How You Can Cope Without Heat

If your home is without heat and you must get by while awaiting repairs to the system, here are a few tips, as supplied by the Southern California Gas Co.:

- Dress more warmly than you usually would while inside. Wear a sweater, for instance.

- If you have a big window expanse with drapes, keep the drapes open during the daytime so the room will get the heating benefit of whatever sunlight there is. At night, close the drapes, so the warmth built up isn’t lost.

- If you have a fireplace, remember to close the damper. Hot air rises, and you can lose a lot of heat through the flue.

- Don’t overlook the benefit of using your fireplace. After the fire gets going, close the doors to keep the warmth in the room.

- DO NOT light the oven and leave the door open to provide warmth. If you go to bed and the flame goes out while you are asleep, harmful gas may invade the home.

- For the elderly especially, there is a danger of cold stress--which doesn’t only happen in freezing temperatures. Hypothermia can sometimes result from just a drop of 10 degrees. Guard against this by wearing a heavy pair of socks (or two pair), and wear a hat in the house.