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RE: Simple ways to use less energy and stay comfortable!
I made one of the DIY wonder bags. Don't waste your time or fabric. Total failure. I am a capable sewer so I am confident it wasn't me. You are correct, this is a better purchase than DIY. We will be buying a wood cookstove for our home by years end and we expect to have a large energy savings. I also made several door draft stoppers for our exterior doors. Basically, a long, round (about 3" diameter) piece of fabric stuffed with rice that lays at the bottom of your door (on the interior side) and helps to keep any draft from coming into the home. Cheap and easy to make!
I'm very happy that I bought the wonderbag, it seemed like a project I wasn't sure I could handle so it's good to hear that I made the right decision. I'm not all that good at sewing, but I can make simple things. I'm planning to make more like the draftstoppers so that it's all ready to use when winter returns. I wasn't sure if I should use rise as a filler, but I'll give it a try.
I was stunned of how much we saved on energy only by using our wood stove so I'm guessing it'll make a big difference when you get one. The heat from it is something totally different as well. The sad part about the stove we have in our house is that we can't use it to cook, it doesn't get hot enough, but I can still dry washed up pans and my sourdough starter lives right next to it. I'm thinking about getting a bigger kettle for it, it'll probably heat up water enough to use for the dishes too.
The rice makes it heavy and it conforms nicely to the area where it lays. We have dogs and I figured if I just used fleece or stuffing they would use it as a "toy". We are getting a woodstove with an oven so cooking with wood is in my near future (this coming winter anyway). Bought a book on the subject because it's SO different than regular cooking. The original stove I was considering was beautiful but so large that the stove place told me I wouldn't be able to stand being in the house... even in the dead of winter... it would be too hot. Slight overkill so I pared down and chose another that, as it turns out, I like the look of even better!