cold wall first aid or poor person's insulation

If you live in a cold climate and in an old house you know that some north facing walls could double as extra freezer space if you just added some shelving. My solution for this is borrowed from the freezing, drafty castles of the days of yore... tapestry. In my case I'm not referring to hand made wall hangings of a hunting party chasing down a unicorn but a simple blanket that you can hang from a rod to be attractive but more importantly prevent frostbite of your extremities. I took some old fabric and sheets I had lying around or picked up cheap at Goodwill and a quilted mattress cover from Goodwill for the backing (cheaper than buying batting) and sewed a scene using the colors I had on hand. I then added loops of fabric at the top to run a dowel through (or in my case a leftover piece of trim). Put a few screws in the wall to hang it from and you will be surprised at the difference in comfort level. Mine is next to my side of the bed and on a frigid north facing wall. My nose no longer looks like I've spent years hitting the bottle on cold January mornings. Big improvement!

more efficient fireplace

Fireplaces are beautiful and cozy but are actually 5% to -5% efficient. Yes that means your furnace may run MORE with a fire going in the fireplace because it has to replace the warm household air that is going up the chimney with the smoke and heat from the fire. You can increase your fireplace efficiency by investing in a fireplace insert. This is a glass fronted box with a blower. Once your fireplace reaches a certain temperature a blower turns on to circulate air around the hot box of the insert and then blows this heated air into the room. The air is heated by the fire but the air is not from the fireplace. This means almost no smoke unlike a regular fireplace and an efficiency of around 80%. An insert essentially turns your fireplace into a woodburning stove. It is an investment but if you can collect your own wood from people cutting down trees in your neighborhood (allow 6 months for the wood to fully dry and season) it will provide you with heat from a renewable energy source unlike your furnance. Learn more with this Mother Earth News article. We had one installed soon after moving into our house and absolutely love it. When we use it, the furnace does not turn on and the wood burns much more slowly than in a conventional fireplace.