Warming yourself without turning up the heat
When I began living on my own, I always had the heat on at about 20 degrees Celsius, because my parents had that as well at their house. But, then I started thinking, why do I need the heat up that much? I love blankets, sweaters and warm tea, do I really need so much heating in my home as well? That’s when I started to lower my heat, degree by degree and now, I only turn it up every once in a while to make sure the pipes don’t freeze. How? Here are my favourite ways for warming yourself up and getting cozy without heating up the earth.
Dressing up
Get your sweaters and reveal your scarfs. Nothing is more comfortable than draping a big scarf around your shoulders or wearing bed socks or fuzzy slippers. And, more importantly, there is no better way to keep warm! Save the planet and love your sweaters like they deserve!
Blankets
Continuing with the fabrics, get a nice and warm blanket! I often wear my blankets around the house as well, almost as a cape. It keeps me warm, it is incredibly soft and it makes me feel right at home. So, if you are looking for ways to keep you comfortably warm without using your heating.
On fire!
And let’s not forget the one thing that has kept humanity warm since the beginning of time: fire! No, I don’t want you to build a campfire in the middle of your living room, but lighting some candles can really make a difference to the overall temperature as well. If you’ve read my post on cleaning the air in your house, you’ll know that soy candles are your best option, since they don’t pollute the air and they often smell amazing!
Warm drinks
Warming up from the outside in is nice, but why not try it the other way around as well? Warming yourself up with a warm cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or even mulled wine (or gluhwein as we call it) is the cosiest thing ever. And since there is so much variety in these drinks, you’ll never get bored!
Keep the warmth inside
Another important way to keep warm without use heating is to keep the warmth inside once it’s naturally warm (for instance after summer). A big way to do this is to have double glass in your windows and to have proper isolation in your home and it’s an important thing to look for when you’re looking for a house. It not only saves the planet, but it also saves you a lot of money down the line!
Not every level is the same
I used to live on the fourth floor and it would always be hot there, no matter the weather. Since heat rises up naturally, floors higher up tend to be warmer than the first floor. If you don’t want to turn the heat of completely (understandable), you can try turning it down on the upper floors and leave it on downstairs. This way, you can ease up to it.
I hope I gave you some inspiration to be more aware of your impact on the planet and how to live more sustainably. If you’d like more tips on living more environmentally-friendly, click here or leave yours in the comments below! And if you liked this post, feel free to subscribe here for fresh posts every week or follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
Lots of love,
Lisa
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Hi there! My name is Lisa and I am the author of Mind and Body Intertwined. I have a bachelor's and a master's degree in psychology. During my study, I found out how much the mind and the body are connected and it fascinated me, which is why I started my blog. Would you like to join me on this little corner of the world?
Love these tips! My husband and I rent our place and its quite big for the 2 of us! I like to hang out in the living room and I’m super cold its uncomfortable! Then I go upstairs and it gets cozy 🙂
Lower areas are often colder as warmth rises up. Maybe you can use extra blankets or warm water bottles downstairs?
I love layering up with cosy jumpers and blankets! You can’t beat a nice hot drink either 🙂
https://femaleoriginal.com/
Especially the combination is perfect 😍
I love getting cosy under the blankets with a warm drink. I’m one of those people that’s never warm enough so I’m forever trying to layer up x
Sophie
Same here, I seem to always be a few degrees too cold! Layering seems like the best though.
This is so useful as I’ve been thinking about ways to keep the heating bills down as much as possible (also love the tip about soy candles and clean air)! It can get so, so cold where I live so at some point the heating will have to go on but using your tips that can be reduced by quite a bit — thanks!
I can imagine that if you live in a colder place, these won’t be enough, but every degree lower is a step in the right direction, so thank you for your efforts! 😁
Some great ideas here. Thank you so much for sharing. Love the dressing up one in particular.
Thank you! I think that one is one of the most effective ones to be honest, keeping the heat close to you!
As someone who likes to save a bit of money by not putting the heating on immediately, I love all these tips! Multiple layers and a blanket is much cosier as well. I didn’t know about soy candles, so I will have to look into that. Thank you for sharing. 😊
I was actually shocked to learn how much you can save by not heating. I have my own place since a year, so it was the first year that I could see the tangible benefit and I was so surprised!
Great tips, I usually rely on blankets, hot water bottles and hot drinks to stay warm and cosy! I live in a new build house so fortunately it’s easy to heat but I like the idea of wrapping up to stay warm 🙂
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
It’s so nice if you live in a new building, they stay so much warmer than older ones! That combined with blankets and warm drinks is perfect 😀
These are great ideas. My boyfriend is always cold and always has the heat on. I’ve tried to get him to turn the temp to a sensible number and just leave it but I’m sweating in my hoodies and he’s got the heat on wrapped in a fleece blanket too, haha.
Hahaha l can imagine that it’s difficult when your boyfriend is so different from you in that regard! Although you won’t have to fight over blankets, which is good!
Agree with so much of this! In my uni house we barely ever have the heating on to save money so blankets, hot chocolate and wearing hats/scarves are the norm for us!
Tash
Sounds like you’ve found good ways to save some money (and the planet!), nice 😁
I used to not like the cold weather but now I love getting cozy at home! Layers of sweatshirts, blankets, fuzzy socks, and warm drinks. And nothing beats a fire in the fireplace!
Oeh I wish I had a fireplace, that indeed sounds like the perfect level of comfort and coziness! 😍