Creative solutions for reducing your heating bill
There’s no doubt about it; winter is well and truly on its way, bringing bitter winds and icy temperatures.
Keeping the house warm during the long winter months can cause energy bills to soar, leaving some families with the difficult choice between heating their homes, or buying essential food and household items. The annual quest to fend off the winter’s chill also risks significant damage to our environment, using valuable natural resources and releasing harmful waste products into the atmosphere.
So what’s the answer?
Practical solutions for keeping heating bills down
As well as ensuring that families stay snug, maintaining a warm home also vastly reduces a person’s susceptibility to certain ‘winter’ illnesses, such as coughs, colds, and influenza. This is especially important for the very young, elderly, or infirm; keeping warm during the winter is essential for maintaining health, and it is important that heating ideas be as cost effective as possible to limit the impact on tighter budgets. Staying cozy can also vastly improve a person’s mood during the darker days of the year, and discourage us from reaching for the high-calorie ‘comfort’ foods we crave.
Practical solutions for maximizing heat, whilst minimizing costs, include installing a programmable thermostat, investing in a portable or space heater, fitting insulation in lofts and cavity walls, ensuring all appliances are regularly serviced, and creating designated ‘heating zones’, so that only frequently used rooms and spaces are regularly warmed. It is also important to let plenty of natural light in during the day, to insulate doors and windows, and to seal any cracks, and to make sure that all appliances are as energy efficient as they can be. Consider switching the heating off completely at night, which will keep costs down and prevent expensive energy from being wasted.
Creative solutions for keeping homes warm
When it comes to heating, often the solution can be as creative as it is practical. Wooden shutters, for example, are a fantastic way to keep out draughts of cold air, whilst conserving the heat in any room. Working much more quickly and efficiently than curtains or blinds, shutters can be customized to match any room, adding a touch of style whilst keeping homes cozy. They’re also incredibly cost-effective to install; what could be better?
Warming chilly feet and icy toes, rugs and carpets are another way to maximize the temperature in a home, particularly those with laminate, wooden, or stone flooring. These decorative pieces can be placed in just about any room, adding a splash of color, and helping homeowners to conserve the heat that may otherwise be lost through the floor. Similarly, heated blankets and throws use a lot less energy than portable heaters, and can brighten up cold living rooms or bedrooms; they’re just as portable as a space heater, and twice as stylish.
Perhaps the simplest piece of winter-warming advice, though, is to wrap yourself up warm. Increasing layers can vastly reduce heating costs; after all, it costs nothing at all to add an extra sweater, fleecy socks, or slippers to an indoor outfit. Crafty homeowners may even consider knitting or sewing their very own winter garments, keeping fingers warm in the process!
Other creative solutions for reducing heating bills include draught excluders that can help to keep those wintery winds at bay, or plastic door and window covers, which can be customized to create truly imaginative features. For those who like being creative in the kitchen, try leaving the oven door open after use; not only will the heat rise into the rest of the room, but also the smell will be out of this world!
When it comes to keeping warm, it’s important to think practically, and creatively; a little imagination can go a long way towards keeping toasty this winter.
