When winter comes, turning on the heat is the first step most people take to warm the inside of their homes. However, there are more accessible and more cost-effective ways to keep your homes warm throughout the winter.

Here are five tips to keep your home warm without resorting to turning up the heat:

1. Change Your Fan Blade Direction

Turning your fan on to warm up may seem counterintuitive because your fan is engineered to push cool air toward you by drawing warm air away from you. You expect your fan to cool you off.

Changing the direction of your fan blades will have the opposite effect: Your fan will pull warm air that’s trapped near the ceiling down toward the room. Fans should rotate in a clockwise direction to increase heat distribution in the winter.

If your fans aren’t sufficient, consider a space heater. You can use Xtreme heaters to keep an RV, camper, garage, or boat cabin warm. You can also find many space heaters across the web that are excellent at home heating solutions.

2. Work With the Windows

During the day, if the sun is out, it’s a good idea to open the windows to let in the daylight. The sunlight will raise the temperature inside your house naturally.

When your home has warmed up or when the sun goes down, cover the windows with heavy curtains. This will keep out any winter drafts while also keeping in the air warmed by the sun. Blocking cool air drafts is the best way to stay warm indoors.

3. Set Down a Draft Trap

Cold air can creep in through window and door seams, causing you to overuse your heating source during winter. To keep the wind out, cover these seams with draft traps.

Draft traps are long bunches of fabric or silicone that sit underneath door frames and window sills, physically blocking out the cooler air.

4. Drink Warm Drinks

When the temperature dips, people drink more hot drinks like hot chocolate and tea. Studies have shown that hot drinks don’t drastically raise your internal body temperature as you drink them, but they can affect your temperature over time. Your hands and fingers can warm up on the mug as your body heats up by burning the calories from the hot drink.

5. Close Your Fireplace Flue

If you have a fireplace, it’s vital to make sure that the flue is closed when it’s not in use. The vent is a direct path to the outdoors, and cold air can enter your home if the chimney is open. When using your fireplace, check your vent before lighting the fire and after the fire is out.

There are several ways to maintain a comfortable temperature throughout the winter. If your heater is out, or if you’re trying to save money by not heating your home as much, these tips can help you keep warm when it’s cold out!