A warm home without blowing the budget
As quickly as day turns to night in the colder season, winter creeps up on us and we find ourselves cranking up the heat, wrapped up in electric blankets and thick, woolly jumpers. So, what can you do to prepare for the drop in temperature?
Here are some tips for a comfortable home in winter without blowing the energy bill.
Use heavy drapes
Up to 40 per cent of heat escaping your home in cooler temperatures is purely from not covering your windows. The most significant air leaks tend to occur around windows. Invest in heavy drapes to ensure your windows have extra insulation, keeping the warmth from escaping your home.
Change ceiling fan settings
Many people assume ceiling fans are only for cooling in warm months, but they can be your best friend in winter too. In summer, ceiling fan blades turn in a counter-clockwise motion and use what’s known as the wind chill factor to keep you cooler.
In winter, you’ll want to find the reverse switch on your fan to change things up. As warm air
generated by your heating system naturally rises to the ceiling, and cooler air sinks, your ceiling fan will push the warm air down to a comfortable level. To locate your reverse switch, look on your fan above or below the blades, or check the manual from your fan manufacturer.
Seal cracks and gaps
Unsealed cracks can account for approximately 15-25 per cent
of heat loss in your home. These let unwanted cool air enter your home, and any attempts to warm it up will essentially ‘slip through the cracks’. By sealing gaps in window and door frames, you’ll keep draughts at bay and seal in the warmth, making your home cosy. Buy a door snake to stop cold air from coming under doors.
Insulate
A well-insulated house can use as much as 45 per cent less energy for heating and cooling. If you have raised timber floors, install underfloor insulation, which provides a barrier to reduce heat loss and cold draughts entering through your flooring. As a bonus, it reduces the noise of floorboards and can even lessen noise transfer from different rooms.
You could also invest in higher grade insulation in your ceiling, which also acts as a barrier to the heat flow of your home. These products seal in warmth in the winter, and when summer rolls around, they will keep your home nice and cool, too. If you have existing glasswool insulation, you can top up.
Cover your walls
Walls can be big contributors to losing heat in the winter, but there’s a simple trick to lock in some of that heat. You can significantly reduce energy loss by covering your walls with picture frames, a mirror or even a large book shelf. By adding an extra layer of thermal mass to insulate, you can raise internal surface temperatures by around 1°C.
Re-position furniture
Understanding how heat moves and investigating the thermal properties of your house will help you brave the cold this winter. You will feel warmer if you position yourself and your furniture near warmer areas of the home, including closer to the inside of the house and away from cooler external walls. Try to place your furniture next to an internal wall or a spot that gets a lot of natural light and heat from the sun.
Let the sun in
When sunlight enters your home, it is mostly ultraviolet radiation, which transfers easily through glass. Once it hits an object the sunlight becomes radiant heat. To capitalise on all this free energy and gain extra warmth, open your blinds and curtains during the day and let that natural heat wash over you. Don’t forget to shut your winterweight curtains when the sun sets to keep that warmth in.
There are so many little ways you can save on energy costs; simple things like warm socks and extra bedding. And there’s nothing nicer than snuggling up on the couch with a cosy blanket and a hot drink.