Home Care Services: 4 Ways Seniors Can Keep Warm At Home In Extreme Cold Weather
Home Care Services: Many areas of the country are experiencing extreme weather more often, including record-setting cold temperatures during the winter.
For seniors aging in place at home, those cold temperatures can be a big concern. They may cause the furnace to stop working or stop working the way it should. Cold temperatures can also make older homes very cold inside due to drafts from old windows or gaps in doors and window seals. Home care services providers can help to keep an eye out for any signs of weather danger.
Home Care Services in Deerfield IL: Senior Winter Safety
If you are worried about your senior loved one living at home during extreme cold there are some things that seniors can do to stay safe and warm in extreme cold like:
Seal All Gaps
You may need to help your senior loved one with this task, or have a home care assistance provider help them. Get weatherstripping and seal all the gaps in window frames, door frames, and other openings. Put door sweeps at the bottom of all the doors. And if necessary use a window insulation kit to block drafts coming in from windows. The more tightly sealed house is the more warmth will stay inside the house instead of leaking out through the gaps.
Seal Off Rooms
If your senior parents only use a few of the rooms in the house you or a home care assistance provider can close the vents and the doors to the rooms that don’t get used. That will help direct the heat to the rooms where your senior loved one actually spends most of their time and keep those rooms warm. If you don’t close off the rooms that aren’t getting used it will make the furnace work even harder to try and keep those rooms warm.
Keep The Temperature Consistent
The furnace will already be working very hard to try and heat the home. If your senior loved one is changing the temperature on the thermostat often it will just make the furnace work even harder and cycle faster to keep up. Instead of changing the temperature at night, it’s better to pick one temperature and keep the house at that temperature consistently until the cold snap has passed. Even though your senior loved one may be tempted to crank the heat it’s a better idea to keep it at a slightly lower temperature so that it won’t have to work so hard.
Home Care Services: Get Self-Heating Or Electric Blankets
Self-heating and electric blankets can help seniors stay warm when the weather is bitter cold. Your senior loved one will be able to control the temperature and decided for themselves how warm they want to be. Seniors need to be careful when they are using electric blankets however because the cords can be tripping hazards. Make sure that a home care assistance provider has plugged in the blanket safely and in an outlet that is far enough away that the cold won’t be a tripping hazard. Seniors who have poor balance may be better off with self-heating blankets that use body heat to warm up and have no cord.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care Services in Deerfield, IL, call the caring staff at LifeCare Home Health & In-Home Services. Call (888) 606-4199 LifeCare serves all of the Chicago Metro Area.
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