Monticello Live

Courtesy of Donna Francis, County Extension Agent – Family & Consumer Sciences, Drew County Cooperative Extension Service
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Extremely cold temperatures are forecasted for Drew County and the state of Arkansas over the next few days. Here are some tips to help you cope:

1. Create a warm room in your house by closing off any un-used rooms. Close off the registers and use a blanket or towel to create a seal at the bottom of the doors.

2. Dress warmly. A hat is your number one friend at times like this. A large percentage of body heat loss occurs in the head region, so it is crucial to keep your head covered. You should wear slippers or socks. Dress in layers, especially with wool or cotton clothing. Don’t wear your winter coat in the house or you will have nothing else to put on when you go outside. When you are sitting still put on a blanket.

3. Cook. Steam will raise the moisture level in your home, making you feel warmer. While you are at it, you may wish to make a soup or stew in a boiling pot. Make cookies or a pie, too, as your oven will help to heat the kitchen area. The kitchen will be warm while you are cooking, and then you can eat the warm food.

4. Drink warm beverages. Make a cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. Sip some warm broth.

5. Find a pet or friend to snuggle with. The living body of any warm-blooded being is a furnace unto itself.

6. Be active. Moving around produces heat!

7. Use a hot water bottle. Great for warming your hands and lap while sitting; also put it under the covers at the foot of your bed.

8. Turn on the lights. Incandescent and halogen bulbs create light through heat and can significantly increase temperatures in the room.

9. If you can afford it, leave other heat-producing appliances on, such as computers/monitors or strong lamps.

Here are a few warnings to consider:

1. Be sure to remove any home-made or store bought “pillow” style heating pads from the bed before falling asleep. They retain heat for a long period of time and if left too often in one spot, they can heat feather blankets or mattress covers to a dangerous degree and cause fires.

2. Don’t start any kind of fire or use your stove to stay warm.

3. Don’t overload electrical receptors when using space heaters.

4. Be aware that the more you seal off air circulation to the outside, you increase the possibility of a dangerous buildup of carbon monoxide in the air – especially if you use natural gas or propane in your home. Be sure to install a carbon monoxide detector if you don’t have one already. If you do own one, check it on a regular basis.

As always during extreme weather, keep an eye on elderly relatives or neighbors and your pets!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 3:53 am and is filed under Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.