Community Chat

[Ane1Care]

My grandmother, rest in peace, must've rubbed off me. I remember wondering why she would cover her windows with blankets, keep doors closed to the back of her house, and, some how, hang a large coverlet in the door / hall to the other rooms. The living room was the heated room, all the others were ice cold. I dreaded having to use the toilet. I knew it would be ice cold. I would sit on it, clothed, and rub around on it to warm it up a bit.

Now, as an adult, I find I do the same thing....in moderation. The windows are all covered with blankets, attached to the curtain rod, and thumb tacked to the frame on the sides. You wouldn't believe the difference it makes when you have single paned windows in an old house. I hang a flannel bed sheet over the front, and back doors to help with drafts. It can be cumbersome getting in and out, but it sure keeps the drafts at bay.

Thankfully, I'm a blanket person. If a blanket is on sale I generally have to buy it. I love lots of heavy blankets on my bed. So, I have plenty to put on windows.

[sunshine45]

i have never done this before and dont ever remember anyone in my family doing it either.

[birkin baby]

My grandma did when it was very cold. She  heated with coal. The back rooms were not heated to save money and yes,we dreaded going to the bathroom,LOL. 

[IControlMyHappiness]

I also have a blanket up at two of my windows, with the bubble wrap.  It does help the draft. 

 Honestly I know the installation can't be the best.

I have the bubble wrap up on several windows and door draft floor items on several doors.

 I need to wrap my patio door some kind of way.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

I don't cover the windows with blankets, but I learned a lesson many years ago during a horrible ice storm and power outage.  Fortunately, for us, we have a fireplace so we were better off than many in the area.  Unfortunately, we have somewhat of an open concept from the kitchen to the family room and lots of that good heat would travel to unused areas of the house.  Closing off kitchen/dining room and kitchen/living room archways with some tacked up sheets helped contain the heat where we hunkered down.

[Nataliesgramma]

If we are around zero, I cover the sliding door in the family room on the back of the house......makes a big difference.

[AngelPuppy1]

@Ane1Care

We had to do all of these things when I was young!  We had many bitter cold winters with heavy snows.  Our home had no furnace, only small gas heaters.  The bedrooms and bathroom had no heat at all.  The windows would ice over.  We had to shut off rooms that we didn't actually need to use.  My mother did hang blankets and quits in doorways between rooms, across doors and windows.  Towels were used under doors.  Anything that could be done to block out cold drafts and hold in heat.  We had old windows in the house and you could feel the cold air coming in.  Yes, it was hard, but we survived!  

[PamelaSue72]

We don't do anything like that.

[ID2]

Cover my windows with blankets? Ummm no. Never even heard of this being done. With todays technology, thermal windows and insulation we certainly don't have to live like they did at the beginning of the last century.

[catwhisperer]

I put cardboard in my bedroom windows at night to help keep out the cold and noise, then remove it in the morning. It also helps keep out some of the heat during the hot summer months.