[♪♩INTRO]
Well, friends, as they say, winter is coming. [winter SFX]
Staying cozy can be really tough if you live in a drafty house or poorly insulated apartment.
But don’t worry, there are lots of ways to fix your place without a lot of time or
money!
Step 1: Identify your heat source.
Homes are equipped for gas heat, central air, electric baseboard heat, wood stoves, et cetera.
If you don’t know which kind you have, you can ask your landlord, or do some detective
work yourself.
If you’re stumped, some kinds of heat, like gas heat, need to be turned on by the utility
company.
A general rule, though, is that most heat sources work better if you keep them at a
fairly even temperature most of the time.
If you keep the house cold and then crank up the heat by 20 degrees when you come home
after work, you’re only going to make your heating system work harder and crank up your
utility bill.
It might be a good idea to check your rental agreement, if you have one, to see if your
landlord requires you to keep your house at a certain temperature; some rental agreements
might ask you to keep the thermostat set to at least 55ºF to prevent pipes from freezing.
I don’t know if you would want to have your house colder than that, though, seems a little
cold…
But also it’s good to not have frozen pipes. That happened to me one time. It was bad...
Step 2: Hit the hardware store!
This is the best place to find weatherproofing materials, and most of them don’t require
special tools or equipment.
If you’ve got a drafty place: plastic sheeting. It’s all—it’s cheap, easy, and crucial.
You can also look for rubber seals to press into the doors and windowsills to seal cracks,
as well as power outlet covers to prevent drafts.
It also doesn’t hurt to grab an indoor thermometer so you can keep an eye on the temperature
in your house.
Almost all of this stuff will be in the same aisle of the hardware store.
And it’s a little bit more pricey, but you might want to look out for a radiant space
heater.
Decent-quality space heaters run $50-$100 and can help heat smaller spaces so you don’t
have to crank up the heat over the whole house.
Step 3: Be strategic with your heat.
Identify which rooms you spend the most time in and which rooms you just need to stay warm
enough so that the pipes don’t freeze.
This is where that radiant space heater can come in handy. Keeping one in the bedroom
and shutting the door ensures that the heater can warm up the small space enough for you
to be comfortable.
Be safe with that heater, though, follow the instructions, do not burn your house down.
Step 4: Your mom was right: It’s cheaper if you just put on a sweater. So bundle up!
Hit the thrift store for sweaters, scarves, fingerless gloves and blankets. Layer leggings,
long-sleeve shirts and thick socks under your PJs to keep you nice and toasty.
And having a nice big fluffy robe to put on when you get out of the shower—always super
nice.
If you have long hair, try wrapping it up with a towel or big hair clip after you shower
so you don’t have wet hair making you feel colder.
Step 5: Try to bring things in that will enhance your sense of coziness and warmth.
Light some candles. Try turning on a couple soft-lighting table lamps in each room to
make your home glow a little bit. Convince yourself it’s warm by putting on the Netflix
“Yule log” video.
Drink your favorite heated beverage, like tea, or hot chocolate to make your insides
warm.
The Danish concept of “hygge” (sorry for the pronunciation) might also be useful to
research—the Danes have a ton of coping mechanisms for getting through a long winter.
Step 6: Dance party!
If you hate waking up on a cold, dark morning, have a playlist ready to go with your favorite
dance songs (this really works and I like it) so you can feel motivated to get yourself
up, move around a little bit, warm yourself up.
Trust me, that new Kesha album: full of bops. Gotta getcha all toasty—feeling the burn.
Step 7: Still freezing? Is your bill unaffordable?
Find out what energy assistance programs you might qualify for if you are low-income.
Many states in the U.S. have energy assistance programs that you can apply for throughout
the season. Just Google your location and “energy assistance program.”
If you live in a place that gets cold, what are your heat-saving tactics? Let us know
in the comments below! We live in Montana so we need all the help we can get.
And if you just want to learn more about adulting with me and Rachel, subscribe to us at youtube.com/learnhowtoadult.
Do I look ridiculous?
[off-screen] Yes. In a good way.
[muffled] Well friends as they—
[muffled] They can't hear [BLEEPED] can you?
[Laughter]
[mic rustling sounds]
[laughter]
Squeaking?
[off-screen] Yeah
Squeaking.
[off-screen] Yeah, it's that mic squeaking up against the stuff...
[off-screen] ...little mouse in there
No little mouse!
To prevent fi— fipes from preezing.
Layer leggings, long sleeved shirts, and thick pockets under your PJs—
Thick pockets?
[laughter]