The Best Ways to Keep Your Old House Warm in the Winter

Your old home may be beautiful and charming, but it’s also probably drafty as hell, and heating it can cost a fortune. Criticize modern homes for being charmless copy-and-paste jobs all you want, but they are airtight and warm. Your older home can be warmer, too, though, and then you’ll have the best of both worlds. Here’s how to heat it up efficiently without breaking the bank.

First, get some instant heat

Addressing the drafts and getting to the root of the problem is one thing, but let’s get you warmed up first. Let’s talk space heaters. For safety reasons, you need to be smart about where you place them, but these really are the gold standard when you’re in a pinch. I’ve used them in all my drafty apartments (which, as a renter, I’m not really allowed to modify too much) and in nearly every office job I’ve ever had, since I’m somehow always significantly colder than my hot-blooded coworkers.

I love tiny ones, like this, for direct, personalized heat where I need it most, like when I’m working quietly by myself and don’t want to be weighed down by a bunch of blankets.

But if you want to heat up a whole room, you need to think bigger. I’ve always had good luck with larger Lasko models, like this one.

Look for something portable and make sure it’s powerful enough to warm up a larger space. Generally, you need 10 watts of heating power for every square foot of area in the room you’re trying to heat.

I’m one of those people who goes out and spends half my night wondering, “Did I leave my curling iron on? Did I leave the coffee pot on? Did I leave the space heater on?!” One thing that has been a major godsend for me is smart outlets. If you are going to use a space heater in your home, in addition to following guidelines about making sure it’s far enough from furniture and positioned safely, consider plugging it into one of these bad boys. Then, you can always be confident that even if you did leave it on (which you probably didn’t), you can toggle the whole outlet off on your phone. Get four for $33.99.

Look into insulation options to warm your home

Once you’ve tackled the immediate problem of being cold, you can start to work on the broader problem of having a cold house. Bear in mind, changing things about your home can be pricy, so look into all your options thoroughly before you pull the trigger on anything.

You can add insulation to your home, even if it wasn’t built with the insulation space in mind—and you don’t need to be that crafty to do it, either. You’ll want to put insulation in the roof, where houses can lose a lot of heat, and then move on to your walls. On the roof, things can be a little haphazard, since few people will ever see it, but you might not want to DIY the insulation in your walls. Read these tips on insulating a basement—or call a pro.

Update your drafty windows

Replace your old windows, especially if they’re single-paned. Adding in efficient, double-paned glass won’t detract from the old-timey charm of your home—but they will help you stay warm. You can fix drafty windows without replacing them, but if you’re not double-glazing, you’re really just letting warm air out and cool air in when you don’t have to be. Get a pro to your property to install the double-glazed glass, then make sure you have heavy drapes to hang in front of them for maximum heat retention. Actually, get the drapes now to start with the heat-saving even if you can’t get an immediate window replacement.

Another option if you don’t currently have window-replacing money or you want a quick fix: A DIY window insulation shrink kit, which is about $17 for a pack of nine. It’s basically a huge piece of clear tape that you attach to your windows with a hair dryer, sealing it in place, and it helps with warm air retention in the home.

Plug up other drafts

Finally, you need to hunt down drafty areas, which are more likely to occur wherever outdoor air is separated from indoor air. You can easily DIY door draft blockers, so the good news is we’re moving into less expensive territory here. You can also grab some foam that is designed to expand in drafty spots, blocking out cold air. It costs about $10 and, similar to the foam you might use to plug up mouse holes, it expands to keep cold air out. You’ll need to feel around for drafty spots, identify the gaps, and fill them with the foam. It’s not pretty, but it works.

Beyond that, always remember to keep interior doors closed to keep warm air in each room and consider updating your radiator to a “smart” thermostat.