I crawled up into the attic this fall, and caulked around the light fixtures and bathroom fans. They all had about a 1/8 – 1/4 inch gap. One had a 1/2 inch gap that I stuff a little fiberglass insulation into.

My next step is to buy foam insulators for the electrical outlets and light switches located on exterior walls.

My heating bill is about 10% lower than it was this time last year, however, it is a little warmer this year.

Sleep in comfort. I have another electric throw that I use while watching TV.

Live in comfort. Electricity is cheaper than oil or propane in our neck of the woods. And the blankets use very little electricity.

As for the baby, is he in more than one pair of fleece PJ’s? This is something I didn’t think of untell I saw my cousin putting her little girl to bed, but put on a onesy or other tight fitting outfit, and then the fleece jammy. I still do this with my toddler because she still rolls out from under the blankets.

We also get some brown, ropy insulation (mortite?) — it’s with the weatherstripping — that we put around our windows to seal off drafts. It works pretty well and comes off the window easily in the spring.

Something we did with our son when he was younger is cut off the heat to my room and keep his heat vent open during the day. Since the heat to our bedrooms is split into the two rooms, I figured shutting off the one vent would help keep his room warmer. It did help. We also positioned his bed near the heater vent and he loves the fleece jammies.

I also recommend fleece socks/slippers. They make them with sticky rubber bottoms so they would be safe for munchkins.

When I get really desperate, I also have a non-itchy scarf and baseball hat I wear while watching tv. Of course cleaning also keeps me warm, but who wants to do that?

There are some days where we will have to up the heat a bit. Especially if the sun is a no show. But the other day our home heated up quite nicely with the sun shining in. I was very toasty in my office with the sun and my pets in my bedroom with me.

When fingers or noses get cold…we will turn the heat up. 63 degrees is a base line and we’ll go from there.

Why not just shut the heat off altogether and live in your parkas all winter long? Think of the money you’ll save!

On the other hand, I’m curious to see what type of winter we have. Here in Maryland, it’s been in the 70ies and 80ies almost all of October and very dry, although we’re finally getting some steady rain today, which is a really good thing. We need it! At the rate we’re going, we may not even have winter!

Unfortunately, my house doesn’t have that much character. There’s a whole bunch of them the exact same since they are old copper mining company houses. I tell ya, though…they are built solid (well, except for the additions that someone else put in).

A 100 year old house – wow those are houses with character, other than the new doors how’s the insulation on the place?

I use blankets too. I dress warmer because I go outside.

I want to get a automatic thermostat though, I have read about them before.

Personally, I could never live in a house kept that cold. Even wearing jeans and sweaters and curled up under a blanket, I am not comfortable in less than 72 degress.

One tip I picked up for staying warm when I was in Germany and heating costs were astronomical was to use a hot water bottle. It works as well as an electric blanket for a fraction of the energy cost.