Friends,
You know I can’t help myself, after all, I’m the maintenance man’s daughter. 😉 Bear with me while I step out of my typical Niche. I promise to keep this one brief!
If you too are experiencing the extreme cold (I know, that’s such an understatement) like we are here in Northern Iowa, keep a close eye on the temperature of the water lines on your exterior walls. Frozen pipes are absolutely zero fun!
My Quick Tip for you today is if you don’t have a digital laser infrared thermometer in your tool kit (order one now), a household children’s thermometer sure works in a pinch!
We’re in such a weird Polar Vortex right now and doing the best we can to stay warm. My dad brought us a space heater to borrow in case our heat didn’t keep up. I’m so grateful, as that thing has run like crazy since he brought it over. Right now it’s in our master bathroom, ensuring the pipes on our North wall don’t get too cold.
We do have a digital laser infrared thermometer, but I didn’t want to go grab it from the basement, so I decided to just grab the regular thermometer. I figured it would give me a “close enough” reading, and it did!
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Our house is full of movement, and a climbing toddler, so as unattractive as it looked, I went ahead and just put that space heater on the raised bar at our kitchen island. This way it was out of reach for the little ones, but still putting heat into our home. Safety first, style and design second!
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We’re also running the oil diffusers here for two reasons:
1) To fight off germs. I’m still using my favorite scent from Plant Therapy, Germ Fighter. Yep, it does just what it says, and the aroma is 100% comforting!
2) To put a little moisture back into the air to help it feel cozier in here. With the heater running nearly non-stop it can get dry so quickly.
The exact diffuser I use most often is no longer available on Amazon, bummer! I’ve had a few over the past 5 years or so that I’ve been using them, and I can tell you the $15 diffusers work just as well as the $50 ones.
Another quick thing I did this week to help with retaining the heat within our home and keep the cold out was order new curtains (at least that’s the excuse I’m using for buying another set so soon after I bought the last ones). THESE blackout curtains are the best I’ve seen, and I’ve ordered several sets from various places in an effort to find *just the right ones*. They are not as textured as I’d like, but they definitely help save energy, and block out the light! I’m sold on them!
What are your home maintenance tips for staying warm and safe in cold weather?
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