Working from home has many benefits but the downside is keeping warm this winter without having to have the heating on all day. With the cost of living going up, gone are the days when you can whack up the heating and be toasty all day in a t-shirt. I’m lucky that I can work in our loft room where we dry our washing with the amazing heated dryer from Lakeland so that helps keep me warm. Unfortunately my husband is in the garden in our home office there where it gets pretty cold. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that turning down your main thermostat by just 1 degree could save around 10% on your energy bill so here are my top tips for keeping warm in winter when you’re working from home.
Keep yourself warm
I love my electric blanket in bed so electric rugs and throws are perfect for day time. Wrap it around yourself or just around your legs if you’re on a lot of Zoom calls, electric blankets cost pennies to run and on average will cost you £1.47 to run weekly according to the Money Saving website.
Layer up as much as possible. I love these underlayer tops from Uniqlo and they come in loads of different colours. And unlike a lot of base layers they’re actually nice to look at too! I also like to wear a big cardigan over my clothes too or a fleece dressing gown like this one too. Thick socks and warm slippers also help.
Hot drinks are your friend, and I’m definitely happy about that! Cups of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or even hot water with lemon are all good for keeping you warm. Plus, getting up and walking to the kitchen to do them also helps move your body and get the blood pumping to keep you warm too! Add something hot to your lunch too, soup using up left over vegetables is always a good shout or start
Keep the house warm
Close all the doors in your house to keep the warmth in, . If your thermostat allows, just warm up the room you’re using at the time. If not, portable oil heaters are great. You can turn them on and off and even set a temperature so that they turn off automatically when the room is warm enough. They also use a lot less energy than central heating and perfect if you’re working in an office that doesn’t have heating like my husband in the garden!
And finally, make sure that when you do have the heating on that it’s working the most efficiently as it can. Bleed your radatiors, make sure you don’t have sofas in front of them and check for draughts so that all the warmth isn’t wasted.
Let me know your tips on keeping warm!
