Is your house cold in the winter months? The ishers (from our web forum) have got together and helped put together this list of things you can do to keep your house warm this winter, some are free and most are cheap. The great thing too is a warmer house means less need for the central heating which will save you loads of money.
1. Thick curtains – line with old blankets
2. Make draft excluders for bottom of doors with old fabric
3. Put tinfoil behind radiators that are on outside walls to reflect the heat back into the room.
4. Keep a nice blankie on the back of the sofa. When watching tv, pull blankie over your and partners laps and snuggle
5. Put draft proofing stuff around gappy windows
6. To add to the warmth of said blankie (I am a big blankie fan) add a big hairy cat on top for extra warmth.
7. Borrow or freecycle loads of rugs to put on the floor (even on top of carpet as heat will still be lost downwards).
8. Soft furnishings help as they store heat. Carpets are better than laminate and tiles. Try wall hangings on the walls, and fabric sofas are better than leather ones. Obviously changing the 3-piece isn’t a cheap option but something to consider if you are going to replace it in the future.
9. It is possible to get free insulation. Someone I know insulated their house with insulation ripped out of an old cold store. It was fantastic stuff and really clean. The main problem with second hand insulation is that it is usually filthy.
10. Put plenty of chili in your chickpea casserole – one of my ways of making me feel warmer in winter!
11. Oh, and any excuse for a hot toddy, or mulled wine
12. Hot water bottles (doesn’t warm the house but warms me!)
13. Lots of jumpers and a hat
14. You can buy some clingfilm type stuff that you can stick to your windows using a hairdryer, it’s a bit like double glazing on the cheap. (see the Selfsufficientish Bible for more details)
15. Throw a big party and invite loads of people, if you are trying to save money have a bring a bottle cocktail evening and allocate a different spirit to each person. You might even get away with only supplying a few lemons!
16. Exercise indoor, there are some exercises that are perfectly suited for two people that you can do in the bedroom.
17. Wear thick wolly socks.
18. Wear layers of clothes rather that one garment.
19. Leave the oven door open after using it
20. Just keep one room warm not whole house
21. Burn Candles
22. Spend most of your time outside in sub-zero temperatures with it blowing a gale and ice spume abrading your face. When you go inside – even if the central heating has been off all day – it will feel deliciously warm and you’ll be down to your T-shirt in no time!
23. Fill in the gaps between skirting boards and floor boards (put your hand near one and you’ll feel how much air comes through on ground floors)
24. Keep unused rooms shut and rads on frost guard (if fitted with themo valves)
25. fit thermo valves, and adjust room temp to it’s requirement , ie cooler in bedrooms and kitchen, warmer in living room and bathrooms.
26. Fit draught excluders on all doors internal and external. We’ve got big gaps under the internal doors, so fitted them brush excluder things can’t tell you the difference its made.
27. Loft insulation goes with out saying, there are some interesting products like sheeps wool , reused pulped paper, metalised film etc.
28. In the very coldest weather it is sometimes better to turn down the CH water temperature, but keep it running constant until the really cold weather breaks (I mean around zero during the day), as the boiler can really struggle to try and get the rooms up to temperature (using a lot more energy.) only to let then cool down after a few hours, then it has an even harder job to get the temperature up. The whole house doesn’t seem to get warm. And I know the day thats the worsed here in the N.E, it’s when we get a freezing fog all day, as there is no heat from the sun. As soon as that’s looming the whole house rapidly gets colder rather than warmer if we use our normal heating times.)
29. If you can paint or roof the exterior, dark colours will make the house warmer.
30. Spend half the night in the pub sitting next to the radiator, drinking a pint of the weakest.
31. Don’t have a letter box (mail box) on your door, instead have an outdoor box. It is just another gap to let air in.
Thanks to –
Smile Sunshine, Hamster, Red, Millymollmandy, Annpan, Thomozo, Ina, Womble, MrsFibble, blathanna, multiveg, Milims, yugogypsy, Thurston Garden, Stonehead, QuakerBear, Cheezy, the.fee.fairy, lizzymahoney, Eva