sure to share this guide with your kids after you study the info yourself. While no ice is guaranteed to be safe to walk on, the general rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t venture out onto clear ice that is less than 2 inches thick. Illustration by Ted Slampyak. Make Your Own Storm Windows - Do It Yourself. Tired of your single-pane and leaky windows, but can’t afford to replace them? Here’s an easy way to dramatically improve the performance of your windows and reduce damaging condensation without spending much money: Make removable interior storm windows using wood casing, window film, and foam tape. First, acquire some wood-trim molding. Contractors often throw out scraps of this material. All trim should be finished before cutting. Determine whether you want the interior storm window to fit inside the existing window casing or on top of it.
In general, it’s easier to friction-fit the interior storm window inside the existing window frame. Cut the wood to length with 45-degree angles at each end, with the thick edge of the trim to the outside. Cut a slot in the pointed end of the trim, deep enough to make the spline work, but not so deep you cut through the finished face of the inside corner of the frame. Put the frame pieces between the nails again and glue the splines in place. BubbleWrap Window Insulation. Search The Renewable Energy site for Do-It-Yourselfers Installation Cut the bubble wrap to the size of the window pane with scissors.
Spray a film of water on the window using a spray bottle. Apply the bubble wrap while the window is still wet and press it into place. The bubble side goes toward the glass. If you have trouble with the bubble wrap separating from the window when the film dries, you can try adding a little Glycerin to the water, but this probably won't be necessary. A few small pieces of double back tape can be helpful on really stubborn windows. The bubblewrap can be installed in the fall, and removed in the spring. When you take the bubble wrap down, put a small number in on the upper right corner of each piece of bubble wrap, and write down which window that number goes with on a piece of paper. Some places to get bubble wrap: Suggestion from Pat: "Bubble wrap small bubble and large can be had for free by contacting furniture retailers or rental shops.
Installation: Cheap/Free Window Insulation. Bubble glazing Whenever financial aspects take precedence - availability of resources seems to be a disincentive for progress in sustainability and conservation. When we can afford more – we simply waste more, without even admitting for consideration that Earth is a system of limited resources. The opposite direction on the other hand – aiming to improve quality of life while accepting severe limits to every resource including money – seems to be one of the greatest incentives for creativity and innovation. It is a part of human nature – we don’t even begin to invent things unless we really need them and we don’t think about ways of conserving resources unless their supply becomes limited.
Bubble glazing idea emerged from a pressing need to become more comfortable in winter combined with severe budget restrictions. Double glazing is expensive, heavy and does not really represent a good value for money. For details please read the full article. Cheap Thermal Curtains From Used Materials. Living Published on March 8th, 2010 | by ziggy Windows are very frequently a source of lost heat in your home. Older homes may suffer from only having single-paned windows, which lose a large amount of heat, and even newer double-paned insulated windows lack enough insulation against cold winter temperatures and wind. However, you can save home heating costs and easily bulk up the insulation around your windows by making your own inexpensive thermal curtains. Thermal curtains are energy-efficient window shades that insulate against the cold around your windows. How to make thermal curtains Old comforters make for a great filling in thermal curtains, especially since they can be had for very cheap ($5-10) at your local thrift store.
Measure your window and find something strong and solid (imagine a rigid dowel or heavy stick) to span the bottom of the window to give your curtain some structure (and to make it easy to roll up and down). Pinning the thermal curtain fabric About the Author. Stop Ice Build Up On House Windows. It is cold. So cold in fact that I am sitting on the couch, with a blanket on my legs and a scarf around my neck. It is so cold that there is ice forming on the inside of all our windows and doors. Yes, on the INSIDE. If anyone wants to know where all the glaciers have gone they are on the bottom of my windows. When we first discovered this last week we thought all of our windows and doors would need replacing.
Surely ice on in the inside must be a sign of leaks and crap windows right? Turns out it is actually the opposite of what we thought. Got more ice on your windows than you do in your drink? Check your humidity settings. Ours was still set for summer temperatures so I lowered it from 40% to 25%. Open your window treatments. I opened all of our window treatments as soon as I got up and within a few hours all the windows were completely clear of ice and fog. Ice build up on window when I first got up in the morning. Just a few hours later after opening the window treatments. Weatherize This: Draft Stoppers. For my kick-off “Weatherize this” post — a series of posts I’ll be publishing about affordable DIY weatherization accoutrement — I focused on caulk, not the most titillating topic.
While caulking around windows and doors is a vital way to conserve household energy and save on heating bills, talking about it is, well, as exciting as watching caulk compound dry. Today, I’m highlighting a home weatherization must-have that performs a similar role as caulk — keeping warm air and cold air out — but has more appeal to arts and crafts enthusiasts than to construction-oriented fix-it fanatics: the humble, beloved, and often animal-shaped draft stopper. Draft stoppers, also called draft dodgers and door snakes, are tube-shaped objects of various lengths made with fabric (often excess/scrap fabric) and filled with some kind of insulating stuffing. You’ll most often find them placed against the bottom of closed doors or on window ledges to block pesky winter drafts from entering a room.
Velour Pant Door Cozy. Anuary is typically a month of bundling up and just staying warm. The heater's on high but you still aren't quite sure how to save yourself from turning into a popsicle. Stop the draft! Keep the cold Winter draft out with a door snake at the bottom of your door. Here are a few simple directions on how to make a door cozy out of those old velour pants you shouldn't be wearing. What You'll Need: One Velour pant-makes 2 door cozys (the kind every female in America bought after Britney Spears wore them, I know you've got a pair) Scissors Ribbon - 1 yard Sewing machine Hollowfill Directions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cool Water + Pipes + Fan = DIY AC. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you an apartment with no air conditioning, you grab some supplies and make your own air conditioner. A clever Flickr user did just that and documented his project with annotated pictures.
Starting off with a regular oscillating tabletop fan, he wrapped copper tubing in a spiral around the front and back of the fan. Flexible plastic tubing connects the copper coils to the reservoir below so that the fan can still oscillate. Fish tank pumps cycle cold water up, through the coils, and back down. When the fan blows across the cold tubes, it creates a gust of chilly air in the room. There’s no mention of the cost involved, but this looks to be a relatively simple and inexpensive solution for homes that can’t take the electrical load of a window air conditioner.