When the temperature starts to drop, the last thing you want is to be freezing when you’re at home. Some people might be out and about the majority of the time, but others work from home or are stay at home parents. If you have to spend all day in the house, you don’t want to be cold all the time. But you can’t always afford to have the heating on 24/7 either. Even if you’re only home for a few hours each day, you don’t want to pay for energy from the moment you get home to when you leave for work. Luckily, there are other solutions so that winter doesn’t empty your bank account.
Put on Some Extra Layers
Are you about to go and turn up your thermostat? Before you do, take a look at what you’re wearing. If you’re in a t-shirt and shorts, you don’t need to increase the temperature in your home. You need to put a sweater on and change into some pants. If you want to save money on your heating costs, don’t rush to turn it on as soon as it gets a little cold. Warm yourself up first, before you start heating the whole house. Depending on how determined you are to keep the heating off for as long as possible, you could go further. Put on a bathrobe, wrap yourself in a blanket, wear your slippers or get out a woolly hat to keep yourself warm.
Redecorate
You might be surprised to learn that redecorating your home could make it feel much warmer. If it’s currently full of cold colors and smooth surfaces, it could have a colder atmosphere. Focusing on warm shades and introducing some fabrics could make a significant difference. For example, you could use dark blues, greens or browns to make a room feel cozy. Put rugs down on your hard floors to make it warmer for you to walk on and improve the look of the place. It’s easier than you might think to trick your brain into believing that it’s warmer than it is.
Warm Your Bed
Jumping into a cold bed at night isn’t pleasant. You might warm up after a while, but you’ll have to spend a couple of minutes shivering in the cold sheets. If you want to make sure your bed is toasty right away, you can warm it up before you get it. A hot water bottle is a tried and tested way to do it, that people have relied on for centuries. If you would rather not mess around with water, try using a microwaveable pillow instead. You can heat them in a few seconds, and some of them smell great too. You could also use an electric blanket, but remember to turn it off before you go to sleep.
Stay Active
Even just moving around a bit more can help to keep you warm in your house. Instead of sitting on the sofa and watching TV all evening, you can be up and moving about. Do some exercise in your home gym or get some housework done. The physical activity will help to warm you up and get your blood pumping. Sitting around and barely moving won’t do you much good.
Check Your Heating System
You don’t want to have your heating on all the time. It would be far too expensive. But when you do have it, it should be doing the best that it possibly can. You don’t want it to be underperforming, so you’re not getting your money’s worth. Before it gets too cold, it’s a good idea to have your heating system serviced. Save Home Heat HVAC Services knows how important it is to maintain your heating system. If you need repairs, get someone out to do it straight away. You might also consider replacing it entirely if you think it’s lived out its life.
Insulate Your Home
When you know your heating system is running properly, you need to ensure that the heat is staying inside your home. A poorly insulated house will let all that expensive heat escape and you’ll have to spend even more to warm your home. So it’s essential that you check to make sure you have adequate insulation. Your roof is the most important thing to insulate, as it will let out a lot of heat if you don’t do it. You should also check for anywhere that air could leak out of your home, such as windows and doors. Seal up any places that could be vulnerable and stop your home heating as it should.
Light a Fire
The old methods are sometimes the best. If you have a fireplace or a wood burner, lighting a fire can be a great alternative to using your heating system. Finding the fuel to keep your fires going isn’t always cheap, but they produce a lot of heat so they can be cost-effective. You might also be surprised by how much candles warm up a room. Lighting a few of them can give off more heat than you would expect. So don’t worry if you don’t have a fireplace; you can put out a few candles to get things warmed up instead.
Do Some Cooking
There are other ways to produce heat in your home too. Cooking all your meals at home is an excellent way to keep things warm. This works best if you have a range stove, such as an AGA, which are designed to be kept on all the time. They can even heat your whole home. However, these can be very expensive to run, so they’re not for everyone. Even just cooking with your normal stove can help to warm up your home. Spend some time hanging out in the kitchen after you’ve made dinner, and you’ll feel warmer.
Keeping your house warm in the colder seasons can be a balancing act. You don’t want to be uncomfortable, but you don’t wish to spend a lot of money either. Eventually, you will find the best ways to stay cozy without going bankrupt.
