Summer might be over, but that doesn’t mean winter has to come to your home. If you use some clever hacks, this might be the year that your energy bills don’t go up as the temperature drops. Before you start turning on your radiators and turning the thermostat up to max, here are a few ways you can keep warm without using your money as fuel.
Make your home energy efficient
Long winters mean bigger heating bills, which is probably why the majority of us dread the colder months of the year. Before you go to switch on your heating for the winter, you should spend autumn plugging any leaks in your home. Around 25 percent of the heat lost in an uninsulated house literally goes through the roof, so why not look into insulating your attic and roof. Effective insulation makes for a more energy efficient home, and it will slow the rate that heat escapes from your house in winter. In short; it will keep your house at the optimum temperature, so you don’t have to spend as much money keeping it warm. Heat also escapes through the cracks in old windows, so it might be a good idea to look into double-glazing.
Choose your heat source wisely
Most people use electricity to warm their homes, as it’s more convenient and arguably safer. However, if you have a working fireplace in your home then you might have an easy solution at hand. Unlike fossil fuels, wood is a sustainable resource, and using your fireplace costs you nothing. The best material to heat up your fireplace is a wood briquette, although if you do some research at CFNielsen.com you’ll learn that briquette can be made from any raw materials such as charcoal, sawdust, paper, or almost any kind of biomass material. Some briquettes are great for lighting the fire; some are best for through the day burning and some are designed for overnight burning, so make sure you’ve done your research before you start burning them. Regardless, they are a more efficient way of keeping you warm, it’s more economical that a faulty boiler, and it’s a sustainable source.
Effective radiators
Radiators are the front line of defence against any draughts that make their way into your home, so you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of them. It’s a good idea to get them serviced before it gets too cold, so you can be sure they’re all doing their part to heat your house. Electric radiators have a lot of benefits for a modern home; the thermostats are more accurate, more economical, and they make less noise than even an electric central heating system. More importantly, modern radiators are designed to flawlessly blend in with all interior design, so you home looks chic, and feels super warm.
Above, make sure you bundle up with plenty of blankets, socks, and winter jumpers. It’s cheaper to layer up than it is to have the heating on all the time.
