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Your old home may be beautiful and charming, but it’s also probably drafty as hell, and heating it can cost you a fortune. Criticize modern homes for being charmless copy-and-paste jobs all you want, but they are airtight and warm. Your older home can be warmer, too, though, and then you’ll have the best of both worlds. Here’s how to heat it up efficiently without breaking the bank.
Look into insulation options
This tip comes from CNet: You can add insulation to your home, even if it wasn’t built with the insulation space in mind. You’ll want to put insulation in the roof, where houses can lose a lot of heat, and then move on to your walls. On the roof, things can be a little haphazard, since few people will ever see it, but you might not want to DIY the insulation in your walls. Read these tips on insulating a basement—or call a pro.
Update your windows
Replace your old windows, especially if they’re single-paned. Adding in efficient, double-paned glass won’t detract from the old-timey charm of your home—but it will help you stay warm. You can fix drafty windows without replacing them, but if you’re not double-glazing, you’re really just letting warm air out and cool air in when you don’t have to be. Get a pro to your property to install the double-glazed glass, then make sure you have heavy drapes to hang in front of them for maximum heat retention. (Actually, get the drapes now to start with the heat-saving even if you can’t get an immediate window replacement.)
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Plug up drafts
Also per CNet, you need to hunt down drafty areas, which are more likely to occur wherever outdoor air is separated from indoor air. You can DIY door draft blockers, so we’re moving into less expensive territory here. You can also grab some foam that is designed to expand in drafty spots, blocking out cold air.
And finally, here are some more simple tips you can use right now to keep your home warmer:
