How to stay warm without turning on heating
If you’re a social media user, you might have seen a heating-related meme doing the rounds lately. The picture shows Kendall from successor wrapped up in hat, gloves and coat next to the inscription “Heating still refuses”.
In typically British fashion, we seem to turn to wry humor to help us weather the rather horrific impact of the cost of living crisis, with soaring energy bills meaning families are facing real financial woes this winter.
So much so, that recent research has revealed that nearly one in four adults does not intend to turn on their heating at all this winter due to cost concerns.
Continue reading: The date approved by experts to turn on the heating this year
Meanwhile, a search is being made for “how to keep warm without heating” is up a staggering 7,900% year over year, as reported by retail studio.
Luckily, there are methods to help you stay warm without having to turn on the boiler. Here are 23 easy and inexpensive ways to stay warm this winter, from preventing unwanted drafts to making sure your bed is perfectly warm without the need for radiators.
1. Plug in the drafts
Can you feel the cold through the floorboards? A woman shared a great way to keep your home warm if you have hardwood floors. TikTok user lydsear demonstrated a hack on her social media account, using a £4.99 Amazon product to stop cold drafts from coming through her floorboards.
2. Place aluminum foil behind your radiators
In those cases where it’s just too cold not to turn on the heating, try putting foil behind your radiators to ensure heat is pushed back into the room instead of escaping up the wall.
3. Dry your clothes and heat your room
A heated drying rack not only offers a solution to help you dry your clothes without the expense of running your tumble dryer, but also helps heat your room without changing the thermostat. And some have operating costs of less than 4p an hour!
Our top pick: Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer | £149.99 from Lakeland
4. Trade in your sweater for a wearable blanket
Still feeling the chill in your usual TV cocoon? Try the adult teddy fleece hooded blanket from Marks & Spencer, also known as The M&S Snuggle. But you have to be quick. After the blanket first launched last October, it flew off the shelves, prompting numerous backorders – and it’s already sold out again.
Our top recommendation: The M&S Snuggle Teddy Fleece hooded blanket for adults | £25 from M&S
You could wear an oodie. On Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website, a fan says she hasn’t needed her heater since she bought the hoodie-and-blanket hybrid. “Invested in an oversized hoodie blanket to snuggle in since stopped using a heater,” wrote the user.
Our top recommendation: Gray Oodie | £64 (formerly £89) from Oodie
5. Eat a hot lunch
The NHS says eating regularly helps keep you warm and says you should have one hot meal a day. This Aldi soup maker will help you prepare cheap, nutritious and warming meals to give you an after-lunch heat boost.
Our top recommendation: Ambiano soup maker | €34.99 at Aldi
6. Get your tea in a bottle
Who would have thought we would add up how many times we boil our kettle, but we are where we are. Reduce your once-a-day kettle usage by brewing a pot of tea in a bottle.
Our top recommendation: Thermos stainless steel King Food Flask | 20€ at Amazon
7. Tighten the thermals
Rethink your outdated views on thermals by staying cozy in the latest cozy-yet-cool base layers. From cheap £15 thermal leggings to simple but pretty tops, thermal pants are back in fashion. Here is our pick of the best.
Our top recommendation: Heatgen Plus™ thermal fleece leggings | £16 from M&S
8. Fill in the gaps
Make your home as heat efficient as possible by banning drafts. “Not surprisingly, cold air comes in, lowering the overall temperature,” explains Laura O’Connell, product manager at Thomas Sanderson. “If you can stop those drafts from getting in and taking away the warm heat, it will improve the temperature of your home significantly.”
9. Portable hot water bottle
Hot water bottles are a cheap and cheerful way to stay warm when you’re trying to turn off the heat, but they’ve recently received an upgrade. The Body Bottle is an extra-long hot-water bottle that stays warm for up to six hours – and thanks to the practical strap, it can even be worn around the body.
Our top pick: Portable hot water bottle | 25€ at Amazon
10. Try some reusable hand warmers
If you’re struggling to keep your gloves warm, reusable hand warmers could help solve the problem and cost you less than 1p an hour, according to MoneySavingExpert.
Our top recommendation: Hot Hands hand warmer value pack | 7€ at Amazon
11. Cuddle up with someone special
Curling up with another person or even a pet gives you twice the body heat as if you were sitting alone. Not only does cuddling with someone special keep you warm, but it can also release oxytocin, which is known as the cuddle hormone and has a whole host of mental health benefits.
12. Try a plug heater
Small yet powerful, plug-in heaters are not only a space-saver, they’re also a cost-effective way to warm up a room without having to turn on all the radiators. The Russell Hobbs Compact Black Ceramic Plug Heater, £22.99, can get up to a toasty 30°C – probably why it’s consistently sold out and the top seller in Amazon’s heating category.
Our top recommendation: Russell Hobbs Compact Black Ceramic Plug Heater | $22.99 on Amazon
13. Update your slippers
Make sure they have rubber soles. The basic principle? Rubber is a poor conductor of heat, so it keeps your toes warm.
14. Leave the oven open after cooking
While many turn to airfryers to save money on bills, those who still use their oven can leave it open after cooking to release extra heat into the room.
15. WFH in fingerless gloves
They may be a throwback to the ’80s, but fingerless gloves could be a cheap yet easy solution to keep our circulation going while we’re checking out this report at the home office.
Our top pick: Fingerless black thermal gloves | £2.51 (was £3) on Amazon
16. Do your workout
In addition to increasing your metabolism, exercise also helps speed up body heat production. So why not try a quick bout of jumping jacks between meetings? Cardiovascular training increases blood flow, while strength training increases heat production in muscles. But try not to sweat too much as you will start to freeze as you cool off.
17. Take a cold shower in the morning
This may seem completely insane and totally counterintuitive, but cold showers help improve blood flow, and that in turn could help keep you warm.
18. Put your feet up
A cool floor is usually the coldest part of your home, but putting your feet up on a stool or chair can keep your toes a little warmer while you sit down.
19. Upgrade your comforter
The best sleeping temperature is around 18°C. “To easily achieve this in winter, choose a duvet with a higher tog rating of at least 13 that retains as much heat as possible,” Georgia Metcalfe, co-founder and creative director of The French Bedroom Company, told Yahoo UK. If you’re having trouble remembering the last time you changed your comforter, maybe it’s time to do so, as the filling in older comforters can clump and cause cold spots.
Our top pick: Fogarty Superfull 10.5 Tog Duvet | £35 from Dunelm
20. Change your pajamas
Changing your sleepwear can actually affect how warm you feel in bed. “One of the best materials for feeling warm on cold evenings is silk – it’s a natural thermoregulator and keeps heat between the strands,” explains Metcalfe.
Our top pick: Piped silk pajama set with dot print | £135 from John Lewis
21. Try an electric blanket
Warming up yourself and your immediate surroundings, rather than the whole house, can help keep your heating off. And electric blankets have come a long way since the stiff and scratchy ones your grandma used to swear by. Today, the best electric blankets are soft and lightweight, with wires you’ll hardly notice.
Our top recommendation: Silentnight Comfort Control heated blanket | 35€ at Amazon
22. Rearrange the furniture
By moving furniture or objects that are blocking your radiator, the heat generated can circulate more freely. “While the efficiency of your radiator depends on its quality and the size of the room it’s in, this hack should help you reduce the amount of time you leave your heater on,” explains Leanne O’Malley, Marketing Manager at Studio. You should also make sure that your bed is not near windows and doors to avoid drafts.
23. Dress warmly
Wearable tech has focused on staying warm, and heated vests add a cozy boost. Heated panels on the chest and back and are powered by lightweight, portable battery packs that you can charge to keep you toasty and toasty around the house and on the go.
Our top recommendation: heated vest | €52.99 on Amazon
Originally published