Clever ways to keep your house warmer in the winter

By Sally Norton

If you live in a place where you can experience real winter, or where it’s cold during at least a few months of the year, you probably switch your heating on somewhere around October and just keep it on until it gets warm enough to turn it off. However, as you probably already know, that is far from perfect when it comes to energy consumption. In fact, over 70 percent of your household energy goes on heating. And that made us wonder. Are there clever ways to keep your house warmer in the winter? As it turns out, there are.

You’ll want to implement at least some of these for many reasons. For starters, your electricity bill will plummet, which is always a good thing. Additionally, you may find a reason to refresh your home for the new season when you see what we’ve got in stock for you.

Use your curtains

Well, the first thing on our list cannot be more simple. Have you ever considered the sun as a heating device? Well, it is just the perfect one. And it’s free as well. Open your curtains and let that sunlight hit you and your rooms. You will be surprised by just how much warmer it gets during the day.

However, as soon as it gets dark, be sure to close your curtains. This will now act as another layer of insulation and it will keep the warmth inside of your room. Make sure that there are no gaps so the heat doesn’t escape. Shutting them will also help with condensation if you have problems of that kind.

Install timers on your heating device

Now, if you’re using a central heating system for the whole house or apartment, installing a timer will help you a lot. For instance, you can program your boiler to turn on the heating about half an hour before you get up. This way, you’ll wake up in a cozy and warm environment. And if you turn the heat down a notch, it will be cheaper as well.

This is because boilers heat at the same rate whether you set them to 70 or 85 degrees. On the other hand, leaving it on a low setting all day won’t bring you any benefits. You shouldn’t pay for the heat you don’t need. It’s worth mentioning that this is a fantastic feature to incorporate into your new apartment. Especially if planning on moving to NYC this winter, as winters can be very brutal there.

Move your furniture around

We know, there’s nothing nicer than sitting on your favorite sofa in front of the radiator. However, it is absorbing the heat that would make your whole home a warmer place. If you move it away from the source of heat, the air will be able to circulate freely, resulting in higher temperatures.

You can think in the same way when it comes to curtains or drying your clothes. Just keep them as far away from the radiator as you can to get the most out of them. Keeping it cozy has never been so simple.

Think about your insulation

Next thing on our list of clever ways to keep your house warmer in the winter is a little bit more serious, but it is more effective as well. The thing is that around 25 percent of your heat gets lost through the roof, and that’s not a small amount. However, you can lower this number by installing insulation throughout your home. The same applies to your walls as well. If they’re uninsulated you can be losing almost a third of the heat through them.

Now, this is not a cheap way to upgrade your home but it can save you a lot of money in the long run. So, if you’re planning on living in the house for a longer period of time, it is a very good idea.

Insulate the water tank

If you’re using a boiler to heat your house, make sure that it is properly insulated. It’s pretty much the same story as with packing for a move. You want to use quality materials to make your packing easier. And with heating, you want to use quality insulation to keep your water tank warmer for longer. It’s as simple as that.

Block the draughts

One of your biggest enemies when trying to keep your house warm during the cold months is a draught. There’s nothing worse than feeling just the slightest hint of wind when you’re in the coziness of your home. However, it is easily manageable to get rid of it. And the even better thing is that you can do it yourself.

You can find self-adhesive rubber seals at any home depot store and you can install them without anyone’s help. They’re also very cheap so you don’t have to worry about breaking the bank. And who knows, this task may be so inspiring for you that you decide to give new life to old furniture in your house. Therefore, it’s worth getting this done before winter even starts.

Upgrade your boiler

Well, it’s arguable whether this is one of the clever ways to keep your house warmer in the winter, but it definitely is a way of doing it. Especially if your boiler is more than 10 years old. New models are much more energy-efficient and they can save you a lot of money during the year.

The formula is simple, they use less energy to create the same amount of heat. There’s no better deal than this at the moment. Keeping you stress-free throughout the winter is only an additional benefit.