Now that winter has finally arrived, drinking hot cocoa, snuggling with a warm blanket, and roasting marshmallows are all wonderful everyday activities to do in the winter, but only when you’re nice and warm. Once your heater breaks, you may find yourself spending all of your time thinking about how cold you are and trying to warm up.

If your heater is currently broken and needs to be fixed, follow these five easy tips to help keep you and your family as warm as possible until a professional arrives. In the meantime, keep reading to learn about some ways you can keep warm without a heater or furnace.

Tip #1: Build Your Own Indoor Igloo

By following the normal design of an igloo, you’re able to build your own inside of your home by sealing off a room to keep the heat in. Igloos are able to stay warm inside because they are a small area protected from any cold air surrounding it.

Smaller areas are much easier to keep warm, so select a room in your house that will work the best for your situation. Take your family, your pets, food, blankets, electronics and any other type of entertainment with you.

Make sure every door in the room is closed and then cover the spot under the door with a towel or sheet. This will help insulate your room by keeping the cold air out and the warm air in.

If you have kids, you can build a fort to make them excited about taking a mini-vacation from the rest of your home. To provide a bit of extra warmth, you can layer the bottom of the fort with a ton of blankets and pillows. And once you are done with all of the hard work, you can snuggle up, relax, and watch a movie or read a story with your family.

Tip #2: Cook a Hot Meal or Leave Your Oven Open and On

If you cook a hot meal or bake some cookies, it will not only cure you and your family’s hunger but it will also warm up your whole house in the process. Some great examples of meals to have on a cold day are:

  • Pot pie
  • Soups and stews
  • Chili
  • Pasta

The stove and oven can significantly increase the heat in your home while also filling it with the incredible aroma of home cooking. Even after you cook with your oven, you can leave it open to help maintain the warmth within your home.

Tip #3: Add Layers To Your Clothing

This is the old go-to and, honestly, the most effective option when trying to maintain as much warmth as possible. You can grab your warmest hoodie or sweatshirt or you can layer on more than one long-sleeved shirt, extra socks, leggings under your jeans for the ladies, and many more. The more layers of clothing that you add on, the warmer you will be.

Tip #4: Fill Up a Water Bottle With Hot Water

To stay warm while you sleep, you can fill up a water bottle or two with hot water and keep them under the covers. Whether you need warmth in your bed or on the couch, this will help you out. The heat from the hot water bottles will eventually warm up the whole area, but of course the hottest point will be the bottle itself.

Tip #5:Try Drinking A Hot Beverage

Whenever you drink a hot beverage like coffee, tea or hot chocolate, it can warm up your insides making you warm as well. Keep the hot liquids coming to keep yourself warm for an extended period of time.

At some point in your lifetime, this will happen to you if it hasn’t already. Keep these five tips in mind to keep you safe and warm in the winter until you can get someone out to repair your heater. In the meantime, you can visit this website to find out how to troubleshoot your thermostat to see if it’s an issue you can handle yourself.