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There are a number of factors that can mean you still feel cold even when the heating is on
With winter pretty much here and temperatures hovering around the freezing mark this week, many of you will have the heating on by now.
But some of you may be sat reading this, shivering with chilly fingers and toes despite the fact your heating is on a toasty 20C (if not higher).
There can be a number of causes of this, ranging from factors to do with your home all the way to physical and psychological causes.
Of course, one of the best ways to stay warm is to stick another layer on and wrap up rather than whacking the heating up. Viral hoodie blankets like the Oodie are arguably the best way to stave off the winter frost, and may even mean you don’t need to have the heating on at all.
But if you’re still struggling with the cold, despite having the heating on, here are some of the main reasons why you can still feel cold despite your heating being on.
Insulation
It seems obvious, but this is likely to be the main reason your home isn’t feeling as warm as you’d like – poor insulation.
If you’re in a poorly insulated home, heat will escape through walls and windows (if they’re not double-glazed), preventing rooms from warming up no matter what your central heating is doing.
You’ll be able to tell if your walls aren’t insulated well if they feel cold when you touch them. Heat can also escape through the floor, especially if you live on the ground floor of a building.
Having a well-insulated home will help you feel warmer and also help your bills as you waste less energy.
Humidity
The humidity in the air can also be a factor in how cold you feel. This can have an effect whether the air is humid or dry.
Too much humidity can make the air feel heavy and uncomfortable, whilst also cooling surfaces and walls. Meanwhile, if the air is too dry this can make your skin dry and dehydrating, making you more sensitive to the cold.
The main culprits for drying out the air in a room or home are electric radiators and space heaters.
An ideal humidity for warmth is between 30 and 40 per cent, according to Save On Energy. You can try out humidifiers and dehumidifiers to change the humidity in rooms.
Air circulation
Now whilst we’re assuming not many of you have got windows or doors open around this time of year, you may be surprised by how much air flow can still be passing through your home from outside.
Leaks or cracks around windows and doors can cause the air from outside to leak into your home – and heat to do the opposite – causing cold drafts.
Draft excluders and insulation can help deal with this issue.
The human body and mind
Yes, you might feel cold even though you have the heating on for physical and psychological reasons.
Fatigue and stress can make it more difficult for the human body to regulate its internal temperature, thus affecting how cold or warm you feel.
Age is a factor as well. As we get older, our metabolism slows, lowering the core body temperature. A gradual reduction in muscle mass (10 per cent every 10 years for most of us) also affects how warm we feel, as muscles produce around a quarter of our resting body heat.
Weakened circulation also make people feel colder as the body struggles to get as much blood to the skin’s surface.
Underlying health conditions such as diabetes, aneamia and cardiovascular disease can affect the body’s ability to regulate temperature, as well as reducing blood flow and therefore heat to the extremities.
And your sex can be a factor too. Women, on average, feel the cold more easily than men, due to hormonal and metabolic differences.
What can you do to help feel warmer?
Some tips to increase how warm you feel when you do have the heating on are:
- Invest in thick curtains: Thick curtains can act as a form of insulation, helping cut out any drafts and retain the heat in a room
- Put rugs down: Thick rugs can do a similar job, insulating the floor and providing a warm surface for your feet.
- Optimise your heating: Check your radiators and consider investing in a programmable thermostat, so your heating only comes on when you really need it.
- Stick an extra layer on: It sounds obvious, but just one extra layer can make a world of difference.
