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Home is Where the Warmth Is: How to Stay Comfortable in Your Home During Winter

Another round of winter is here. This time, however, it’s a different winter. The pandemic winter forces people to stay at home for two reasons: to stay out of the cold and to escape the risk of getting sick.

Your home is the last place you’d expect to go cold. If you feel a cold draft coming from somewhere, that’s the time when you should check whether your furnace is working, or if your heater is malfunctioning. You’ll probably call the home furnace service people, but of course, it depends whether they’re taking services right now or not.

If you want to keep the cold out and the warmth in, you must check your home for any problems. Here are some more tips to stay comfortable at home during the COVID-19 winter season.

Check for Gaps

If you’re renting, check your apartment for any gaps that may have been leftover from the time it was built. This is also true when you’re living in an older home. Those 90-degree angles in your windows? They may be hiding a cold, drafty secret. Even a small gap may let heat escape outside, only to be replaced by the cold air going around. In your own home, you can seal that gap by using wooden molding. If you’re renting, caulking usually solves that problem with the cold draft.

Seal the Gaps and Any Holes You May Find

Believe it or not, heat escapes through your windows. If you have the budget for double- and triple-paned glass windows, you should go for them; otherwise, you’ll have to compensate for lesser heat because of single-paned glass windows. These aren’t the main thing you should be worried about, though. Look for the cold air that comes in through gaps and holes in your windows.

Learn how to winterize them without breaking the bank, but don’t winterize everything – you’ll have to give up opening those windows that are adjusted for the winter. What’s important is to seal the gaps and holes, since doubling or tripling those panes won’t matter much if the heat still escapes through another route.

Rugs Work for Warmth

Another affordable way to add warmth to a room in your home is by adding rugs. You can be warm all you want, but that’s not going to matter if you have cold feet. Floors tend to conduct heat when it touches your feet. Rugs fix these, since they trap air through the fibers, making it feel like they’re radiating heat. You also need to take care of your floor, so place a rug pad underneath those rugs. This is also to prevent them from moving around. It’s useful to find a rug that’s thick enough to trap air and make your walk at home a nice experience.

Keep the Office or WFH Cubicle Warm

If you’re working at home, you’ve likely designated space as your home office. If you’re feeling cold at work, that can affect your productivity. Your focus should be to keep your workplace warm, wherever you might be working. Comfortable working spaces tend to give you more productivity to work with. At home, you control the thermostat, so make sure to keep it at a suitable level conducive to giving you ideas and the energy to work hard. It’ll also reflect on your performance – added productivity may lead to substantial bonuses in the workplace, even at home.

Mind What You Eat

Haven’t you noticed that you feel colder if you’re hungry? Food also provides a bit of warmth, but that’s not to say you should splurge on food. Eat, but choose what’s part of your diet: if you’re eating comfort food or sugary drinks, chances are you won’t be so productive, since you’ll feel quite sleepy and a little bloated. A heavy meal is only good on the weekends since a quick nap always follows it. During the week, you’ll have to watch your intake. A starter of green tea and light snacks whenever you’re feeling a bit hungry always helps keep you active and away from the cold.

Winter is here, a good reason to stay at home and keep the thermostat to a cozy temperature. It’s also a good time to avoid COVID-19. Remember to always check if your home is feeling a little chilly or not to your liking – chances are you might’ve neglected a hole or forgot to patch a gap somewhere in it. As always, consult the experts on what to do, and check whether they follow safety protocols when doing home services.

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