I live in an old home, that has really bad insulation. Much of the warmth escapes through windows and ceiling and it bothers me. I know there are ways of saving money but I have limited resources, so I am interested in cheap ways of improving insolation. Please share your experiences.
Go to your local hardware store and ask about insulating strips for the windows. They can make a big difference. You may want to save up for one day putting in vinyl windows, as those are the tightest seal, but that's a big investment. Strips will not cost much.
When our room was bare, the air conditioner technician said we need to insulate it to lessen the consumption. We did what was told by installing think curtains that shielded the windows from excessive heat of the sun. We noticed the electrical consumption that went down by about 5 to 10 percent. Not bad, huh. So now we see to it that airconditioned rooms are properly insulated.
Insulated curtains can help to reduce the lose heat. We use old towels to block the flow of air on the floor at doorways to help reduce the draft of air that comes thru the cracks on the door.
We just renovated our home and added extra insulation to the walls downstairs and in the walls upstairs. I can't wait to see if how this affects our gas bill for the winter. We are having an extremely mild winter in Ontario so it might be harder to judge. We've changed our front and back door too and I already notice it is less drafty in our living room. Before we changed our windows my husband used to buy the insulating plastic kit and tape up our windows in the basement to prevent heat loss and stop the cold air from coming in. You can also buy kits to insulate wall plates too. Every little bit helps.
Last year we had giant strips of plastic to put on the windows. I don't know what has happened to them now so we may have to buy it again. We also have a giant towel on the kitchen door since some of the cold air tends to come in the kitchen. I don't know anything about insulating walls and either way that would be the job for our landlord to do. I wonder if having carpet will help with heat as well as rugs.
It has been so warm here this winter,,,i haven't even had my heat on. I do have a window kit here to cover the window if we do get a cold snap..and I may be some insulating material too..but thus far haven't needed it...and with 70+ temperatures being predicted for later this week...not gonna need it now either...I guess the El Nino is good for something. This is unreal though.
In my place, there is an innovative stove that has been introduced for cooking. It is heavily insulated and padded and cotton is used to make it retain maximum heat. After one is partially done with cookery using a charcoal stove, you enclose the barely cooked food in it to continue the process in the insulated stove. This saves on the overall energy budget.
