Florida has pretty mild winters compared to the rest of the country. At the same time, it’s fair to say that when it does get cold, the residents know it.

Cold weather can feel like a welcome change to many people. For some, it may feel better to go outside. For others, it’s the perfect chance to wear outfits that wouldn’t be practical for the rest of the year.

But for the rest of us, a cold snap or two causes us to huddle indoors and crank up the heat.

Before clamoring for the thermostat, remember that heating your home can cause your energy costs to spike. A higher energy bill, compounded with the holiday spending you’ve probably already done, might be enough to leave you out in the cold.

You deserve to feel comfortable in your own home. At the same time, overheating your place could lead to higher, unexpected costs. Here are a few suggestions for keeping warm without breaking your budget.

Let Your Thermostat Support Your Heating

Do you remember your parents always warning you never to touch the thermostat as a kid? There’s a good reason why. Constantly fiddling with the settings can cause your energy use to spike and become unpredictable.

JEA, a water and electric company in Jacksonville, has a few cost-saving tips you can use this winter. When it comes to your thermostat, they recommend:

• Setting your thermostat to 68 degrees Fahrenheit
• Setting your thermostat lower at night or while you’re away
• Avoiding raising your thermostat more than one degree at a time
  

Now, we get it: 68 degrees does seem pretty low for indoor heating during a cold snap. But let’s keep the big picture in mind. Your thermostat is a part of your home. And it’s the parts of a system that work together to achieve a goal.

It’s also worth noting that 68 degrees is a guideline, not a requirement. You can always experiment (slowly and incrementally) to find the lowest comfortable temperature for you.

In other words, there are other things you can do around the house so it feels warmer overall. That way, your heating system won’t work overtime and wreak havoc on your wallet.

Free or Low-Cost Ways To Keep Warm

Let’s start with what you can do for free.

First, assess your wardrobe. It’s time to take your winter clothing out of storage. Wearing clothes meant for cold weather indoors can work wonders for your comfort.

Don’t stop at wearing just a long-sleeved shirt, either. Layer up with an undershirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and a jacket or sweater. The same goes for your bottoms.

Why wear layers indoors? Doing so allows you to keep your body heat with you for longer. Just like the insulation in a house, layered clothing traps air, which warms and maintains your comfort.

Next, localize where you stay. Remember that you’re also dealing with physics when heating your home. It’s much easier for warm air to fill a smaller container than a larger one.

With this in mind, imagine the rooms in your house or apartment as containers. The doors are lids. Closing the doors causes the air to stay in that “container” and warm up faster.

You can also trap the air in a room more effectively by rolling up a towel or bunch of shirts and sticking them at the crack between the door and the floor.

Now, let nature do most of the work. You can compound these strategies with passive heating if you're away for the day.

The UF IFAS Extension recommends keeping your blinds and curtains open on any south-facing windows during the day. This allows sunlight to enter these areas and heat the room passively. At night, close these treatments to reduce the chill transferring through the windows.

Also, take advantage of your ceiling fan. Ceiling fans aren’t just for the summer months. They circulate air throughout a room, enhancing your comfort. If a room already feels warm enough, you won’t be as tempted to reach for the thermostat.

Ceiling fans are useful year-round. During winter, set the fan's rotation to clockwise. A clockwise rotation creates an updraft, forcing the warm air at the top of the room to travel downward.

Consider Some Low-Cost Home Improvements

It might be too cold to commit to large-scale remodeling projects right now. However, you can do a few small things around the house that significantly affect your energy costs.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Install a ceiling fan in frequently used rooms
• Replace or add window treatments, like curtains
• Seal cracks or crevices near windows
• Add weather-stripping to doorways leading outside or to the garage
  

You don’t have to feel like an icicle in your own home. Staying comfortable throughout winter is possible by taking practical and incremental steps to your energy use.

For more tips on how to save money in your daily life, count on First Florida. Our Featured Articles section contains plenty of advice for keeping your budget in check.