I know many people who have been playing the “don’t turn on the heat” game to see how long they can go without turning on their heater in order to save as much as possible. While I understand this game, I do not participate. Partially because I hate being cold, but mostly because I have children, including a toddler and I refuse to let them be cold. We take other steps to stay warm this winter without turning up the heat (notice that I said turning up, not turning on):
- Keep your thermostat set to a lower temperature. We keep ours hovering around 67-70 degrees. That is perfectly reasonable to us. If someone in the family is chilly at those temps, it is likely because they aren’t wearing enough clothing. My son, for instance, likes to wear just shorts around the house all the time. I am constantly telling him to put on a sweatshirt!
- Wear more clothes. To piggy-back off of that last point, make sure you are wearing suitable clothing for the temperature in your home. Wear socks and a sweatshirt and you will feel completely different than you will without.
- Winterize your home. It is amazing how much cold air gets into the home through the windowsills and doorframes. Put plastic over your windows, weatherstrips around your doors or even buy or make some door snakes and your home will be much warmer and cozy.
- Get thermal curtains. Again, windows can be a huge source of heat loss for homes. There is a lot of cold air that can come through your windows during the winter. Be sure to buy thermal, or at least, very thick curtains and keep them closed during the winter (other than warmer, sunny days). This will help to trap the heat inside which means that your furnace won’t have to work as hard.
