11 Economical Ways to Cope With Cold Winter Temperatures
A few days ago, a real cold swept in our area, the temperature dropped to almost -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Considering that this was the day every member of our family had some business to do, that meant we were all exposed to cold elements.
This post was originally published on The Simple Dollar .
I don’t mind cold weather, but there comes a time when cold temperatures become almost painful, and when you have to go out on a certain business, those temperatures are especially unpleasant, even when the wind is blowing.
Many people here respond to this with all kinds of expensive gear and disposable items. Things like remote starting a car are great, but some of the best tools I have for dealing with cold temperatures and keeping warm are very inexpensive. Here are some of the things my family does to keep the worst of cold temperatures at bay.
We use reusable hand warmers.
They are just cloth bags with dried rice inside. In fact, you can easily make one of the socks by placing some dried rice in your toe, putting clothespins in place over the rice, then cutting the sock about two inches above that, rolling it down, and then stitching that little roll of fabric together. …
Then, simply heat the hand warmer in the microwave on a high heat for about 60 seconds and you have a toasted hand warmer that stays in your pocket for surprisingly long time. I also often take one of them to bed, warming it up before bed and throwing it with me under the covers.
We keep a bottle of homemade de-icer right outside the front door.
Our de-icer is simply a container of 70% isopropyl alcohol (bought for a dollar at a dollar store) mixed with a few drops of dish soap and poured into a spray bottle. This mixture does an excellent job of removing ice even on very cold days. I often start my car and let it warm up to warm it up and allow some of the outer ice to melt, and if there is still ice left, this spray mix will take over quickly. Much better than buying a bottle of these things from the store.
We dress in different layers of clothing.
As I write this, I am wearing a T-shirt covered with a long-sleeved T-shirt, covered in a sweatshirt, and a pair of sweatpants covered in jeans. If I went outside for a very long time, I would probably add another layer to my lows. All inner clothing – things you won’t see in public – are things that wear well but still keep me warm, so I don’t have to buy a lot of clothing for that. There is really no need for a special “warm” winter wardrobe.
We open curtains / blinds on any windows facing direct sunlight, but keep them closed on other windows.
Direct sunlight tends to warm the room, so we open the curtains on the windows and direct sunlight to let the heat into those rooms and keep the curtains and blinds closed on other windows. In the northern hemisphere in the winter where we live, this means opening the curtains on the east and south side of the house in the morning and on the west and south side of the house during the day and evening, with all curtains drawn. in the middle of the day (since the sun is close enough to the top not to be of significant benefit).
We add sealant to any windows that allow cold air to pass through, and add seals and door stops to all doors that allow cold air to pass through.
Cold air seeping through the edges of windows and doors is a great way to lose heat during the cold winter months. While neither method is perfect, our strategy is usually to identify areas around windows where air is leaking out and add sealant there (a very simple task with a caulking gun), as well as add sealant to any doors outside. where the air leaks cold at the edges. In some cases, we add a little clay to the inside of the door frame if the seal doesn’t work, as the clay can block a little cold air flow very well. We also use draft blockers (essentially a small pillow) along the bottom of some doors as a temporary solution.
We bake a lot of food.
Baking a loaf of bread in the winter is even more cost effective than baking it in the summer, because during the winter months you can simply leave the oven door open and let the heat flow into your home. As such, we tend to bake a lot more during the winter months than in the summer, because the heat actually helps us in our energy bills, rather than working against it.
We park our cars so that the morning sun hits as many windows as possible.
Part of the reality of living in cold climates is that in the morning we freeze ourselves on the windshields and doors of our cars. One great tip to avoid this problem is to find parking spots that start to hit in direct sunlight as soon as the sun sets over the horizon. This often serves to start the ice melting process on the windows, making cleaning much easier – if necessary.
We keep water in the kettle all the time.
Tea and hot chocolate are often consumed in our home during the winter months. Not only does a hot drink make you feel much warmer (meaning you are less prone to higher temperatures in your home), but actually boiling the water adds extra warmth to your home. We make this convenient by keeping the water in the kettle, as we often use the entire kettle with water once or twice a day.
We have indoor exercises.
It’s often easy to think of northern winters as “hibernation,” with people curling up under blankets to keep warm and not moving around much, but I’ve found it to be one of the most effective ways to keep warm indoors. winter is exercise. Do bodyweight or bodyweight exercises and you will feel incredibly hot. I really love the free daily bodyweight exercises at Darebee .
Emergency kits with heaters are kept in the car and at home.
Sometimes things don’t go as planned and you find yourself on the side of the road or without electricity, and in such situations you can get very cold very quickly. Our solution is to have emergency kits in the car and even at home. These kits have multiple instant hand warmers, spare warm clothes for everyone, multiple blankets, a flashlight, travel lights, and so on. We store these items in crates and load them into our vehicles during the winter months.
We have blankets in every room.
When someone makes a sedentary lifestyle in our house in winter, they wrap themselves up in a large thick blanket. We have stacks of blankets that we keep in every room, so if you’re heading into a room to watch a TV show, read a book, or play a game, you just grab a blanket and swaddle in it. This way you will always be cute and toasty.
The basic idea here is simple: you don’t need to keep your home thermostat at 72 degrees Fahrenheit for everyone to feel warm all the time. This is incredibly expensive, especially with many other simple tactics you can use to keep you warm during the winter months. Keep the thermostat lower and use some of these tricks instead when it’s snowing and it’s cold outside.
Good luck!
11 Economical Ways To Make Cold Temperatures More Bearable | Simple dollar