Last winter was an expensive one for us! The cost of gas and electricity has meant we are no longer able to leave the heating on as we used to do. This year, I’ve looked into ways to make my home more heat-efficient this winter.
When you’re looking at ways to improve your home, it’s always important to make sure that you’re considering how it holds up throughout the year, not just when you initially make the changes. You never know how comfortable it will be to live in a home until you’ve experienced winter in it and, nowadays, winter is getting expensive. Rather than just turning on the heating for longer, here are ways to make sure that your home is efficient at staying warmer for longer in the winter.
The importance of insulation
One of the most important questions you have to ask is whether or not your home is as well insulated as it could be. This is something worth taking the time to inspect. Your walls might be able to be fitted with insulation, and your attic should definitely have some to prevent the heat from escaping through the top of your home, as heat rises. Furthermore, your windows and doors contribute to your insulation as well. A window that has developed air gaps, or that is older is less likely to be able to help your home retain heat, and could be well worth replacing, as a result.
Finding the best way to heat it
Of course, keeping the heat in the home is a lot easier when you have the ability to generate that heat in the first place. There are ways to improve the efficiency of your whole-home heating system, such as by adjusting the thermostat just a little, or by making sure that you get it serviced once a year. However, it might be worth looking at alternative means of heating the home, as well. For instance, modern wood burning stoves are becoming a lot more popular. Not just because of their ability to burn biomass, a greener means of heating the home, but also because they retain heat for much longer, even after the fire is off. As such, if you’re spending a lot of your time in one room, a single stove may easily be the more energy-efficient way to heat it.
How decor can improve heating
It’s not just your heating methods or the strength of your home’s insulation that can dictate how warm it feels on a daily basis. The way in which you decorate it can make a big difference, as well. For instance, soft furnishings, such as carpets, rugs, and throws can all retain warmth better than smooth, cold surfaces. Having thick curtains that you can draw during the night can prevent heat from escaping through the windows as they cool down. However, during the day, you want to maximise natural light as best as possible, as the sun’s light brings in heat, too, even in winter.
Keeping the home warm isn’t just a question of comfort, nor a question of the affordability of your heating bills, but a question of health. The effects of being exposed to the cold are a lot more serious than many of us take for granted in the modern age. Keep that in mind when you consider the approaches above.
Do you have any tips on how to make your home more heat efficient this winter? Please let us know in the comments below.
