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When it comes to winter in the UK, preparation is key; feeling the cold at home can make things feel pretty miserable. Whilst we’re not in control of the British weather, we can prepare our homes to maximise warmth without maxing our budgets. Below, we’ve put together a few handy tips and tricks for preparing your home for the cold winter months.
Eliminate draughts
Cold air creeping in through gaps and cracks can make your home much chillier than it needs to be. Block gaps under doors with draught excluders, and identify areas such as windows, doors, skirting boards and loft hatches where draughts are entering your home.
DIY seals can block gaps around UPVC, and professional tradespeople can help you tackle bigger jobs safely. Just make sure you’re not blocking essential ventilation, such as extractor fans.
Invest in clever soft furnishings
In winter, layers matter, and this is true in your home as well as your wardrobe. Cover gaps in floorboards and cold hard tiles with warm cosy rugs, and prevent the warm air from escaping through window glass with thermal blinds and curtains.
Leverage your loft insulation
Good loft insulation can make or break your home’s winter-friendliness, so ensure that your loft is properly insulated, either with rolls of insulation or with boards. If in doubt, give a professional a call – the cost of topping up your loft insulation will be well worth it come winter.
Have your boiler serviced
Just like a car service, having your boiler serviced regularly keeps it efficient and reliable, with extra peace of mind that it’s operating safely too. Hartswood Heating, who handle boiler servicing in Brighton, suggest that having your boiler serviced ‘significantly extends the lifespan of your boiler’.
The last thing you need is a boiler breakdown in the middle of a big freeze, so make the annual investment and look forward to a toasty home.
Insulate pipes
Exposed pipework can lose precious heat as it travels to its destination, such as your radiators, so popping a bit of pipe lagging around the pipes will keep the energy directed towards the heat-emitting sources. This should also help prevent them from freezing in the winter too.
Reflect the heat from radiators
Ever thought about how much heat from your radiators goes up the wall that it’s installed on? It’s more than you’d think! This heat would be much better used out in the room itself where you can enjoy it, so to combat wasted radiator heat, it’s time to get crafty. By fixing a heat-safe, reflective material like foil behind your radiator, that heat gets bounced back and out into the room, making your home just that bit warmer. You can even get special radiator reflector foil from Screwfix.
Upgrade your thermostat
We owe a lot of convenience to technology these days, and that can even extend to the efficiency of our heating. Smart thermostats can allow you to programme your heating to not only warm your home when you need it most, but keep your bills as low as possible too. Not only this, but you can operate many of them from your phone, making popping the heating on as you leave work a doddle!
