Staying warm in Your Home

Since this is the beginning of winter, I feel it is time for a post on cold weather survival.  Now I am not talking about outside in the brush, but in your home.  I know many people that for financial or other reasons do not have alternate means of heat in their homes.

In extreme situations where you do not have alternate means of heating, there are a few things you can do to help yourself.  One of course is to isolate the warmest room in your home from the rest of your house.  This will normally be a room with south facing windows.  During the day open the drapes and let the sun shine in.  At night cover the windows with drapes, extra blankets etc.  Space blankets can be hung on the inside to reflect heat back into the room.

The smaller the room you choose the better.  Hang blankets, drapes or whatever over the doorways and openings leading to other rooms.  If you have to use a large room, use blankets or other hangings to make the room smaller.  In a real emergency, you can pull carpeting up in other rooms for this purpose.

Since the human body gives off quite a bit of heat, you can utilize this heat at night.  Pitch a tent in the middle of the room or make one from whatever materials you have on hand.  Remember heat rises so a low tent will trap the available heat.  Sleep together, the more people the more body heat.

Dress to stay warm – wear layers, including a sweater, sweatshirt or even a jacket. You lose heat through your hands and the top of your head. Wear gloves and a knit hat.

While these are not ideal solutions, they may keep you alive until you can build alternate sources of heat.  In the near future, we will write posts on dressing to avoid hypothermia and how to use alternate heat methods without killing yourself with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Howard

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