which is a better money saver?

[tabithapatrick]

Should I keep the shades and curtains closed to help keep the heat in and use lamps to see or should I open the shades and curtains during the day to use natural light but risk using more heat? Thanks!

[banana]

I open my shades to let the sun inside. Especially my south facing windows. It helps to heat the rooms a bit and I dont need to put any lights on. I have new windows though.

[frugal-fannie]

We always opened the windows during the day, and let the heat come in and closed them at dusk. Also on the homesteading board there is a thread real extreme called opossum living. She mentions enclosing the sections you want to heat. I have seen older folks do this and also people who have a small entrance upstairs sometimes cover it with like storm window plasic, to keep all the heat from rising to the top of the house. I have heard good things about using wood pellet burners cheaply to provide heat to certain areas like the kitchen where most people congregate and keeping the rest of the house like 50 degrees. Just like kerosene heaters though be careful to have it well ventilated.

[Nightshade]

Open the south facing shades, leave all north facing shades closed,
follow the sun from east to west with the other shades to maximize
solar heat gain in the day time. Close all shades as the sun starts
to fade in the late afternoon to capture the heat gained during the
day. Repeat the next day.

[miss_thrifty]

I leave my curtains open and try to air out the house every other day for at least 30 min to 1 hour depending on how windy it is.

[PrairieRose]

I open the blinds in the rooms we use during the day and if it's really cold on the west side as the sun starts to hit that side of the house. In the evenings I close the blinds for privacy as much as heating/cooling purposes.