An odd statistic I’ve heard a number of people talk about is that an average individual spends about 20 per cent or more of their annual income on energy use and, that close to half of that is strictly on keeping their household warm.
Now, I’ve done some digging, and although, the percentage spent from people’s annual income on energy isn’t that much, it is still at a high level.
Also, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that when the winter season comes to town most people’s energy bills shoot through the roof. Basically, in trying to keep our homes warm for the winter months, we spend so much money on our energy and utility bills that we basically rip through our savings.
In light of that, I do expect people to say it’s a necessary part of the modern-day life, and that we have no choice but to cough up the cash in other to stay warm. However, that should not be the case, in my opinion, as there are a lot of ways to avoid spending so much on heating, one of which is simply to heat the person and not the room.
Yes, a major way to avoid spending so much on the electricity bills generated by your heaters is to simply warm yourself up instead of warming the room. What this translates to is that you should occasionally turn off the thermostat and the heater and simply utilise ways to warm just yourself.
Fortunately, the amazing thing about heating the person and not the room is that there are so many simple ways and methods one can use to achieve this. However, people tend to either ignore these very simplistic methods or some, interestingly, don’t believe the methods can be of any help.
Below are five simple ways anyone can use to stay warm indoors.
5 Ways to Stay Warm Indoors
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Layer Up Indoors
We all know that when it’s the winter season or it is generally cold outside, and we need to head out, all we need do is dress in layers. Therefore, we leave the house with a t-shirt and a sweater on top, with an extra jacket and any other layer of clothing we can find to keep us comfy and to keep the cold away.
However, we never do this indoors, but instead, put the heaters on to warm us up. In light of that, the first simple method you can try is to layer up inside your house while the heaters are turned off. This costs you nothing and you can go all out with various layered fashion statements in your bedroom.
In addition, you can easily top it off by throwing in thick socks to help you get warmer. Now, you should note that the reason why layering works so well against the cold is that the layers insulate your body and act as a sought of an easy-to-use regulator for your body temperature, whereby, by removing or adding layers you regulate your body temperature.
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Eat And Drink Warmer Meals/Beverages
Like the method above, this is one we all know too well, especially if you can think back to when your parents gave you a bowl of hot soup or a cup of hot chocolate when the temperature drops.
Now the basic principle here is to eat warmer foods and drink some warm beverages like coffee or tea as well. Doing this ensures you warm your body up from the outside.
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Prepare More Meals With Ovens And Stoves
Now, I know it sounds a bit weird, but I assure you this will keep you warm. For the winter season, it is advisable to use your ovens and stoves to make meals, which of course, is the opposite of the usual advice to keep away from ovens and stoves during the summer.
The reason for these sets of advice is simply because ovens and stoves both heat a kitchen up when used.
Yes, if you’ve ever noticed, the kitchen, as well as the entire house always seems way hotter after you’ve finished baking or cooking with your oven or after you’ve made a meal with your stove. In addition, if you’ve just finished baking, you can easily leave your oven open, so the warmth spreads into the room.
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Reverse The Ceiling Fan
Normally, a cheap way to cool down when summer comes is to use a ceiling fan, which circulates air to cool you off. However, there’s a way to use the same ceiling fan to warm yourself up, here’s what you do. We all know that fan blades normally force air down and pushes it against lower cooler air, which leads to the room temperature seemingly dropping.
However, if you simply flip or reverse the direction of the ceiling fan, you get the opposite effect, whereby, the ceiling fan seems to increase the temperature rather than cool it down.
Now, what you do to achieve the reversed effect is to spin the fan clockwise at a low speed, which will pull cooler air up as the warmer air comes down.
With this, you easily get warmed up during winter. However, you should note that the ceiling fan doesn’t actually change the temperature of the room, all it does is to redistribute air in order to make the target feel better.
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Shut Your Doors And Lock Your Windows:
The last simplistic approach to warming yourself up on this list is simply locking your windows and doors up. Basically, by constantly keeping your windows and doors shut, you’re keeping the cold air out and letting the warmth spread indoors.
If you have doors or windows that don’t seal or shut properly, it is advisable to get them replaced before winter. However, if you can’t get that done or you want a low-cost method to fix it up, there are methods and approaches you can make use of.
On that note, an example of low-cost methods you can use is the clear plastic film method, where you get a clear plastic film and affix it to the un-shut window frame. Then with the use of a hairdryer, heat up the film to tighten it.
Other low-cost methods include weather stripping, as well as making use of certain window coverings and cellular shades [1].
Final Thoughts on Staying Warm Indoors in Winter
Although you can’t stop the winter season from coming to town, you can, however, perfectly put a stop to the large energy bills you ordinarily have to pay to keep your home warm. Fortunately, you can achieve this by simply turning down the thermostat and the heaters, and focus on staying warm yourself.
It doesn’t have to be every day, it can just be a few days within the week where you shut the thermostat off and you get comfy with any of the aforementioned methods.
Glossary
- Cellular Shades [Link]
