Denver is a beautiful, bustling place to live, but it can also get cold. With average temps dipping way below zero during the winter months, life can get pretty uncomfortable if you don’t know how to stay warm.
No matter what the weather brings, these 5 tips will help you stay warm all winter long.
Repair and Maintain Your Furnace
Your home’s furnace is your first line of defense against the cold. When your home’s heater works, you can stay warm and toasty all winter. When it doesn’t, you’ll feel the chill.
Schedule regular maintenance on your furnace once a year. It’s a great way to make sure your system is working properly, it helps you catch potential issues before they cause a problem, and it can keep your system clean so you aren’t blowing allergens throughout your home all winter long.
You should also hire a professional for furnace repair in Denver at the first sign of trouble. If your furnace is louder than it used to be, if it runs more than it should, or if it just can’t seem to keep up with your thermostat, it probably needs to be fixed. The sooner you fix it, the less likely you are to suffer through the cold waiting for a repair.
Block Drafts
The cracks and crevices in your home can let the cold air in, which makes your home drafty. Plug those cracks, and not only will your home be warmer, you’ll spend less on your energy bills.
You can block drafts around your doors by replacing the weather stripping. A draft guard can help a lot too. It runs along the bottom of your door, blocking the cold air from seeping in. You can even make one yourself out of old socks or shirt sleeves—no sewing required!
You will also want to prevent drafts from coming in through the windows. You can replace weather stripping, caulk up cracks, or use plastic window film to insulate your home from the cold.
Wear Layers
Layering is a powerful tool for keeping the cold at bay when you’re outdoors. Whether you’re outside enjoying the snow or you want to keep riding your bike to work in the winter, it helps to have a base layer to wick away sweat, a middle layer to retain body heat, and an outer layer to protect you from the elements.
This principle can help you indoors too! If you wear a long-sleeve shirt under a sweater and long underwear under your pants, you can stay warm. You may even be able to turn down your thermostat to save a little money, no matter how cold it is outside.
Get Active
It’s normal to want to curl up under the covers when winter arrives, but being inactive actually makes you feel colder.
Exercise is a great way to stay warm during the coldest winter months. Get out there and do some snowshoeing or go for a quick jog to get your blood pumping first thing in the morning.
You don’t necessarily have to do straight-up exercise. There are a lot of chores that are just as good as any fitness routine. They include:
- Mopping the floors
- Vacuuming
- Changing the sheets on the bed
- Shoveling the driveway
- Cooking and baking
The next time you start to feel a little chilly, don’t hide under the covers. Complete a quick chore or do a little exercise and you’ll warm up in no time!
Use Heating Pads
If you’re feeling chilly right before bed or while you’re sitting down at the computer to get some work done, exercise probably isn’t a good solution, but a heating pad is!
There are many different heating pads to choose from that can be plugged into the wall and charged to help keep you warm. They can be placed on the back of the couch, on an office chair, and you can even strap them directly onto your body.
Don’t discount low-tech methods for keeping warm! You can find pillows and stuffies that can be placed in the microwave or the oven. Hot water bottles can be filled and placed under the covers to keep your bed warm, and homemade microwavable rice packs can be used to keep your hands warm.
Don’t let the cold get the best of you this winter! You can stay warm and continue enjoying everything Denver has to offer when you follow the tips on this list.