For renters, it can be a challenge to try and keep your apartment warm during the winter.

It’s getting chilly outside, but it’s also starting to get chilly inside as well.

If you’re like some, you’re bundled up from head to toe, covered in blankets, and sipping on hot chocolate. You’ve packed away the shorts and t-shirts and now it’s time for sweater weather.

Before you turn to the thermostat, try these simple tricks that won’t run up the heating bill.

Your Windows

Touch the windows and see if you can feel the cold air right through the glass.

Often cold air drafts make their way through the glass pane. So, with your windows letting in cold air and your heater blowing out hot hair, your heater might be working double time to make up the difference.

We can change this by insulating your windows. One way to do this is to apply plastic wrap to your windows with tape. This way, you still have access to natural light and it’s cheap.

More than likely you already have these materials in your apartment. So why not use them to help keep your home warm.

Ceiling Fan

During the summer your fan was blowing downward, cooling off rooms. Now, it’s time to switch that. As they say, hot air rises.

In the apartments with ceiling fans, flip the switch to reverse the direction of the fan to now blow upwards. By blowing the air upward, the hot air will be forced to move downward.

Humidity in the Air

A good indicator that the air is dry is if you have dry skin. During the summer the air is wet, full of moisture. In the winter, the air is cold, which means that less moisture is in the air.

By adding a little moisture in the air, you can make your apartment in Blaine feel a little warmer. The easy route is to purchase a humidifier, but there are few other routes that involve hanging your wet clothes to dry, houseplants, showers, and placing dishes of water near heat sources.

Decorate

If you’re feeling cold, then chances are everything inside your apartment is feeling cold.

Warm up your floors, walls, and counters of your forest lake apartment.

Comparable to windows, walls can still let out a breeze. Fill the space on those empty walls by hanging canvases and mirrors even bookshelves and dressers help by acting as an insulator against the wall.

The same thing goes with the floors. Add a rug, a layer of installation to keep the warm air from escaping and the cold air from getting in.

Space Heater

It is cheaper to heat one room, than to heat a whole apartment. Consider purchasing a space heater. This way you can move the space heater from room to room as needed.

Of course, there are many simple things that you can do to help keep your apartment warm this winter. Things like making sure your vents aren’t blocked. Placing a towel at the base of your door to keep drafts from the hallway out of your apartment. Hang heavy curtains. Changing your cotton sheets to flannel. Some things like the foods you eat and the clothes that you wear require a change in habit.

So, this winter don’t set your heating bill on fire and instead, test out some of these tricks. Just because it’s getting chilly outside, doesn’t mean that it has to be chilly on the inside too.