10 steps to warmer place

Tribune staff and wire services
Published January 4, 2007

As we head into the coldest months of the year, here are 10 tips for weatherizing your home:

1. Install a setback thermostat.
2. Close the fireplace damper when not in use.
3. Install lined drapes or other thick coverings over your windows.
4. Place heavy-duty aluminum foil behind your steam radiator to reflect heat into the room.
5. Insulate hot and cold water lines.
6. Blanket the water heater.
7. Install foam gaskets at electrical switches and plugs.
8. Seal large gaps and plumbing and electrical penetrations with foam in a can.
9. Place weather-stripping around windows and doors and repair thresholds and door bottoms.
10. Place caulk around windows and doors and cracks in siding or stucco.

For those of you that have 2nd homes in the mountains:

Keep your home safe in a deep freeze. Here are some tips to help prevent costly damage and repairs to your home during below-freezing temperatures:

-Shut off all outside faucets exposed to the weather.
-Install insulated covers on all outside water faucets.
-Cover all exposed pipes with insulation material.
-Shut off water service to vacant homes if the heat can't be kept on.
-When you are away--if you have power--make sure the heat is set no lower than 55 degrees.
-Open cabinet doors below the sink so warm air can circulate around the pipes during extremely cold weather.
-When the temperature dips below freezing, open a faucet and run a small trickle of water to keep your water pipes from freezing. The cost of running extra water will be much less than the cost of repairing broken pipes.
-Open doors to cabinets located on exterior walls to expose water pipes to warmer room temperatures.

Take a page from the past

If your walls cry out for sleek, chic or tongue-in-cheek decor, look no further than www.condenastart.com. The publisher's Web site is selling illustrations and photos that made bygone issues of House & Garden, Vogue, Gourmet, Vanity Fair and Mademoiselle magazines such visual treats.

First, the New Yorker magazine started selling covers and cartoons through its Cartoon Bank. Then its parent company, Conde Nast, began offering art from its other periodicals published from 1910 through the 1950s. The most popular are Gourmet covers by Henry Stahlhut, whose iconic lobster pot remains "one of the favorites," says Cory Scott Whittier, Cartoon Bank vice president.

Prices range from $125 for a small, matted print to $350 for a large, framed image. Or be frugal and drop $30 on a box of 20 note cards and pop one on the wall. All are available at www.condenastart.com. Pillows, which cost $225 in leather and $96 in faux suede, can be printed with any image found at www.cartoonbank.com but must be ordered by phone, 888-728-4021.