11 Easy Ways to Keep Yourself Warm All Winter

When winter temperatures get really frigid, it can feel like it’s impossible to stay warm—even when you’re inside! I’ve been wearing slippers around the house for weeks now because my toes are always ice cold, but my fuzzy slippers can only do so much, so I’ve been looking for additional ways to stay warm this winter. (Specifically, I’ve been looking for methods that don’t involve cranking up my thermostat and sending my energy bill through the roof.)

Because I know I’m not the only one who’s trying to keep warm, I thought I’d share some of those tips with you today! Hopefully you can use one or more of these tips to cuddle up until spring comes along to thaw us all out.

11 Ways to Stay Warm During the Winter

1. Layer with Thermals

Invest in a couple of high-quality thermal pieces to wear underneath your clothes. A good thermal shirt and a pair of thermal leggings will keep you nice and warm all winter long!

2. Double Your Drapes

Adding another layer of curtains to your windows can make a big difference in terms of keeping the cold out, especially if one of those layers is a blackout curtain—they’re much thicker than standard curtains and provide better insulation.

3. Bubble Wrap Your Windows

Poorly insulated windows are a major culprit for heat loss, but you don’t need to spend a fortune on new windows to stay warm! As strange as it sounds, adding a layer of bubble wrap to your window panes as an insulating layer can work wonders.

4. Use Your Ceiling Fans

During the wintertime, set your ceiling fans to spin clockwise (on the lowest speed so it doesn’t feel breezy). This will generate a downdraft that will help move the warmer air at the highest part of the room down lower where you can feel it. Recirculating the warm air trapped near the ceiling can reduce how frequently your furnace kicks on and save you both money and energy.

5. Be a Draft Detective

Cold drafts may be coming from your doors and windows, and even your electrical outlets and light switches! An easy way to check for draughts is to light a stick of incense and carry it as you walk around the house. Take note of when the smoke appears to be blowing in a certain direction, which can be evidence of a draft.

Another option is to get an energy audit from your utility company. (Many companies offer these for free, so it’s worth looking into!) They can tell you where you’re losing the most heat and how to prevent it.

6. Warm Up Your Bed

Use an old-school hot water bottle to warm up your bed at night. Just fill the bottle with hot water, and toss it under your covers about 15 minutes before you’re ready to go to sleep. You’ll crawl into a toasty warm bed, and you might even forget it’s winter out there! ;-)

7. Choose the Right Space for Space Heaters

A small space heater can be a great way to keep your bedroom or home office warm! However, a small space heater probably won’t make much of an impact in a larger room, especially one with tall ceilings. Don’t waste money on running a space heater that isn’t helping you stay warm!

8. Check Your Blankets

Check out the “fill power” of your duvets and comforters. Fill power refers to the insulating power of your blankets, so it’s a good indicator of how warm a blanket will keep you during the winter. A number between 550 and 800 is ideal for cold temperatures!

9. Cozy Up With Wool and Cashmere

Wool and cashmere blankets, sweaters, and other items are great for staying warm. The fibers in wool and cashmere are crimped, creating small air pockets that trap heat. Even a small amount of wool in a blanket can provide more warmth than something purely synthetic. The blanket pictured here is only 15% wool, but it’s one of my favorites to cuddle up with when I’m feeling chilly.

10. Layer Your Blankets Strategically

When you’re layering blankets on your bed, arrange them so that your fluffiest blankets are closest to your skin and your thinnest and densest blankets on top (or furthest away from your skin). It might sound counterintuitive, but fluffy blankets have lots of air pockets that will help keep you warm, while layering dense blankets over them will help prevent the heat from escaping into the air.

11. Use Your Oven Often

Use your oven to make your meals as often as possible, which will help raise the temperature of your home for a few hours. Also, leave the oven door ajar after you’re finished using it to allow the hot air out and into the room (unless you have small kids or pets who could get hurt, in which case it’s not worth the extra warmth!)

How do you keep warm during the winter?

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