With energy bills on the rise, it is understandable if you want to be frugal as well as warm for the upcoming winter. You shouldn’t have to suffer due to increasing bills, and choosing to remain cold can seriously affect your health and strongly advise against this. It can be difficult to stay warm without spending, especially in bigger homes, but we have some general tips and proven ideas on how you and your family can feel cosy and warm with without breaking the bank. See below:
Keep Heat Trapped
When the sun is out, open your curtains and blinds to get as much sunshine as possible into your home. But as soon as the night approaches it is important that you trap your heat within your rooms by closing them, as well as any open windows, as there is no more heat to be gained from leaving them open.
This same concept works for doors in your home, so keep them shut room to room whilst the heating is put on at night. This is especially important if there are rooms that you don’t use on a daily basis, so ensure that the doors to these ones are kept shut. If you are lucky enough to have a fireplace then ensure that the flue is closed when unused.
Properly Insulate Walls & Lofts
Empty walls and lofts can be responsible for the vast amount of heat loss your home experiences, so it is vital that you use the most efficient materials to ensure proper insulation within your loft conversion and walls. This will not only make your property warmer in the winters, but it will save you hundreds of pounds in the long-run through reduction in energy bills. It will also be a good selling point to increase the value of your home if you wish to move home in the future.
Cavity walls are usually a lot simpler to insulate and it should be noted that houses which have been constructed post-1920 typically include these types of walls. But even if yours doesn’t, consult with an expert about the best way to insulate your walls.
Control Your Heat
Having a digital thermostat and being able to control your temperature will not only place your room heat at the level that you want, but being able to alter a thermostat by 1c or 2 could be result in that extra bit of money being saved.
Investing in a modern thermostat also allows you to comfortably set the time frame of which you want your heating to turn on and off without having to manually configure it constantly. Allowing you to wake up in the morning to a heated room without having to leave the boiler on all night or getting up earlier to do it yourself.
Review Energy Suppliers
Staying with the same energy supplier could be costing you financially and although it is more convenient to stay with your current provider, doing some research can be very beneficial to your energy bills. Some energy providers offer incentives if you switch and it is usually free to do so, so you don’t have to worry about those kind of initial set-up costs.
If you have gas and electric with different suppliers, it could be an idea to get both services with the same company as this can sometime be a cheaper option for them and therefore you.