One great way of being prepared for winter is to put together a kit full of things that you may need in the case of a winter storm.  Why should we put together a kit?

I remember, about ten years ago, my husband had been flown to a town in Eastern Montana in one of the winter months.  Not long after I dropped him at the airport and he took off, I remember walking through the main floor of my home and starting to feel quite cold.  Somehow our heater wasn’t working.  I was stuck with four young kids, a house that was getting cold, and had no way to heat my home because we didn’t have any space heaters.

That left me scrambling to get my kids ready and get to the store and purchase several electric heaters, for which, at the time, we really didn’t have the money.  Had I been proactive and had a heating kit in place, things would have been much different.

Putting Together a “My Furnace is Broken” aka

“a Keeping Myself and Home Warm” Kit

A heating kit has different components beyond just a heater.

Warm Clothing

• Hat – In our family, most of our children have hoods as a part of their coats.  Have you ever considered that even if you have hoods for kids (and maybe even your coat) that you should have a hat for each person?  According to the British Medical Journal, 7-10% of our body heat is lost through our head.  If we have pieces of clothing for each other part of our body during cold weather, it stands to reason that if we are staying in a house that has no heat, that we should have a hat for our head.
• Gloves – Nuff said
• Wool Socks – Don’t discount having several pairs of actual WOOL socks per person.  Wool does a great job insulating your body and since feet tend to get cold quickly, make sure that you have wool socks for each member of the family.
• Heavy Duty Slippers – I recently came across a pair of slippers at Costco which are fur-lined and have a heavy-duty bottom, so they could be worn outside if need be.  They keep my feet nice and cozy while allowing me to walk to our detached garage if need be.  They have been a lifesaver since we’re keeping our furnace set at 60 degrees.

“Warmers”  

• Hand warmers – Despite today’s houses being insulated, even if you are wearing gloves, hands can still get cold.  Having hand warmers in your kit will ensure that everyone stays cozy.
• Feet warmers – WOOHOO!  Foot warming insoles keep your whole feet – not just your toes toasty when it’s cold inside or outside!
• Warm Water Bottle – In this day and age, this sounds silly or archaic, but it shouldn’t.  If it’s cold outside, there is no reason why you can’t fill one (or two or three) of these with hot water and use them to warm your feet in bed.
• Microwaveable Rice Heating Pack – This is a DIY project that will probably not cost you a CENT!  These bags can be microwaved to heat up the rice.  Heat these and place them at your feet as you go to bed to keep your feet warm and comfy.  The only downside is you do need electricity to heat them.

Warm Bedding

• Sleeping Bags – When it’s cold outside, the best place for everyone to sleep is still (generally) in their own beds.  When children have the familiarity of their own beds, there is something that comforts their spirits.  But even if children are sleeping in their own beds, putting a sleeping bag in their beds and covering the sleeping bags up with their covers is a wonderful way to add extra comfort and warmth!
• Comforters – Yes, you can use these to keep you warm, but you can also use these to cover your windows!  Windows and doors account for about 30% of the heat loss in your home.  Covering these up with comforters will insulate your rooms better.
• Cotton blankets – 100% cotton blankets do amazingly at keeping heat in!  My bed has just sheets and a 100% cotton comforter, and my bed stays nice and warm even in the winter.  The wonderful thing is that it doesn’t make you hot in the summer.
• Wool blankets – Wool blankets are wonderful for winters to keep extra heat in on your bed, but in the summer it will cause you to boil.  Keep these around for wintertime and keep them in your “Heating the House” kit.

Making Room Dividers 

Why do you need room dividers?  If you are all going to sleep in one room – like your family room because it has a fireplace – you want to keep the heat in that room.  Most times, a room, like a family room, is either open altogether or has an open doorway into that room.  If you want to keep the heat in that room, put together a simple room divider.

In order to put together effective room dividers you need 3 things:

• Blankets
• Binder Clips
• 3M Hooks or screw-in ceiling hooks
• Safety pins

If you have a doorway, you will want to use 3M hooks.  If you have two rooms that you want to separate to keep your heat contained (like kitchen and family room with fireplace) that are open to one another, you’ll want to use screw-in ceiling hooks.

1. Space your hooks (either 3M above the doorway or screw-in across the ceiling) evenly across the space that you want to separate.
2. Put a safety pin about 1/2″ from the edge and parallel to the edge of the blanket.
3. Clip one binder clip over top of the safety pin (the safety pin keeps the binder clip in place).
4. Keeping one of the clip handles up, attach it to your hooks, either above your door or the ones you screwed into the ceiling.

Ways to Heat A Room

Electric heaters

If you have electricity, this is probably the most convenient way to heat your house.  Many of today’s heaters have temperature control and once the room heats to that temperature, the heater will turn off.  We even keep an electric heater going in our great room so that our furnace doesn’t run all the time during the winter months.

Fireplace

If you don’t have electricity and that’s why your furnace isn’t working, using a fireplace to heat your house is a natural choice.  If you are going this direction though, make sure that you have the other necessary items on hand such as:

• newspaper
• fire starters
• matches
• wood

Terracotta heaters

Terracotta heaters are made up of two terracotta planters a bread pan, a cooling rack, and tea light candles.  Put them all together and you’ll get a makeshift heater.

What About You?

What other things would you put into your “Heat Your Home” kit?  I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

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