WAYS TO KEEP YOUR HOME WARM IN WINTER

While winters are mystically beautiful, the experience of it is not always the most happy memory if your home is not warm. Overworking the heater to improve the situation is an option but not the most economical one. Homeowners often desire more budget-friendly and energy-efficient solutions to support the heating system, and take the burden off it. To this end, we share here tips and solutions to keep your home warm in winter so you can transform it from chilly to cozy without inviting overwhelming power bills.

Order winter-loving thermal insulative blackout custom window treatments to keep the shivers out and bring snuggling coziness in with style with Spiffy Spools.

Rearrange Your Furniture

In a bid to hide the not-so-great looks of a radiator, you might have moved a piece of furniture in front of it in summer. Totally understandable! Except that when you’re freezing, you have to undo this excellent hack and accept the more practical furniture layout. Rethink the layout of your room to remove barriers such as curtains, furniture, or rugs that are blocking the air passage of your heating system to spread the warm air they provide evenly across the room. 

Employ Smart Radiator Hacks

For radiators fixed on external walls, use an aluminum foil behind them to reflect the heat back into the house instead of getting absorbed by the cold wall. Also, consider mounting floating shelves above the radiators so heat circulates in the room instead of rising up to the ceiling or escaping the windows. 

Invest in Space Heaters

Consider topping up the heaters’ efforts by adding a modern efficient space heater. While the heat they generate is only available in a small area, together with a regular heater heating up the whole ambiance, it can make a huge difference. Use a space heater in a room that is particularly colder because of its oversized windows or old inefficient heating system. There’s a wide range of choices available from fuel-operated ones to electric ones. 

Reverse the Fans’ Movement

If you haven’t reset your fans after summer, they are rotating counterclockwise currently. Change their rotational direction so that they will pull up the warm air and spread it. Basically, fans help to circulate the warm air generated by your heater if only they are set to turn clockwise.

Add Door Draught Stoppers

While opening the doors often may be unavoidable sometimes, checking out the cold drafts that push in from underneath the closed doors is possible and easy by installing door draught stoppers. They are weatherstrips made of fabric, foam or rubber fixed under the doors. They seal the gap between the door and the floor acting as a barrier between the warm air of the room and the cold external air.

Service the Boiler

If you have a boiler, don’t miss out on the annual servicing. Perhaps the vent pipes, chimney or combustion chamber may be in bad condition, and the boiler is working too hard to produce heat/steam, hyping your power bills unreasonably. Servicing helps to troubleshoot in time and solve the problem before it is too late to solve. If the boiler is worked out and replacement is not easy, consider making retrofit upgrades like a programmable thermostat, updated ductwork in forced-air systems or zone control for hot-water systems.

Upgrade to a Smart Thermostat

A programmable HVAC is the comfort of these technologically advanced times.  With a smart thermostat, you can schedule your desired temperature levels for the whole day. It senses the level of heat in each room and sets the heating system to work accordingly. You can make the heater work at a minimum or shut off when you’re absent and start working at a set time to be comfortably warm when you arrive. Waking up to a warm home and being welcomed by the right ambiance makes the day, but the better part is that the energy savings will directly reflect in lowered power bills while also making your home more eco-friendly. 

Electric Blankets & Warm Bedding

Instead of spending a whole lot of energy and money heating up the entire house or at minimum your bedroom, heat your bedding, and that will keep you warm the whole night. Under blankets, over blankets, throws and duvets – all of these are available in the category of electric sleeping aids. Using electric blankets instead of heating your bedrooms all night can cut your power bills substantially. Sounds like great savings, right? 

READ MORE: HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR BEDROOM INTO A WARM RETREAT

Blackout Window Treatments

While windows cannot be upgraded without a fortune, window treatments can be. Store away your light linen and sheer curtains and opt for blackout window treatments that are designed specifically to insulate the house substantially. Blackout fabrics are chemically treated multi-layered fabrics that form a thick barrier between the internal and external environment. By disabling penetration, blackout window treatments resist the external environment from affecting the interior and block almost 30% of energy loss from the room. So, admittedly, they are not only wise choices for winter, but also for summer, making your investments doubly worth the haul. 

READ MORE: HOW TO STORE DRAPES & CURTAINS

Go for Insulative Decor

Layering the home with several textiles and decor objects is not just an expression of maximalism but also about amping up the insulation. Thick and multi-layered rugs on the floor, upholstered walls, wainscoting, wood paneling, gallery walls, art installations, large wall mirrors, sprawling tapestries, throws, blankets, bed runners and long-flowing drapes are all extremely effective in making the room warmer, both literally and aesthetically. It’s simply because they add volume to the walls and floors, holding out one more layer to pierce through for the cold as against easy penetration through a single layer. Even if it may seem nominal, the cold resistance put up on a daily basis by these elements makes a significant difference in the long haul.

Add a Rug

Rugs make all the difference on a chill day. Together with a rug pad under, area rugs become efficient insulators. So, consider investing in thick rug pads and layering multiple smaller rugs over a large rug for more warmth. 

Draught-Proof the House

Teeny-weeny gaps and openings in the walls, floors and ceilings can play spoilsport with your heating business by draining out the thermal energy in little ounces throughout the day. Whether you outsource professional help or do it yourself, the key idea is to seal the chinks to lock the heat within the room, so you tax the heater much less. 

Chimneys of unused fireplaces, gaps between the window/door and the frame, old extractor fan vents, mail slots and cracks in the walls are some examples. And the remedies can likewise range from heavy materials like concrete bricks and metal caps to delicate materials like silicone fillers and foam wiper strips. Draught-proofing the home will enable you to save on power spent on heaters which will directly reflect in your bills.

Install Multi-Glazed Windows

Glazed walls are priceless architectural gems but they make the house more vulnerable in winter by leaking precious thermal energy. Multi-glazed windows that have two or three glass panes set in the same frame with a thin layer of air or inert gas separating them are the solution.

Switching the current glass panes for new double-glazed or triple-glazed panes will help substantially to insulate the house. If you’re in the process of a new build, go for these energy-efficient windows in the first take. The initial investment cost will be offset in terms of a warmer home and lower energy bills.

Enable Natural Heating

Clear skies and peeking sunlight are some rare moments of winter that you must not miss. In these warmer times, open the doors and windows and let the house soak the heat as much as possible. The sun filling your home with its energy is the most effective way of heating any home. Open all the interior doors and windows and even the cabinets and closets so that the natural light and heat can enter every nook and cranny and warm it up. 

On a Warm Note

Being able to lower the power bills is always an attractive idea but you don’t have to freeze yourselves with an under-performing heating system to make it happen. Following our top tips above will not only keep your home warm without running up your energy bills but also make it easier to sell your home should you so decide in the future.

Create a winter wonderland within your home and stay snug in style with Spiffy Spools window treatments. Shop for plush velvets and cozy blackouts and bring home the warmth of summer amidst the chills of winters!

READ MORE: HOW TO KEEP YOUR HOME COOL IN SUMMER