As we are approaching the end of summer and the winter months are on the horizon, the temperature will start to fall and keeping your house warm (and ourselves) starts to become challenging. 

We will start researching with one question in mind – What is the best way to keep your house warm in winter?

Keeping our energy costs down during the winter period is something many households will be concerned with and some of use probably don’t know how we are going to manage it. The cost of energy has increased in such a short space of time that households are looking for ways to keep our heating bill down where we can.

Although, there seems to be ‘help’ from energy companies when in comes to insulating our walls and lofts, I found that trying to access this help is often elusive. 

Some of us live in homes with without proper insulation and, in an ideal world, we’d all have the money to fix that. For majority of us, that’s not a possibility, and the question of ‘how to keep a poorly insulated house warm’ is a genuine concern

Here are some tips I’ve tried if you’re stuck on how to keep your house warm and reduce heat loss.

Easy Ways To Keep Your House Warm In Winter

Curtains

There are a few areas where your curtains can help to trap some head in your home. 

Depending on the position of your home, the sun will enter the home and heat up the room(s), which is what you want, make sure your curtains are open to allow the heat in on sunny days. Once it gets to about 3ish, close your curtains which will help trap the heat in the room.

Having thick curtains can help with retaining heat in the room. However, not all of us have the money to go out and buy fancy curtains with thick linings so a friend of mind found a pair of second-hand curtains with thick lining in a charity shop (I think they were about £10), removed the lining, and stitched them to her own thermal curtains. This is much more cost effective than buying new ones and can help to reduce your heating costs. 

Foil behind the radiator/radiator reflector panels

For years, I’ve been told about putting foil behind the radiator (the foil used in the kitchen), especially on external walls. However, I personally haven’t found them to be as effective so we bought some Radiator Heat Reflective Insulating Foil. It was quite cheap and came in a roll allowing us to cut to size based on each radiator size. Once done, we placed them at the back of the radiator so the heat wasn’t lost through the wall and keeps the hot air in. This is beneficial for a living space you use regularly. 

Heat from the oven to warm your house

When it’s cold, I find that I tend to use my over a lot more. Once you’re done with the oven, keep the oven door open which will help to heat the kitchen. 

Please make sure that you (or anyone else) are not close to it, last thing you want is someone burning themselves!

Make your own draught excluders

I had a go at making my own draught excluder with things I already had at home. If you’re looking for a DIY project and would like to know How to make your down draught excluders, here’s the link

Not too shabby for my first attempt!

Get warm with a hot water bottle

Hot water bottles come in all shapes and sizes. Get yourself a hot water bottle and keep yourself warm. I suffer with  cold feet so I put it at the bottom of my bed about 10 minutes before bedtime. You’ll stay warm for hours. 

Layer up

You’ve heard this before and I will say it again, put on a jumper, fuzzy socks, slippers. Wearing more clothes will stop you from turning up the programmable thermostat. 

Don’t worry if you look silly, it’s about keeping warm rather than making a fashion statement. An extra layer can make a difference. 

Feet warmer

I was given a foot warmer which is powered via a USB port. As someone who works from home so I try to avoid situations where I need to put the central heating on. I plug it into my USB port on my laptop and keep my feet toasty and warm.

Close doors and keep your house warm

I will always remember my parents saying ‘were you born in a barn’ when I was little. Funnily enough, I say the same thing to my family. Keep internal doors closed as this will trap the heat in that room and will help to keep your house warm.

Lower your thermostat by a degree

Lowering your smart thermostat by one degree can help with energy bills and there’s a chance you won’t even feel it. Also, make sure your timers are set to exactly when you need the heating system to come on. There’s no point in setting the timer for when no one is at home. 

Keep radiators free from furniture

Radiators work by emitting heat into the room. However, they can’t do this is if it’s behind a sofa or any furniture from blocking the heat, the furniture will get warm but you won’t. A top tip is to look at the heat sources for each room and keep your radiators clear of furniture and the heat flow into the room and keep a warm house. 

Move your bed away from the window

If your windows aren’t well insulated, a good idea is to try to move your bed way from the window frame to avoid feeling a draughts. 

Add foam tape around windows and doors

If the insulation around your doors and windows are poor, you can purchase foam tape and install them around any gaps. This will help reduce cold air entering and help keep a warm house. 

Get an extra duvet/blanket 

If you’re a little chilly at night, grab an extra duvet or use a fleece blanket. The thing I like about fleece blankets is that they don’t need to warm up, unlike a bed where you get in and takes a while for your body heat to warm up the bed. 

Put a rug on wooden floors

The great thing about carpets is that they trap heat, to a certain extent and do a better job than hard flooring. A great way to help keep your house warm is to invest in some rugs. We’ve got hard flooring downstairs so this on my to-do list. You’ll find some good deals on Facebook marketplace.

Chimney Balloon/draught stopper

Some of us will have an older fireplace – maybe decorative than functional –  that will include a small door. This will likely be a wind tunnel where heat escapes. A friend of mind bought an inflatable chimney balloon which sealed the gap in the chimney drastically reducing the amount of cold air travelling down the chimney. Although, the balloon is a short term fix during the code weather, it may be worth investing in a Chimney Draught Stopper longer term. 

Cover keyholes for a warm house

This was one that never occurred to me until recently. Although, keyholes are small gaps, they are still gaps nonetheless and heat can escape through these gaps. This is specific to older external doors. A great way to tell (that I’ve tried myself) is put some water on the tip of your finger and place the finger by the keyhole. You will be able to tell if your finger is getting cold. If it does, you’re losing heat (and cold air in entering your home). You can use keyhole covers to reduce the draft. Or if it’s a door you don’t use that often, put some clear tape on it and keep the cool air out.     

Cuddle under blankets

Why not snuggle up with your partner, little ones or pets and watch some TV in the living room. It’s cozy and, by sharing body heat, you’l keep each other warm.

Increasing the energy efficiency in your home can be tricky, some other options are investing in an electric blanket, a good option is to update your loft insulation as heat rises you don’t want to lose any through the ceiling, thick rugs is great for uninsulated floors especially if you have a hard floor, this can help reduce air leaks, so if you can, use rugs. The key is always going to be good insulation which will help to reduce your utility bills in the long run, especially during the colder months. 

If you’re looking for more ways, Martin Lewis’ website has a wealth of information.