Winter can come to haunt many households long after the holiday season has ended, with gray skies, cold nights, and nasty surprises. It can be hard to stay both warm and cheerful at this time of the year, especially when there are a lot of you living under one roof. Yet, staying warm isn’t the only part to keeping a household running well in winter. You need to keep everyone in good spirits, and safe from any potential dangers the cold might bring. This is why it’s a great idea to have a trusty bank of tips and tricks to help you not only get through the winter months, but have a great time whilst doing it.
Invest in reliable home insulation
Energy bills can pile up when it’s cold, as you may have to have the heating on full blast at all hours of the day. Not only will this been robbing you of money, but it also isn’t the most reliable way to stay warm. Often, generators can cut out from the cold, or power can be shut up due to adverse weather conditions. The best way to make sure your house is warm and inviting is by assessing and rectifying your home insulation situation. Having the thickest, fire retardant cladding may be a big cost in the short term, but will keep your energy bills low, as you won’t need to have the heating switched on all the time. It also means that should there be any issues with the energy cutting out, you can keep your family toasty.
Yet, there are some other ways to maximize the warmth of your home, such as purchasing draught excluders to keep any chills from coming in from under the door. Keeping your curtains shut can also stop the windows from being a point of entry for the cold. However, investing in cozy blankets and cushions is the preferred way to stay warm. This not only makes your house look great, but means that people can control how warm they feel by wrapping themselves up.
Make sure your taps don’t freeze
Having running water in winter is not only lovely to have, but a necessity. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a hot bath to expel the cold from your body and keep your circulation running. You don’t want to come in from the cold after a long day, only to find that your water pipes have frozen from the cold outside. Having no hot water is bad enough, but having none at all means that you can’t even salvage some warmth by boiling it on the stove top. Luckily, there are a few small tips you can follow that will stop the situation from getting this far. It can be as simple as wrapping your pipes up the same as everything else in the house.
If this is an impossibility, having a backup plan is always a good way to go. In fact, many households have a hose in their backyard for use mostly in the summertime. These are a lot easier to use when the cold strikes, as you can invest in hoses that don’t freeze, even in the coldest of temperatures. For example, the NoFreezeWaterHose has been tested in the depths of the Alaska countryside in the dead of winter, so by having a great back up option like this, you can bring water into your house for everyone to indulge in.
Have a good shovel on hand
There may well be days when snow falls thick and fast outside your house. If you live anywhere like the suburbs and beyond, having snow pile-ups can seriously prohibit you from going about your duties. There have been many cases of people unable to go outside, due to snow blocking the door from opening, and cars being surrounded by snow and ice. This is why, at the least, it’s a wise idea to have a reliable shovel by your door, so that you can check the level of the snow and remove it from being close to important belongings. Not only will this enable you the freedom to move about as usual, but it will mean that any melting snow doesn’t leak into the home and cause extra problems.
Stick to wholesome meals
Having a healthy supply of meals can be a struggle in winter, when buying fresh produce can be more of a difficulty. Not only this, but having the same small, cold meals you would in the blistering heat won’t help your body stay warm in winter. Sometimes, your body will crave warmth from food in the same way it will from blankets and jumpers. People want to feel comforted and safe in winter, and food is the ticket to helping with this. Bowls of soups and hot bread are a great way of getting the best nutrients into your body. Stews, hot pots, and hot cocoa are other popular choices, which will keep you warm from the inside as your metabolism heats up your body. One of the best and most unexpected surprises from cooking a meal such as this is that the heat from the oven can be an extra source of warmth for a house.
Keep the family together
It’s easy to become irritable and frustrated with other family members when winter gets to you, and tensions can be hard to keep low. Not only this, but some people struggle with the dark days more than others, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on any changes in the mood of some family members. Though you may feel like you are seeing more of your family than you may like to, as you are always cooped up indoors, this doesn’t mean that it’s quality time. Whether you like it or not, you will have to spend a lot of time with them, so it’s best to make the most of your now warm house by keeping the family close. Game nights, settling down in the lounge to watch a movie, or even exercising together can truly help bring you closer as a unit, and will certainly help winter be a more joyful, healthier time than usual.
