Pick your room

STEP 1: PICK A ROOM.

Start with the smallest room you've got which can be shut off from the rest of your house or apartment. If that room doesn't meet the standards below, move to the next smallest room. Because the larger a room, the harder it is to reach your desired temperature and humidity.

Basic Hot Room Quiz:

Does this room please you? Can you see yourself doing yoga in here? If you won’t be happy in this room, you will probably not use it, no matter how hot it gets.
How high are the ceilings? The higher the ceilings, the slower it will heat.
Can you seal under the door(s)? Especially check any doors leading to the outside.
How are the seals around the windows?
Are there vents to the basement or the rest of the house? Can you plug them with these?

All these issues can be fixed- but the fewer there are, the less fixing you'll need to do.

Good room ideas:

Bathrooms have the added bonus of helping you with humidity. Turn the shower or bath on HOT and let it run for a bit for a steaming up your yoga space. Make sure to leave your exhaust fan off!
Any room with an in-room heater (cadet or otherwise) can save you a lot of headache as they should be on their own separate electrical breaker, and will allow you to heat up the room without also cooking your family or roommates!

Room size.

Supposing you have 8 ft (standard) ceilings, decent insulation, and have plugged all the holes mentioned above. In order to heat your room to 105 degrees Fahrenheit in about an hour you'd need:

for 80 sqft (8' x 10' room) = 2 electric heaters
for 150 sqft (10' x 15' room) = 4 electric heaters
for 300 sqft ( 20' x 15' room) = 6 electric heaters

Electricity!

Unless you’ve opted for a kerosene heater, you’ll need ample voltage to make sure you don't end up practicing in the dark. A single portable heater like the ones we recommend, are 1500 watts. A standard breaker in most homes is 1800 watts. That means you could run a heater and (maybe) a humidifier on one breaker, but nothing more. Unless you're in a very small room like a closet, you'll need at least 2 electric heaters.

How do you know if you've got enough juice?

Check all of the electrical outlets in the room to see which breaker they are on. An easy way to check is to plug a lamp or other appliance into the outlets, turn on the lamps, and then go to your electrical panel box. Inside should be a list of the fuses to different parts of the house. Typically, all of the outlets for a single room are on a single fuse, but you may be lucky and have 2 in the room!
Another option is the lights themselves. Built-in lights are often on a separate breaker. If they are, you can use this simple connector which screws right into a light socket to provide an extra outlet. To find out if the lights are on a separate breaker:
1. Turn on the light in the room
2. Plug in a lamp(or other appliance which you will notice whether it loses power) into a wall outlet and ensure its ON.
3. Go back to your electrical panel box and flip the breaker controlling that wall outlet to the OFF position.
4. Now the lamp (or whatever you plugged in) should be OFF. Did the lights (overhead lights) go out?
  1. If yes, that means that the lights are on the same breaker and you’ll need to run an extension cord from another outlet on a separate breaker to run a second heater.
  2. If no, that meant the lights are on a separate breaker and you can use the light in this room to power a second heater with this connector.

Ventilation.

Once you’ve got your room all sealed up correctly and can get it hot and humid, you'll need a way to quickly air the room to remove moisture and funk when you're done with your practice.

Ask yourself:

Is there a good door, window, or vent to the outside to do that job?
Do you have a good fan to push the air out?
Most bathrooms and kitchens (over the stove top) have an exhaust fan to blow out any extra moisture in the air after you practice.
If there is no way to vent this room you may want to invest in a dehumidifier

What if it's still not great?

No matter what kind of place you live in or life you lead, there's always a way to carve out some space to move your body and love your life more. Do none of your rooms work? Maybe you live in a studio, basement, garage? There are other options... Explore here!