{"id":1128,"date":"2016-12-12T15:52:35","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T21:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2016-12-12T15:52:35","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T21:52:35","slug":"oh-the-weather-outside-is-frightful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/2016\/12\/12\/oh-the-weather-outside-is-frightful\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scrolling through my emails the other day, I came upon the most dreaded email of them all. The we-energies \u201cYour bill is ready!\u201d email\u2026 The horrifying, winter electric bill has come. If your roommates are anything like mine, and they complain about how cold the house is while they sit in the shorts\/t-shirts, you can imagine how the bill looks. It\u2019s a constant struggle over who is running the thermostat, I demand it should be in the low 60\u2019s and everyone bundle up, but I often lose to my roommates who love the low 70\u2019s while walking around in their boxers. So when I opened the electric bill email, to my surprise it was only $250\u2026 Yes only\u2026 It\u2019s much worse during the coldest winter months. So I decided to look up ways that we could save money without breaking the bank and came upon an article from \u201cThe Old Farmer\u2019s Almanac\u201d\"weather\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the top ways to stay warm, without cranking the heat!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Dress in\u00a0layers.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Bundle up. Wear long underwear, sweaters, and even hats indoors. I recommend a \u201cwicking\u201d\u00a0polyester (or silk) undershirt next to your skin versus cotton.<\/p>\n

    One reader adds, \u201cI can’t imagine surviving cold weather, inside or out, without a stretchy fleece neck warmer. I have several and I put one on when watching television or reading to avoid turning up the thermostat. Just think about summertime when you are feeling too hot – if you can, you try to cool down by opening your collar. We are using the reverse of that principle\u00a0here.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Keep Your Feet\u00a0Warm<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I highly recommend \u201chouse slippers\u201d indoors. A soft, cozy pair worn to bed keeps my feet toasty warm, and as long as my feet are warm, I’m comfortable with the thermostat turned\u00a0down.\u201d \u201cKeep changing your socks! Everybody forgets that your feet sweat, and THAT can make you cold even though you are layered\u00a0up.\u201d<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Heat Up Your\u00a0Bed<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Don’t turn up the heat for the entire house. Use an electric blanket. An even cheaper and safer option may be a hot water bottle with a wool or fleece cover. \u201cUse rice! Put the rice in a fleece cover\u2013then warm in the microwave. It will stay warm half the night and keep your toes\u00a0comfortable.\u201d But, better and quicker is to use a large heating pad with an automatic shut-off. Mine shuts off after 30 minutes. I lay the heating pad in the bed and turn it on about 15 minutes before falling asleep. I turn it off and then on again if I still need a little more heat but it is usually adequate just turning it on\u00a0once.\u201d<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Harness the\u00a0Sun<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          During the day, open the blinds and curtains on the south-facing windows\u2014and let the Sun warm you. At night, close the blinds and curtains to better insulate your\u00a0home.<\/p>\n

          One reader adds, \u201cWe use roller blinds every night for all windows. Save a lot of energy in a cheap and easy\u00a0way.\u201d<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Keep the Kitchen\u00a0Cozy<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Many readers keep the kitchen\u00a0humming!<\/p>\n

            \u201cBake something in the oven, either dinner or a dessert (doesn’t have to be fattening but even better if it\u00a0is).\u201d \u201cA hot cup of tea is great\u2026.if you are sick, a hot toddy works wonders. Also, I always have a crock pot of soup going during the cold\u00a0months.\u201d<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Block\u00a0Drafts<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Beyond weather-stripping, which is difficult with old houses, consider these reader\u00a0tips:<\/p>\n

              \u201cI hang blankets to close off the open stair well going to the second floor, since heat raises it keeps the warm air down stairs when we spend most of our time. I noticed it saves a lot of heating\u00a0dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

              \u201cDon’t forget to put something at the bottom of outside doors\u2013you can just feel the cold air pour in. You can buy a fancy roll or just use a blanket or\u00a0towel.\u201d<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Stay\u00a0Active<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Get your body moving. \u201cKeep active, this is a good time to clean out closets, garages, etc. Anything to keep\u00a0active.\u201d \u201cIf I get a chill just sitting I get up and stir around, the movement not only warms me up but also stirs the heat in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Humidify Your\u00a0Home<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Not only does a humidifier keep your house warmer but also it eliminates drying indoor air. If you don’t have a humidifier, here’s another idea:\u00a0When you take a bath in winter, leave the water in the tub after you get out. If you let it sit until it reaches room temperature, it will add a little warmth to the house and help humidify\u00a0it!<\/p>\n

                  Hopefully you all learned at least one idea to save a couple bucks and stay warm this winter! Happy Holidays from Warhawk Fitness!<\/p>\n

                  \u201cSuccess is a journey but we treat it like a place and it doesn\u2019t make sense if you don\u2019t you enjoy the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

                   <\/p>\n

                  -Riley Pink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Scrolling through my emails the other day, I came upon the most dreaded email of them all. The we-energies \u201cYour bill is ready!\u201d email\u2026 The horrifying, winter electric bill has come. If your roommates are anything like mine, and they complain about how cold the …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2522,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43776],"tags":[77917,43758,208640,208639,208643,154268,154271,208641,208642,1773,154096,208644,154270,68694,2845,154267,43752],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-warhawk-fitness-2","tag-active","tag-cold","tag-cozy","tag-drafts","tag-feet","tag-heat","tag-humidifier","tag-kitchen","tag-layers","tag-money","tag-riley-pink","tag-roommates","tag-saving","tag-snow","tag-sun","tag-warm","tag-winter","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1130,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions\/1130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/warhawkfitness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}