Natural Ways to Stay Cozy This Winter

February 15, 2023

For many people, wintertime is the time where they identify several cracks and crevices around their homes where cold air finds its way indoors. This will not only make it more difficult to stay cozy and warm, but it can also cause your energy bill to go sky high, essentially sending money out the door. Below are 10 natural ways you can stay cozy this winter (and hopefully save money on your energy bill).

1. Dress Warmly

One obvious way to stay warm and cozy during the winter is dressing warm. When your skin is exposed, it allows heat to quickly escape from your body. So, to prevent this, you'll want to wear:

• Long pants
• Long sleeves
• Socks

Dressing layers can help you retain warmth, and wearing natural materials, like wool, can keep you nice and toasty. As an added benefit, wool is a sustainable fabric.

2. Harness the Sun

Open up your curtains and blinds during the day on your windows facing south to let the warm sunlight through. During the night, close the curtains and blinds, which will help insulate your home better from the cold, night air. You might want to consider using roller blinds for all your windows. Blinds are an easy and inexpensive way to save on your energy bill.

3. Stay Active

Get up, and get active. Get your body moving. Physical activity is an ideal way of getting your heart rate up, and your body warm. If your home should lose power, you can warm yourself up naturally by exercising. And, you don't have to perform an extended intense exercise session either. You can warm up nicely just by performing a few sets of:

• Squats
• Sit-ups
• Jumping jacks

To warm yourself up even further, just extend the time you work out. After your workout session, you'll welcome the chilly temperature to help you cool down from your exertion.

If you're not big on jumping jacks, or these types of exercises, other things you can do are:

• Clean out your garage, closets, or other areas of the home you've been putting off.
• Get off the couch, and just move around your house, even if you just walk from room to room. Walking around will not only help warm you up, it also helps stir up the heat in your home.

Staying active keeps your blood from thickening up, which helps you stay warm. And, exercise is just plain good for you anyway.

4. Insulate Your Windows

Not surprisingly, windows are a huge heat loss area in your house. A lot of energy is lost because:

• The heat radiates through the glazing
• Air leakage through the windows
• Conduction through the frames

So what can be done about this? Installing blinds or drapes can help prevent most of the loss of heat through radiation. But you can also look for drafts around the frames, and seal them using inexpensive, foam self-adhesive strips. Plastic or metal strips with brushes are another more effective option, but are a little more costly. You could also use a thermal sealant to plug up air gaps.

5. Break Out the Blankets

Blankets can provide you with extra warmth if the power should go out on a cold winter day, and you can't put the heat on. Wrap yourself up in a warm blanket, and cozy up on the couch, or sit by the fire. Cover up your latex mattress with some soft, cozy blankets to keep you warm at night.

6. Pay Attention to Your Clothing

While your favorite leggings might be comfortable to wear, depending on the thickness and fabric, they might not do very much to keep you warm. Looser-fitting clothes help trap body heat in better, helping you stay warmer. Things you can wear are:

• Multiple layers of natural fiber clothes
• Washable slipper socks
• Regular slippers

While it might seem odd to wear a hat inside your home, it's a great way to stay warm.

7. Block Drafts

To block drafts, you might wish to consider other methods other than weather-stripping, such as:

• Hang blankets to close open stairwells off that lead to the second floor. Because heat rises, doing this will keep the warm air downstairs, which is where you likely spend most of your time.
• Block drafts from coming in from the bottom of doors. You can use towels, scrap pieces of upholstery fabrics, or old clothing you're no longer using.
• Use old long body pillows to place against window sills and doors.
• Add a layer (towel, old table cloth, etc.) in between the window and venetian blinds. You can also hand a blanket over your whole exterior door, since air doesn't only leak in through the bottom.

8. Heat Up the Bed

Instead of cranking up the heat during the night to stay warm in your bed, use an electric blanket (a safe one) that will turn itself off. An even safer and cheaper option is tossing a hot water bottle under your fleece, flannel, or wool covers and sheets.

• Fill up a bottle with hot water from the kitchen or bathroom faucet prior to going to bed. Slip it between the sheets at the foot of the bed. Once you're ready to go to bed, it will be nice and toasty, warm at your feet. The water bottle will also stay warm throughout the night, too.
• Add some rice inside a fleece cover, and warm it in the microwave. Keep it by your toes at night to stay warm.

9. Snuggle Into Flannel Sheets

When you use flannel sheets, you don't feel cold when you slip into your bed, and they retain your body heat throughout the night. Wash them a few times to make them super soft that feels like you're sleeping on a cloud.

10. Eat Healthy

When you eat healthy, it helps you store your energy for staying warmer. Eating well helps store fat which works like a natural body insulator. Having a regular fat layer is a good thing. This is why often individuals who are underweight often feel cold. You can also stay warm by drinking warm beverages or hearty, hot soups.

Both the warm beverage, and simply holding onto a warm cup, will help keep you warm. Stay away from alcohol, however. While drinking a hot toddy might initially make you feel toasty and warm, the alcohol lowers your body's core temperature.

Everyone knows how fast winter can creep in. One day you're in shorts and a t-shirt having a barbecue in your backyard, and the next, the leaves have all fallen from the tree, the holidays are just around the corner, and there's a soft layer of snow on the ground. But winter can be a time to take a breather, especially when you can be cozy and warm using the above tips.

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Also in Eco Terra's Healthy Sleep Blog