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Southerners are often not as prepared to face freezing temperatures as people in the northern parts of the United States are. While cold snaps may result in a delightful snow day, keeping warm and safe are real concerns. This is especially true if your home is not well insulated, has single-pane windows, or has an open crawl space. The following are some tips for keeping the home warm and safe during cold snaps.
Keep Walkways Clear
Salt is a good way to keep snow and ice off steps and other walkways, but road salt is often not available in the south. Salt is also hard on pets’ feet as well as plants. A decent substitute is cat litter. It doesn’t matter if it is scented, but you need to use a clay- or mineral-based litter that is nonclumping. You also want to use more of it than you would use of salt, as you are looking to create a rough texture. You may also want to stamp it into the snow but be careful when doing this.
Keep the Cold Out
Make sure cold air drafts do not come inside the home. For doors that have drafty cracks, roll up a towel and place it at the bottom of the door. If the towel gets cold, you know it is doing a good job of keeping the home warmer. If you have single-pane or drafty windows, keep the curtains closed. You can also buy an insulating wrap for windows or tape newspaper, cardboard, or clear plastic wrap across the windows. Any layer of material between the inside and outside helps keep the cold out by creating an insulating air pocket. Wipe away any water that condenses on the inside of the window. You may want to put a towel on the inside of the windowsill to catch the water.
Keep Heating Methods Safe
Never use a propane or kerosene grill or heater inside the home. Also, never use a generator inside the home. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes deaths every year. Read more about winter heating safety from the US Consumer Protection Safety Branch at www.cpsc.gov.
If your home is not well insulated, there are a few safe heating methods that use items around the home. You can heat a brick on your outside grill to tuck in bed at night to keep your feet warm. To do this, heat the brick and let it cool down until you can wrap it in an old towel or pillowcase. Make sure it is cool enough where it will not burn anything. You can also use a water bottle to keep your feet warm. Heat water and pour it in a thermos or insulated cup. When it cools a bit, pour the water into an old water bottle. Put the bottle in a plastic bag to protect against leaks and then put it in a sock. You can tuck this in the bed or under your feet on the couch.
Never try to heat your home by leaving the oven on. However, these cold snaps may be a great time to prepare food in the oven, which releases some heat. When cooking with the oven, you can also put an empty pan—like a cast-iron skillet—in the oven while the food cooks. Once you are done using the oven, you can let the pan cool on the stove top, and it will slowly release the heat.
If your home is extremely cold, think about rooms that you don’t need to heat and could close off. Maybe the children can all camp out together in a single bedroom. Other ways to stay warm include getting a big blanket and snuggling on the couch and wearing beanies or caps indoors.
Keep Infants and Children Safe
Remember that air is coldest at floor level, so be mindful of infants and children lying or playing in the floor. If you have a small infant in a car seat, you can set the car seat up on a secure surface, like the corner of a couch, where you can watch it, and it will not roll off. Also, do not put infants into an adult bed because they might get smothered.
If you are worried about them getting cold, put extra padding underneath their sheets and a warm (not hot) water bottle in an old sock or towel in their bed. You can also put them in a sleeper with a hoodie, but make sure no strings are around their neck. If their hands seem cold, slide small socks over their hands and attach them to their sleeves with a safety pin. Read more about infant bed safety in the Alabama Extension publication, Safe Sleep, or at www.alabamapublichealth.gov.