How to keep your house warm this winter?
With the cost of living crisis and rise in energy bills, it’s more essential than ever that we know how to keep warm in these cold winter months. In this blog we will explore the various measures you can take to transform your home into a warm and inviting space, such as boiler servicing, dampness reduction and window glazing.
Boiler Maintenance:
Regular boiler servicing is crucial for maintaining an efficient and reliable heating system. You can hire a Gas Safe engineer to inspect and service your boiler annually, to not only ensure that your boiler operates effectively but also to identify and address potential issues such as leaks, corrosion and faulty gas pressure, before they escalate.
Dampness Reduction:
Dampness can make your home feel colder and more uncomfortable, because it can limit the effectiveness of your heating system by making it work harder to compensate for the damp.
Ways to reduce the amount of damp in your home include: using moisture-resistant paint or wallpaper, improving your air circulation by ensuring you leave a gap between furniture and walls and improving your ventilation by adding extractor fans to your kitchen and bathrooms or by adding a dehumidifier in particularly damp areas.
Window Glazing:
Windows are significant contributors to heat loss in your home, luckily there are things you can do to help heat escaping, one of them being Window Glazing. There are three levels of glazing – single with one layer, double with two layers and triple with three layers. You can check how many layers your window has by how many reflections appear when you hold an object up to it, or by simply looking and seeing if you can spot any extra panes of glass in your window.
The added glass layer helps trap heat inside the home - the more layers you have, the more heat is retained.
Home Insulation:
Proper insulation is a key factor in maintaining a warm home, with various different types available such as wall insulation, pipe insulation, loft insulation and floor insulation. A common way for heat to escape is through the roof, you can hire professional loft insulation contractors to upgrade or replace yours if necessary.
Remember, you should replace insulation every 15-20 years depending on the quality and materials used.
Minimise Draughts:
Draughts can make your home feel much colder than it actually is, by minimising draughts you’ll create a more comfortable living space and enhance the efficiency of your heating system. To do this, you can seal gaps around doors and windows with weather-stripping or draft excluders, additionally you can install door sweeps to prevent cold air from creeping in underneath doors.
By incorporating these tips, you can create a warm and welcoming space for yourself and your family. Each step plays a crucial role in not only enhancing your home's warmth but also your energy efficiency during the colder months, helping you stay cosy all winter long!
