Warmth in the time of winter...

 How to keep your student house toasty when it's cold outside

I am currently sat, writing this blog, with a dressing gown over the top of my clothes. This may seem strange behaviour to you, and perhaps it is, but it keeps me warm.

Now living in a student house is rarely a long-term arrangement, so purchasing a ton of extra loft insulation and laying it down is probably not going to be financially viable for you. But there are some cost-free tricks that you can put into practice to stop the heat, or the feeling in your fingers, escaping.

Be firm with your thermostat

• Don’t always have the heating on. Most boilers can be programmed to come on and off at different times. Make use of this. If your whole house is out during the day, there’s no point having the heating on all the time. In my house, we have it on for a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening and no-one’s got frostbite yet.

• Use your curtains. Open them during the day to let the sun’s heat in. Close them at night to stop it getting out. The same applies to blinds.

• Don’t overuse fans. Fans come in handy when trying to extract the smoke from your fumigated kitchen and they have often saved me from being deafened by the fire alarm. However, it is not only smoke that they extract. They also remove hot air from your house; that is, hot air that you’ve paid good money to heat. Try to keep it.

This student world is a world of compromise: you can’t save money by always having the heating off and wander around your house in shorts and a T-shirt. Nor can you wear a dressing gown over your clothes and keep your status as a fashion icon (however hard I try). But you can do a few little things to stay warm in order to keep those boiler bills down.

Get the look

via GIPHY

• Sleeping bags, blankets and duvets are not just for your slumbers. Writing an essay? Try it wrapped in a blanket. Watching TV? Do it under a duvet. Eating dinner? Your sleeping bag is your friend. There is practically no indoor activity that cannot be instantly improved by the addition of a large, comfy, warmth-giving object.

• Hats, scarves and gloves are not just for the great outdoors. Writing an essay? Try it wrapped in a scarf. Watching TV… oh, you get the point.

Food

• Start the day warm. You may be a big cereal eater. You may have had a bowl of cornflakes every morning since you grew out of Frosties. But starting your day with a meal mainly consisting of cold milk doesn’t exactly heat you up. Porridge however is quick, cheap and, most importantly, warm. A kilogram of oats costs virtually nothing and all you have to do is add water (in a ratio 3:1 to the oats) and stick in the microwave for two lots of two minutes and you have a breakfast bowl that will keep the hypothermia at bay.

• Drink tea. Tea keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is a wondrous invention.

Well you’ve been told that Winter is Coming and, at last, Winter is finally here. Now armed with porridge, a dressing gown and some survival tips, you’ll be able to pull through. And make it into January exams…

For some more tips on beating the winter blues, read Purple Frog's easy winter maintenance tips and tricks for students.