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Old Farm WaysThe Old-Ways Winter Handbook · 2026See the offer

Old farm know-how, made safe for today

A Warmer House This Winter, a Lower Heating Bill, and No Fear of the Next Blackout.

No new furnace. No generator in the garage. Just the old farmhouse habits that kept families warm, fed and lit through hard winters, each one with the safe, modern way to do it in your house this year.

Merle Haugen
Merle HaugenA lifetime on a northeast Iowa farmFrom the Old Farm Ways YouTube channel

From the Old Farm Ways YouTube channel

Regular $47. Welcome price for your first 15 minutes.

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Safety steps checked against Energy.gov, Ready.gov, CDC and USDA guidance

  • You live on a fixed income, and the heating bill takes a bigger bite every winter.
  • You worry about what you'd do if the power went out in an ice storm.
  • You remember how your grandparents did it, and want the safe version for today.

Not for you if you want bunker plans, guns or doomsday talk. This is the calm, practical kind.

No. IWhy I wrote it

The Lamp Walk

On the first really cold, windy night of fall, my grandpa would walk the house after supper with a lamp, watching the flame.

Where it leaned and fluttered, there was a draft. Grandma marked the spot with chalk, and next morning they stuffed it with rags.

The idea was sound. The flame was the problem. I learned that lesson, and a harder one about carbon monoxide, the way most farm boys learn things.

So every old way in this book comes with the safe way to do it now: a damp hand instead of a flame, LED lanterns instead of kerosene, and a CO alarm on every level.

The old ways kept families warm. This handbook keeps the good part and leaves the danger behind.

No. IIThe farmhouse idea

Grandma Ida's Winter Rules

"Find the wind first. Then fix it. Then put more wood in the stove." From her notebook, underlined twice

  1. Find the wind first. Stop the drafts before you pay for more heat.
  2. Heat less house. Live in the warm rooms and close off the rest, safely.
  3. Dress the person, not the house. Layers, wool and a hat indoors.
  4. Light without fire. Flashlights and LED lanterns, not candles.
  5. Nothing that burns fuel comes indoors. No grill, camp stove, generator or car engine inside.

No. IIIA real page from the handbook

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Chapter 1 · Hunt Down Your DraftsThe Old-Ways Winter Handbook · 2026

The safe modern draft hunt

Before you spend a dollar on heat, find out where the heat you already bought is going. Pick a cold, windy day. The bigger the difference between inside and outside, the easier drafts are to feel.

  1. Turn off anything that blows air around: ceiling fans, the bathroom fan, the kitchen hood.
  2. Wet the back of your hand. A damp hand feels a draft that a dry hand misses. Or tape a strip of tissue to a pencil and watch it flutter.
  3. Go slowly around every window frame and door, and the places folks forget: outlets on outside walls, pipes under the sink, the attic hatch, the dryer vent.
  4. Write every spot down on the "My House" page at the back of the book. Mark the bad ones with a star.
10

Where this comes from: the Department of Energy's Energy Saver program calls cutting air leaks one of the cost-effective ways to lower heating costs. Never use a flame to find drafts.

That's one page. Every chapter is built like it: how farm families did it, why it worked, the safe modern version, and a Tonight box of small jobs.

Print this page free (PDF, no email needed) Get the Handbook · $27Get the Handbook · $47

No. IVWhat's inside

What's Inside The Old-Ways Winter Handbook

15 short chapters in 5 parts: keep the heat you pay for, heat less house, heat safety, when the power goes out, and help with the bill. Plain words and large print.

  • Find every draft in an afternoon, with a damp hand and a strip of tissue, never a flame.p. 9
  • Weatherstripping, door sweeps, draft snakes and window film, step by step.p. 11
  • Close off rooms and live in the warm ones, the old farmhouse habit, done safely today.p. 19
  • Turn the thermostat down without getting chilled, and know when an older body needs it warmer.p. 21
  • A warm bed without the danger: bed warmers then and now, used safely.p. 26
  • The three-foot rule, chimney checks and space-heater habits that keep a house from burning.p. 31
  • Carbon monoxide: what never comes indoors, where the alarms go, and the warning signs.p. 34
  • Keep food safe when the power is out: the fridge and freezer clock, and what to throw out.p. 44
  • The warm-room plan for a cold blackout, and knowing when it's time to leave.p. 50
  • Help with the heating bill: LIHEAP, weatherization programs and calling your utility before you fall behind.p. 56

Plus The One-Page Blackout Checklist for the fridge door, and Merle's Fridge-Door Cards.

No. V · 2026 Edition · Digital ebook

Everything You Get TodayEverything You Get

Digital PDF, print it at home, nothing is mailed.

What you getIncluded
The Old-Ways Winter HandbookThe whole handbook: 15 chapters in 5 parts, a fall checklist, a "My House" worksheet and a heating-bill tracker.Included
The One-Page Blackout ChecklistBefore, during and after: what to do, what never comes indoors, and when to leave. For the fridge door.Included
Merle's Fridge-Door CardsThe carbon monoxide card and the warm-room plan, ready to print.Included
Large-print editionBigger type, same book.Included
Regular price$47
You pay today$27$47
You save today$20

One payment, no subscription.

Why only $27? It's my welcome price for first-time visitors. For 15 minutes from your first visit, the guide is $27. After that, the page shows the regular $47.

The welcome price has ended. $47 is the regular price. One payment, and the 60-day money-back promise still covers you.

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What happens after you tap the button

  1. Pay on Stripe's secure page. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, about a minute.
  2. Your guide opens right away. The next page has a big download button. An email brings the same button.
  3. Start today. Read on your phone, tablet or computer, or print the checklists.

What Readers Say

No. VI · A note from Merle Haugen

My 60-Day "Warm House" Promise

Read it. Do the draft hunt on the next windy day. Put a CO alarm where the book says.

If it doesn't help you keep a warmer, safer house this winter, reply to your receipt email (or use the contact page) within 60 days, and you'll get every cent back.

No forms. No questions. The checklist is yours to keep either way.

Merle HaugenThe Old-Ways Winter Handbook · 2026
Get the Handbook · $27Get the Handbook · $47

No. VIIAbout the author

Who's Writing This

Merle Haugen
Merle HaugenA lifetime on a northeast Iowa farm
Find the wind first. Then fix it. Then, and only then, put more wood in the stove.

I'm Merle. I'm 78, and I grew up on my family's farm in northeast Iowa. I farmed the home place for about forty years, and I still live in the old farmhouse.

When I was a boy we had electric lights. But a lot of the old ways were still around: Mother cooked on the wood-and-cob range all winter, the root cellar was full, and the storm windows went up every fall. The older ways I know from my grandparents' stories and from the old records.

On this channel I ask one question at a time. How did farm families get through winter before furnaces, refrigerators and weather radio? Why did every old farmhouse have the strange things it had? For each answer I tell you how they did it, why it worked, and the safe, modern version you can still use today to stay warm, keep food and save a little money.

I'm not a historian. I'm an old farmer with a long memory and a shelf of almanacs, and I tell you where each fact comes from. For safety, always follow your local fire department and the official guidance.

Merle Haugen

No. VIIIQuestions

Common Questions

Is a paper copy mailed to me?

No. It's a digital PDF you read on your phone, tablet or computer, or print at home. Print the checklist before a storm, so you have it even with the power out. A large-print edition is included.

I'm not good with computers. How do I get it?

The page you see after paying has a big download button, and an email brings the same button a few minutes later.

Is this a doomsday prepper book?

No. No bunker, no guns, no scare talk. It's about drafts, warm rooms, safe heat, and getting through an ordinary winter storm calmly.

Will it tell me to heat with a grill or a camp stove?

Never. The book says plainly what must never be used indoors, and puts safety first on every heat and light page.

Is it safe to pay here?

Yes. The button takes you to Stripe's secure checkout, so your card details never touch this page.

How can I pay?

With a debit or credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, on Stripe's secure checkout page. No account to set up, and it's one payment, not a subscription.

Why is it $27 now and $47 later? What is the timer?

$27 is my welcome price for your first 15 minutes here. After that the page shows the regular $47. Reloading doesn't restart the clock.

What if it's not for me?

Reply to your receipt within 60 days for a full refund. No questions.

No. IXYour decision

Be the Warm House on the Road.

Winter is coming either way, and so is the next storm. Nobody can tell you when the lights will go out.

But you can stop the wind at the door this month, keep a warm room ready, and know exactly what to do when it happens. That's what my grandparents did. They just didn't have LED lanterns.

$27 $47 · Instant ebook, nothing shipped · 60-day money-back

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P.S. Not sure yet? Try the free page above. My 60-day promise covers you either way.

Get the Handbook · $27Get the Handbook · $47