How to Keep Your Bedroom Warm in Winter

We wish we could live in the magical world of “Frozen”, have Elsa’s powers and sing along with her, “Cold never bothered me anyway”. Unfortunately, we, regular Earth creatures, are bothered by cold a lot and especially when winter knocks on our door. The cold is particularly well felt at night when our body temperature drops 1-2 degrees after we fall asleep. We will explore some natural frugal ways of warming up your bedroom and creating a sleep inducing environment without cranking up the heat and running up your utility bills. Since most of us spend one third of our life in our bedroom and we spend significantly more time in our bedroom than in other parts of the house, it makes more sense to keep only yourself and your bedroom warm, as opposed to heating the entire house at night. So long as there is no risk for the pipes in your house to freeze, concentrate on heating your immediate surroundings to stay warm.

We know from physics that warm air rises. That means that we should try to set up our sleeping place upstairs for comfortable winter hibernation. Close the door to your bedroom to prevent the heat from escaping your cozy retreat. Make sure you do not overheat it. Overheating has certain side effects. If your heating system does not include a humidifier, the air may become excessively dry and you may experience difficulty breathing, irritated throat and dry skin.

Use warmer bedding to warm the bed and move your bed away from drafty windows. Natural bedding will keep you warmer than synthetic fibers. Synthetic filling, such as polyester, is flat and does not have air pockets. Wool bedding is fluffier due to wool’s natural crimp. The crimp creates air pockets that trap your body heat and keeps it close to you when you are asleep. The goal here is to trap your own body heat or invite a partner, a dog or a cat so that they can share their body heat with you. Combined body heat will keep both of you warmer. Remember, Mother Nature designed most living beings to function like little ovens because most of them, including humans, generate body heat even in cold surroundings. The exception may be some cold-blooded animals. Thus, snuggling with a pet python or a lizard will not benefit you temperature wise.

The warmest blankets are down (feather filled comforters) and wool comforters. Pure wool filled comforters are considered superior to feather or down filled comforters because wool is considered a temperature regulating fiber that helps you maintain constant body temperature when the temperature in your bedroom changes. Wool comforters are a good option for couples that have different temperature preferences and hot sleepers. Wool also absorbs perspiration and releases it into the air. Down may cause overheating and sweating because it traps body heat and can not to keep a sleeper’s body temperature at a comfortable level. Hot sleepers and sleepers experiencing hot flashes would not appreciate that. Down also has another inherent problem – the feathers inside the comforter do not hook up onto each other and loose feathers move to the edges creating cold spots. Wool comforters, on the other hand, consist of a single piece of wool batting where the fibers are intertwined and inseparable. Unlike down, wool also helps keep the dust mites at bay and reduces the risk of allergies. Down bedding recently gained a bad reputation because PETA inspectors discovered that farmers plucked geese and ducks live causing severe injuries and sewing their skin together without the use of any anesthetics.

Wool comforters have a different fill weight that is measured by ounces per sq. foot in America or grams per sq. meter in other markets. Before buying a new comforter always check its fill weight. The higher the fill power the warmer the blanket. Some of them are lightweight comforters, some are all season comforters designed for year-round use and some are thick winter comforters. The most popular wool comforters are sheep wool comforters. Comforters filled with Bactrian camel hair (also called wool) and alpaca wool comforters are gaining popularity too. Alpaca wool filled comforters are typically more expensive than the camel wool comforters but the fiber of these two animals is very similar. Their hair is lighter than the sheep wool but they are equally warm.

If you already own a lightweight blanket you can get an all-season wool comforter or all-season camel hair comforter and vice versa – if you have an all-season comforter, add a lightweight wool comforter. This is where the idea of layering comes in handy. Layers keep warm air and are easily removed when a sleeper gets too hot. The layers do not have to be thick. You can use thin, less puffy blankets and throws. You can get additional warmth by encasing your blanket into a duvet cover or by adding a simple flat sheet. The more layers of blankets or sheets you use, the better insulation they will provide because they will retain more of your natural body heat between the blankets. With that said, we do not suggest you should bury yourself in a colossal pyramid of blankets and run the risk of suffocation when it crashes down on your head.

If you do not like to deal with multiple unsightly covers that tend to slip off a bed and the associated heavy weight that constricts your moves, you can get a winter weight wool comforter. A winter camel wool comforter will pay for itself in energy savings and reduced utility bills. You can turn down or turn off your thermostat when sleeping under a winter weight camel wool comforter. Camel wool is pretty lightweight and even a thick wool comforter will not weigh you down. You will not be able to use it as much as the all season comforter will be very effective when it is really cold.

For a more relaxed and healthy sleep we recommend insulating not only your upper body but also your back. Place in your bed a wool mattress topper. It will add a warm layer from underneath the sheets. Again, a soft sleeping surface is a better insulator than a flat one. You may add flannel sheets or do without them. With a wool mattress pad heating you from underneath the blankets hugging you from the top, you will feel nice and toasty within moments of getting in bed and you will not be able to wait to get into that bed at the end of the day!

Wool bedding is a good investment because wool is a strong fiber that will keep you warmer in winter and cooler in summer for many years. While in moist conditions wool bio-degrades in a matter of months, history shows that in dry environment, it can last thousands of years. Look at this 3,000+ years old mummy named by locals the “Beauty of Xiaohe”. She was discovered buried in a remote desert in China along with other members of her tribe. The mummy had a wool hat and was wrapped in a wool blanket. The wool items an the body were unbelievably well naturally preserved due to the desert’s dry soil.

Consuming warm liquids before bedtime will help you warm up faster. Just do yourself a favor and avoid caffeinated drinks that will keep you up at night. A cup of chamomile tea, lemon balm tea or warm milk not only will warm you up but will also help you calm down and drift to sleep faster. Do not get caught in the myth that booze keeps you warm. Alcohol makes people feel warmer but it does not actually increase their body temperature.

If you are using a master bedroom suite, leave the door open after taking the shower so that the warm steam can enter your room.

Last but not least, keep your feet warm with sheepskin slippers and a carpet or a rug. Hard surfaces like wood or laminate hold much less heat than carpet. Floor is the coldest surface in your bedroom and uninsulated floor can leak heat. You can lay down a large sheepskin rug by your bed. If your bedroom is on a slab (no lower level) your floor will be even colder. Feet do not have much muscle and can get cold faster than other body parts. Moreover, feet regulate your whole body temperature and if your feet get cold, they will radiate the chill up your whole body. Genuine sheepskin rugs are thick, soft, very warm and durable. They have longer fibers than regular rugs and make your room look stylish and cozy. Place a sheepskin by your bed so that you do not have to step on the cold floor at night or in the morning. Some people use sheepskins as throws on a bed to keep the feet warm at night. If have a dog or cat they will love to crash on the sheepskin by your bed.

Genuine sheepskin slippers are supper soft, lightweight, breathable, moisture wicking and temperature regulating. They will help you crawl out of the bed on cold mornings. Your feet will stay warm without sweating. Some people wear them all year round.

Besides warmer bedding consider using warmer sleepwear. Cocoon yourself in flannel pajamas, wool socks and a knit cap, and sleep like a baby in a winter wonderland. Get also a thick robe that you can quickly put on in the morning. Doing all the above will make your bedroom so cozy that you will never want to leave it.

There are many other free or inexpensive options available for keeping your bedroom and your bed warm. You can opt for a warm water bottle, an electric heating pad, a space heater, thick curtains, shades or plastic film for windows, door draft stoppers (plush towel or blanket will work too), reversing the direction of your ceiling fan, etc. If you need any winter items, start bargain hunting well in advance. In summer most people do not think about winter and you can find great bargains for winter related merchandise. Comfortable temperature is the most important factor for good night’s rest and you should strike a very careful balance between the cost effectiveness and your personal comfort. The latter cannot be sacrificed to save a buck.