Warm the person, not the room
Heating a whole room to keep one person comfortable is the expensive way round. Most of the chill you feel at a desk comes from three places: your feet, your hands and the draft behind you. Fix those and the room can stay a few degrees cooler.
Start from the floor
- A rug or a foam mat under your feet: cold floors pull heat out faster than cold air
- Thick socks or slippers you actually keep on
- A footrest, so your feet sit above the coldest layer of air
Then your hands and back
- Close the gap behind you. A draft from a window or door does more damage than the temperature on the dial. A draft stopper or a curtain helps.
- Wrap your shoulders. A blanket or a heated shawl over the shoulders keeps your core warm, and your hands follow.
- Keep a warm drink in reach. A lidded mug stays hot for the whole meeting instead of ten minutes.
- Move every hour. Two minutes of walking warms you up more than you’d think.
Cheat code
Cold hands while typing? Warm your wrists, not your fingers. Fingerless gloves or a wrist warmer keep the blood going to your fingertips.
When to give in
If you can see your breath, turn the heating on. These fixes are for the in-between days, when the house is fine and only you are freezing.
