Mainer Cold Weather Hacks You Need

Winter weather means high heating bills, maybe  running out of heating oil and occasional power outages. Brrr!

Yankee ingenuity is hard at work in Maine, here are some suggestions for getting warm and keeping warm:

• You can make a DIY heater by lighting a few tea candles under a terra cotta pot. Jack the pot up off the surface it's on with tile or something else non-flammable to create air flow.
• Use up all of that Christmas bubble wrap and insulate your windows by spraying the panes of glass with water and then topping them with the bubble wrap.
• The same ceiling fan that brought you a cool breeze last summer can also be used to push warm air that rises back down into the room. Just reverse the direction of the fan blades so that they move in a clockwise direction. There's a switch at the top of your fan!
• A quick way to waterproof your shoes is to rub them with a candle to coat them with wax then use your blow dryer to melt it, creating a thin, waterproof layer.
• When you've baked something in your oven and turn it off, open the oven door to release the heat into the room.
• Part of staying warm for me is getting warm! Use your clothes dryer to warm up your socks, work clothes or PJ's before putting them on. No clothes dryer? Use your hair dryer.
• When it's really, really cold leave the cabinet doors beneath your kitchen and bathroom sinks open to allow warm air from the room around the pipes to help prevent them from freezing.

So what else you got fellow Mainers? Leave your bits of wisdom on our Facebook page.