How To Keep Warm In Winter

Winter is a wonderful time of year filled with holidays and fun, but freezing temperatures can make it harsh to even step outside. Even if you’re in the coldest climates, you can easily find ways to stay warm and cozy indoors or outside. By wearing the right clothes and maintaining your home’s temperature, you’ll be nice and toasty throughout the season. Follow these simple tips to keep warm in winter.

Tips to keep warm in winter

1. Wrap up warm

Dress in layers and wear a hat, gloves and scarf. Clothes made from wool, cotton or fleecy fabrics are warmest. When you’re indoors, wear warm socks and slippers to keep your feet cozy.

2. Harness the Sun

During the day, open the blinds and curtains on the south-facing windows—and let in the warming sunlight. At night, close the blinds and curtains to better insulate your home.

One reader adds, “We use roller blinds every night for all windows. Saves a lot of energy in a cheap and easy way.”

3. Enjoy a Cup of Soup

Besides warming up your space, you also can warm yourself from the inside. Opt for hot meals, such as a cup of soup, on cold days. And consider making your own soup from scratch. Soup generally takes a while to cook, and the simmering pot on the stove will generate heat in the kitchen.

4. Use a Humidifier

Humid air generally feels quite a bit warmer than dry air. And running the heat in the colder months can strip your indoor air of its humidity. To balance this, consider using a humidifier. Look for the models that allow you to choose between warm and cold air; they typically cost more but are well worth it for the heating ability.

5. Reverse the Ceiling Fan

It might seem counterintuitive to use a ceiling fan when you’re feeling cold, but it actually can help to warm you up. Let your ceiling fan turn at a low speed in a clockwise direction during the colder months. This will help to push the warm air that rises toward the ceiling back down toward floor level.

6. Seal Any Leaks

A drafty home tends to be a chilly home. If your house has older single-pane windows or an unsealed door, you’re most likely dealing with heat loss. Heat escapes out into the cold outdoors while cold air sneaks in to replace it. This also happens through openings in your electrical outlets or near pipes. Keeping the warm air indoors and cold air outdoors makes your home warmer throughout the winter with less energy – read: a lower energy bill.

7. Bring Backup

In your pack for every winter excursion, from snowshoeing to putting up a new ice-climbing route, should be a fail-safe layer—an über-warm jacket that you can slap on when temps plummet, or when you just want to preserve heat when you stop for a snack. The Grand Trek Down Jacket is such a layer: insulated with lofty down and protected from the sleet with a waterproof face fabric, sealed seams, and a cinchable hood.

8. Fuel the Fire

Speaking of snacks, bring lots, and eat them frequently to keep your body generating heat. “I make my ski trips a series of small linked picnics,” says Cathy Cowles, an instructor trainer for Colorado Outward Bound. On the menu: fats like cheese and nuts that metabolize slowly and last all day.

9. Slow and Steady

When you’re outdoors all day, it’s best to move at a slow, steady pace to keep generating heat. Engle likes to keep her breaks short, which isn’t a problem, she says, if you haven’t been overexerting to begin with. When you do stop, sit on your pack rather than the ground, to prevent heat conduction.

10. Dance Party

If you do find yourself getting cold, keep moving. If you’ve got nowhere to go, crank out some jumping jacks or do a little dance, says Cowles. “It’s more fun with a partner,” she says.

Cold weather can affect your health and pain your feel. It can affect anyone, but people living with a terminal illness are especially vulnerable to the effects of the cold. It is important to follow the above tips to keep warm in winter, both for you and for your loved ones.