6 Hot Tips: Stay Warm This Winter College Semester!

Being in college during a cold winter can be no fun especially if you don’t know how to keep yourself warm in your dorm room. You obviously don’t have a furnace and very few schools have thermostats in the students’ rooms. Here are the 6 best tried and tested ways of keeping yourself warm within your room.

Dress warmly

Your dressing is probably the simplest way of keeping warm and you don’t have to spend that much. Some of the simplest methods include always wearing a scarf around your neck, wearing a knit cap, wear double pairs of socks and most importantly layer up! Put on two or three pairs of everything including sweaters, pants, leggings, vest tops and jumpers.

Drinks that will keep you warm

You have limitless options when it comes to beverages. While you can still buy beverages from almost anywhere, it’s better if you can make your own. Good old tea, chocolate and coffee should do the trick. Coffee should give you a ‘kick’ in addition to warming you up better than tea. The reason why I have a preference for preparing your own beverage is you can have an endless supply throughout the day. For those who don’t fancy any of these common beverages you can try to making a mixture of honey, lemon and ginger: apart from tasting great, the concoction is also a great homemade cold remedy. A shot of whisky always works for me, that is if you are allowed to have any in your rooms – don’t get into trouble.

Exercise

Do a 20-30 minute vigorous workout. It does not sound like much fun but that short workout should warm you up faster than any other method. Blood circulates faster and it transports heat to all parts of your body within less than 5 minutes. If you are not a big fan of exercise like me, you can try and do small chores around your room. Organize your room, move stuff around – just avoid sitting down and doing nothing.

Use a space heater

A space heater is an appliance used to heat enclosed places. You can buy a small space heater online at it should be enough for a small dorm room. They go for as little as $20 to as much as $100. Instead of heating the whole room you can also buy a heating pad, which is just like a space heater but you can only sit on it.

Insulate your room

Insulation involves the prevention of heat-loss from your room. Close all the doors and windows properly. Only open them during the day when it is warm outside. If your windows don’t shut tightly you should buy some removable window-caulk to shut them tight. If you can’t find any just stuff an old piece of clothing or a towel. Do the same for your door. It would also be great if you could put up curtains to block all sorts of heavy air-drafts. A rug or a carpet should also be a great option for insulating your floors. Or purchase window insulation plastic which gets taped along the window frame. Its easy to install and works great.

Get an electric blanket

An electric blanket is a rather cost effective way of keeping warm throughout the night. If you are wondering, you don’t cover yourself with it. It is placed on top of the mattress and you can regulate the amount of heat your bed receives. If you want to save on electricity you can just pre-heat your bed with the blanket for a few minutes before you sleep. The electric blanket usually goes for around $100.

Warming yourself up can be pretty easy and one or more of these tips should work out for you. Remember to also treat your body well during winter, it is during this period that we need as much vitamins, water, sunshine and social activity as we can get.