By Melissa Kane, Eco friendly Mum
… And I’m not talking about A Game of Thrones, but like our favourite Throners it is time to prepare to do battle (with winter around your home).
I would like to share a couple of life hacks with you to make winter more bearable.
My favourite is the ceiling mounted clothesline pulley operated. My husband made ours out of dowel, you can buy them online, google it. It’s an old idea designed for simultaneously hiding and drying your washing in a high ceilinged room with a fire place. In the modern era this translates to ours being located in the unused kid’s bathroom, in a low ceiling house which has a heater duct. I can fit a whole load of washing on there from a 7.5kg machine and if the heater is running for the day, I can get a load dry in 24 hours, much more sustainable than employing the dryer.
My other favourite hack is the Albury library has ‘Save Power Kits’ to borrow for measuring all sorts of things from energy consumption, to draught detecting, temperature to north orientation. I highly recommend borrowing one and conducting all sorts of experiments around your home to find out what more you can do to keep your house warm this winter.
There are of course the obvious solutions, close your air conditioning ducts, your hot air will literally rise up, up and away if you leave them open. Get some draught tape to stop cold air rushing in through those cracks around the doors. Get proper window coverings. Does your home have adequate insulation?
Have the heater set at 19 degrees and put a jumper on, or if you’re a cold frog like me a singlet, long sleeve top, optional thermals, thick jumper, some trackies and ugh boots and a lap blanket to keep warm.
If you have the luxury of building a house you can choose a block and a house design with north facing orientation to naturally heat your home, explore the energy efficient heating systems like hydronic heating, have a laundry facing north to get your washing dry inside, so many great choices you can make.
Your planet and your energy bills will thank you, and remember to be grateful you don’t live in a draughty old castle with sheep guts as window panes and facing a winter that may last 7 years long!