Poor college kids know what cold really is, especially off-campus residents in the winter. Any extreme will do to save heat, even if by the end of the month all they have left in the food budget is cash for Top Ramen and PB&J. I think saving money can stretch beyond conventional.
My roommates and I have become quite inventive as the cold has cut its way through Columbus. I live in a very large house, with six other girls, but the room I stay in has no central heat. Ever hear of a loft apartment? Well, try sleeping in an attic. It’s much worse.
Caitlin Seabrook, a sophomore in linguistics, lives up in the attic with me, and the first thing she did when the cold hit was hang up tapestries and shawls over the windows. It’s always safe to assume curtains will keep heat in and cold out, but you also want light to come in. The tapestries are light enough that sunlight can shine through without letting in a draft, a big plus.
Carol Fox, another roommate of mine and a graduate student in the Ohio State School of Nursing, invented what she calls a “Sneaky Snake.” “All you do to make it is fill an old sock with rice and cloves or any freeze-dried aromatic you like. Then pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes and put it at the foot of your bed when you go to sleep.” The only downside to using this is that after a lot of use the rice starts to stink up the house, but enough spices can cover that up.
Hot water bottles also can help cut heat costs. Sure, electric blankets and the like are great when it’s cold, but when its time to get up in the morning, leaving the sanctuary of one’s warm bed will prove extremely difficult. A hot water bottle works a lot like a “Sneaky Snake,” except there is the chance it can leak. Even so, I’d opt for one instead of an electric blanket – I’d still be spending less, and it doesn’t go bad after a few weeks of use.
For the scientifically inclined, recall that humidity is an important factor in cold weather as well. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a humidifier boosts the heat index and makes 68 degrees feel like 76. Plus, it’ll keep one’s skin from drying out. At best they are usually inexpensive, and for those that tend to get bloody noses, a humidifier will also help prevent dried sinuses.
As an Ohioan, I’m pretty used to freezing all winter long and losing feeling in my extremities, but sometimes it’s nice to sleep at night without eight blankets and without waking up with a stuffy nose because the room temperature was 40 degrees. There are several low-cost ways to keep warm, but living in an apartment or dorm rules out a lot of the conventional methods such as wrapping pipes or closing off certain rooms to conserve heat. I might look kind of odd hanging tapestries in my windows, but I’m warm, and that matters more to me.
Amy Hoover is a junior in journalism. She can be reached at [email protected].
