At the onset of winter, the temperatures begin to drop, and the warm sandy beaches are no longer the same. However, maintaining your home to have warm, favorable temperatures conducive to being indoors is a top priority. Below are practical and straightforward steps you can use to keep your home warm.
Use Heavy Drapes
The objective during winter is to conserve warmth inside the house to prevent loss to the environment. Therefore, you can change your light curtain sheers for heavy drapes to keep your house warm. Additionally, you can open them during the day to allow maximum sunlight and warmth to heat your home, and then close them down at sunset. The extra drapes will increase the insulation.
Seal Your Windows and Doors
When cold air seeps into your rooms during the winter, it will cause temperature fluctuations, which will leave you feeling cold. Therefore, you should ensure you seal any air spaces on your windows, which can allow cold air to come in. A simple trick would be to place your hand along your window edges to detect any holes. Consequently, you can seal the gaps to prevent heat loss to the outside. You can also tweak it a notch higher by insulating windows to be more energy efficient. Another technique is to ensure your doors don’t have leaks along the edges.
Mostly, you might feel the effect on the top or bottom parts, allowing cold air into your home even when you close the doors. You can add weather strips on the edges, which will prevent cold air from coming in and the loss of warm air. You can also draft-proof your windows.
You can use draft blockers, foam strips, and even silicone sealant to eliminate any gaping holes and leaks during the proofing.
Use a Programmable Thermostat
When you have a programmable thermostat, you can set your home’s temperatures with different variations apart from the constant temperature all the time. Your house will never require the same temperature to maintain hot and humid conditions. You should also ensure your air conditioning system is functioning effectively to regulate your home’s temperatures. At the onset of the cold season, servicing your HVAC unit is essential. You will maintain favorable temperature and humidity levels, even when it is cold outside.
Thus, a programmable thermostat will have adequate air conditioning depending on the day’s time and the consequent temperature setting. For instance, you may change the temperature settings for the morning, daytime, evening, and even nighttime. As the people from gowithpeak.com note, if you want to reduce your heating and cooling bills, installing a smart thermostat may be the answer. These devices improve the efficiency of your HVAC system and maintain comfortable temperatures throughout your home.
The Ceiling Fans
During winter, warm air tends to accumulate at the top of your house, leaving the colder, denser air at the bottom. As a result, you may feel colder because you are in contact with less warm air than the air around your ceiling. When you have ceiling fans, their circulation keeps warm air away during the summer. During winter, the ceiling fans will come in handy too. It would be best to operate your ceiling fans at low speed when the fan blades are working in the clockwise direction for proper utilization.
However, the trick is to avoid too much circulation and feeding, which will leave your room colder. The fan will keep your house warm by pulling the colder air towards the ceiling and propelling the warm air from the roof towards the floor. It will leave your home at favorable temperatures without making you feel sudden air movements like you would during the summer.
Position Your Radiator
During the winter season, your radiator will keep your house warmer for longer and create a conducive atmosphere. Therefore, make sure you remove any furniture that may stand in the radiator’s way. Objects along the heat path may absorb heat, which would otherwise be used to keep your house warm.
Insulate Your Home
Apart from ensuring you minimize heat loss through the doors and windows, you can also increase insulation on your walls, floors, and even on your ceilings. A professional can guide you in the proper insulation techniques concerning electrical wiring around your house.
You can also make use of thick floor rugs, which will insulate your floors. Having them in all your rooms will help your feet stay warm, too. When insulating your roofs, you will not have any condensation issues. You can use foam or fiberglass as the insulation board.
Utilize a Space Heater
When you sleep during the night, your house may experience temperature falls. Consequently, you can incorporate a space heater, which will keep your air warmer without using your main heat switch. Additionally, you can also prevent an accident when you fall over it by setting it to go off automatically, or when it overheats too.
In Conclusion
With the above techniques, you will ensure your home remains warm without spending a lot on your energy bills. Additionally, do not forget to keep warm and take warm food and drinks to keep you warmer. Plus, use warm bedding and have blankets in each room to shield you from the cold.
