11 Hacks To Keep Your Room Warm In Indian Winter

Winter brings happiness in our lives and no one can disagree with that. In India, November end brings a joyful mind along with pre-new year happiness. But it also brings superb cold weather too, and you struggle to use your ‘Jugaad’ hacks to keep your room warm in Indian winter.

Well, here are some solid hacks to keep your room warm naturally without even using an electric heater.

Why Not Using An Electric Heater?

Electric heater definitely warms up the room but it also brings a huge electricity bill as well. And here, as Indians, we believe in Jugaads and hacks to take control of any situation. So why not this one?

Without using an electric heater, we can still warm up our room with simple little hacks.

And the comfort you will get using these hacks will give you an immense feeling of joy, which no electric heater can provide. Anyway, in most parts of India, winter doesn’t come along with snowfall like we see in the movies, so an electric heater is not that necessary too.

11 Ways You Can Keep Your Room Warm Naturally In Winter :

1. Keep The Windows Sealed :

This is a very basic yet useful hack. Keeping your windows sealed will stop the chilly wind coming into your room. But by sealing, we mean actually sealing it. So here we go, tactically.

Suppose you have 2 windows in your room, so keep one window completely shut and seal the gaps with a glue gun. All the gaps around the window. Once you seal the window completely, no chilly wind will be able to surpass it.

Another window, you just lock it up. As your room will also need some fresh air and sunlight to take away the clumsiness of the room.

Whatever be the number of the windows, seal all the windows which bring chilly wind inside. In such a way you will keep your room warm in Indian winter without an electric heater, and burning your pocket.

2. Let The Sun In :

Sun has the potential to light up this entire world, heat up this entire world within a few hours. So what makes an exception to your room. That is why you don’t seal all the windows.

Sunlight is extremely important to let your room warm up. It acts extremely naturally and you don’t create any mess with artificial electric heat.

Electrical heat is not always good for our health, whereas the sun is the most supreme source of energy. Warming up your room by letting the sun in is an absolutely healthy way to keep your room warm in Indian winter.

Also, as soon as the sun is about to set, seal up the windows and curtains so that the heat stays and doesn’t escape. Also, you prevent the chilly wind to enter.

Sun is the ultimate source of our energy, and heating up our room using the same has healthy effects.

In all the other seasons we don’t actually enjoy the scorching heat of the sun, but in winter the sun feels good. Also, sunlight provokes a hormone in your body named serotonin which causes your mood to uplift. So soak some sunlight in your body too while your room is soaking it to keep warm.

3. Choose The Right Curtain :

In a normal season, you would prefer curtains that have micro gaps in it to let the air pass in the room but when it comes to winter, you need the exact opposite. You need heavy and thick curtains which will stop any kind of air to pass.

Also, pay attention to the material. During Winter it is better to choose some curtains which are not made of synthetic material but cotton. Even if it has some percentage of polyester, it’s fine. But pure cotton is more capable to hold the heat in it.

Choose dark-colored curtains, if you can, choose black. As scientifically proven, black is the color that holds onto heat for a longer time, whereas white is a color that cools down easily. To keep your room warm in Indian winter you can choose black curtains to keep the heat intact for longer.

4. Use Rugs & Carpets :

Most of the people in today’s time live in flats, and flats have tiles on the floor. Tiles are easily cold during winter so it is extremely important to cover up the floors with some carpets and rugs.

Although, if your floors are insulated then it’s okay to not have a rug on the floor. But most of the floors are not insulated and they lose most of its heat sooner.

Place rugs and carpets all over the floors wherever possible. It will help you to retain the heat and keep your feet away from the chilly floors. Also, a carpet or rug feels extremely nice in a room, also it looks nice too.

Go for heavy material rugs for the floor, don’t go for fancy stuff. Heavy and rugged materials are much more capable of retaining the heat.

5. Time To Switch Back To Incandescent Lights :

Most of us have moved to LEDs and CFLs to light up our houses. Yes, they are energy efficient and costs a much lesser amount than incandescent lights. However, incandescent lights or yellow bulbs or white ones actually generates heat in the room.

They light up your room, as well as provide some heat too, which helps to keep your room warm in Indian winter.

About the excess bill, it is far better than using an electric heater. So the choice is extremely smart. These bulbs also add a nice vintage & different ambiance in the room to enjoy the winter season.

6. Christmas Needs A Little Décor :

When Christmas is arriving in a few days or it is just a new start of the new year, it’s time to put some decorations in your room. Why not doing it a little smartly? Instead of lighting up your room with the sparkle lights, use some lanterns & some scented candles?

Scented candles will provide some beautiful aroma to the room as well as it will keep the room warm enough. So will the lanterns. Lanterns will add up to the decoration but also, it will do the same as the candles, keeping your room warmer.

The decoration is also magnified, so is your room temperature.

7. Seal The Ventilators :

We all have ventilators and little gaps in our rooms which were designed to keep the airflow smoother in our houses. Well, airflow is what exactly we don’t need. So sealing up the ventilator is extremely important in winters.

Take a piece of cardboard and cut in the size of the ventilators, then take some fevicol or gum and apply it, and stick it against the ventilator. It will seal it for the winters.

Also, use glue guns to cover smaller gaps in your room to prevent any kind of leakage in the room.

If no chilled air runs through these gaps, your room will become warmer automatically.

8. Throw A House Party!

Sounds silly? But it works like crazy. A house party means loads of people in s closed room, and everybody generates some heat, which will keep your house warmer eventually.

Although, who doesn’t like to party in the winter season? This is officially the time to party. And a house party will only spice up the ambiance.

9. Keep Hot Pads Under The Blanket :

To keep yourself warm enough under the blankets, use hot pads under your blankets. Using a hot pad will keep your body warmer and retain the heat under the blanket. Also, use hair dryers for warmth when it is extremely chilly inside.

10. Dress Accordingly :

This is the time of jackets, sweaters, and all the woolen clothes. Warm yourself up as well as your room with proper dressing.

The jackets are not only meant for outside but for inside as well. Wear jackets. Don’t hesitate to wear woolen socks! This is the season! This is the time to flaunt every warm fuzzy clothing.

Wear gloves if you want to, wear the muffler too. There are a lot of stylish mufflers in the market, search for them if you want to game up your style. Also, wear warm beanies, they also keep you warm.

Let’s admit, the main reason to keep your room warm in Indian winter is to keep yourself warm. So do it right.

Wrap around the scarfs, woolen blankets around you when sitting on the sofa. This is the sweet happiness of this season.

11. Eat Well :

Most importantly, to keep your room warm in Indian winter, and to keep yourself warm, you need food.

Not only to eat but to cook. When you will cook, you will enjoy the sweet steaming and warmed up the kitchen, which will eventually spread the heat in the adjacent area of the kitchen.

Secondly, when you eat, and your body warms up, your body will generate some heat which will help to keep your body warm and well as the room.

Provided you are not vegan, eat meat and eggs. If you are vegan, there are loads of alternatives too. Have stews and soups which are extremely nutritious in winter having all the season veggies and eggs, chicken, and so much more.

These were the few hacks to keep your room warm in Indian winter without burning up that electric heater. We all love this season winter which gives us enough reason to be cozy and a little lazy. And admit it, we thoroughly love it. These hacks will keep your room warmer and provide you with the comfort and warmth for those lazy chilly evenings in Winter. Enjoy winter to the fullest!

Are curtains effective for keeping the room warm?

I live in a rented apartment and I am trying to find solutions to keep the heat in. The apartment has several big windows (the ‘living room’ has one wall that is 80% windows) and I have to run the heat a lot to keep it warm inside.

Do curtains really make a significant difference? I read through other posts, including about insulation film, but I’d like to avoid that if possible. If it is the best solution in your eyes though I’ll take it into account.

8 Answers 8

Curtains or drapes can help insulate a room. One of the main methods is to reduce the amount of air exchange between a cold window and the rest of the room.

Air in a room is always trying to equalize itself. The cold air at a window mixes with the warm air in the rest of the room. If you trap the cold air behind a poor conductor (such as an airtight drape) the rest of the room air remains warmer.

Most cloth is a poor conductor (not good at transferring heat). This is a good thing. The effectiveness is largely based on how airtight the cloth is and how tightly it fits to the window on all sides — the top and floor as well as the lateral sides.

Many curtains are advertised as thermal. In general, they are fairly thick and have an air barrier to block flow through them. Fitting is as important as the material. In addition to going floor to ceiling, try to tightly fit the curtain to the walls on either side.

Further to the other answers, I found Evaluating Window Insulation for Cold Climates by Robbin Garber-Slaght and Colin Craven which appeared in the Journal of Green Building. They test various window treatments and attempt to quantify the improvement by using a two-dimensional heat transfer model. Based on this model, they report a non-trivial (17%) improvement over a bare window when using interior curtains. Their «curtain» for the test was a fleece blanket «firmly attached to the window head and side trim» and hanging over the sill, so not a standard curtain. You can read the paper to get all the details in context. They also mention that curtains used this way can be problematic for collecting water.

It sounds like you want a temporary solution to use while the weather is cold and you don’t mind covering the windows if it will keep your apt warmer. Price is important as it is a rental.

The most improvement you can get for your money is to buy some 1 (or 2) inch thick Styrofoam sheets and cut it to fit your window tightly. This will give you far more insulation than curtains would as well as blocking airflow which is also a big source of heat loss. If you want to let some sunlight in, you don’t have to cover all the windows with Styrofoam, you can leave one window uncovered.

Lowes calls it «Expanded Polystyrene Insulated Sheathing»

Curtains certainly do help as they block drafts. However, another option is a product called rope caulk. It comes in small strands wrapped on a roll and has the consistency of thick putty. It is non-damaging, and may easily be removed. By pulling a few strands at a time and tucking them into the seams around your window, you can help block drafts. This technique, in addition to curtains, can help make a room a little warmer.

One thing to be careful of: in my home, the radiators are underneath the windows. If you use a full length drape, you’re not only blocking drafts, but you are also preventing heat from entering the room. We switched from full length drapes to a heavy «black out drape liner» which is thick enough to stop drafts, but ends above the radiator.

I find the best bet is the shrink wrap plastic kits, because on a sunny day the warmth from the sun is way more efficient than simply keeping cold air out (which the plastic does anyway). Unless of course the window is facing north, then the sun won’t benefit you but you will still stop the draft from coming in. I installed them throughout my house and it made a huge difference, and my house was built in 97 so its not that old. All windows exchange heat.

I can’t believe nobody has mentioned plastic window kits. As mentioned in another reply, drafts are typically the biggest problem. Yes, curtains will help, but they don’t prevent drafts. The basic plastic sheeting kits that they sell at Wally or Target will do a lot more to keep you warm because they form a pretty decent seal. You tape them to the window and heat them with a hair dryer to stretch them taught. They are nearly invisble and they form a very good seal. Then put your curtains up after that.

I had leftover insulation blue board with silver backing and used this as an insert for my curtain. The curtain I have is doubled so in essence I used it as a pillow case and then stapled the bottom after inserting the board. WOW! What a difference with the draft I had.

We are currently re doing a trailer for winter use. From what I have read, you want to block the air coming in, keep the heat from going out and retain whatever sunlight heat you can, south facing windows will be your best friends.(Sun rises in the east. a quick way to tell which way is south.) What we will be doing in our trailer is this. Black velvet or cotton curtain material to face the outside. which will draw in the sun heat, and is a heavy material for insulation. We are going with the highest thread count so it’s a good insulating material, also, we are doing two layers, the black on the outside facing side and a lighter color on the inside to brighten things up. (More layers mean more insulation.) Now the best part. we will be putting Velcro all around the windows, then we will be attaching Velcro to a heavy duty plastic wrap, similar to the wrap used in home renos to cover insulation. it might be called vapor barrier, which we will then attach to the window for a close seal. Top it off with the curtains. This way as oppose to getting the material that seals to the window is better if you want to be able to open your window only. otherwise completely sealing the window is the best way to go. with curtains. Also, white and light colors repel the sun’s heat, so if you are able to absorb the heat during the day, consider changing the outside color of your curtains. Cheers.

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