Heating Expert Reveals Tips To Keep Your Home WARM This Winter

Tips To Keep Your Home Warm

1. Check your radiators

Make sure your radiators aren’t blocked or covered. If you’re blocking your radiators with a sofa or large piece of furniture, then the warm air won’t be able to get into the room. Similarly, radiator covers may look nice, but they reduce the efficiency of your central heating.

If your radiators are not evenly heating up your home, there is a chance they may be blocked with sludge or limescale. If this is the case, you may need a power flush to remove any sludge, debris and limescale from inside the radiator. One of the biggest signs that your radiator may need a power flush is if it’s warm at the top but cold at the bottom.

2. & Place a shelf above them

Placing a shelf just above your radiators is a lesser known, yet effective way to improve your home heating. When this is done, it deflects the rising heat back into the room and stops it from escaping.

This trick is especially useful if the radiator sits underneath a window, where the heat can quickly be lost or can become trapped between the window and the curtain. Just remember not to put anything on the shelf.

3. Improve your insulation

Improving your home’s insulation prevents heat loss and reduces the need to use your central heating system. Insulation may seem like an expensive choice, but the money that you save in the long term will balance out the initial payment made.

Your home can benefit from cavity wall insulation, floor and loft insulation. Lofts and roofs are well-known sources of heat loss, especially as heat rises, so getting your loft properly insulated will improve your home’s warmth and save you money on your heating bills in the long term.

Or if money is tight and you’d prefer to do it yourself, you could benefit from a DIY job. Rolls of insulation foam are fairly inexpensive, and just a few rolls of fibreglass or recycled paper insulation can make a difference. If you do choose to do it yourself, don’t forget to wear protective clothing including goggles, gloves and a face mask.

Anyone that opts for loft insulation should ensure they do not have a draughty, uninsulated loft hatch or loose roof tiles that are letting in water and reducing the efficiency of your insulation.

4. Begin draughtproofing

Any opening to the outside could cause a draught. Common culprits include doors, windows, chimneys, letterboxes, keyholes, gaps and cracks. The good news is that there are various ways to keep these draughts away, including:

Keep doors closed to stop through-drafts from entering
Fit doors with draught excluding brushes
Use a door draught snake
Add internal brushes to letterboxes
Draw heavy curtains across windows
Add draught strips to the edges of windows
Seal cracks with sealant or filler
Your fireplace and chimney can also be sources of draughts. If your fireplace is completely out of use, you can purchase draught excluders or balloons that are inserted inside the chimney. These prevent hot air from escaping through the chimney and do not let the cold air in. However, if you wish to have a fire in your fireplace, they must be removed. If they are not removed, they stop smoke and dangerous gases from leaving your home and could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

5. Cover floorboards

Uninsulated floorboards can account for up to 10% of the heat lost in your home. By covering floorboards with a rug, you help retain more heat and help warm up the floor. Opting for a rug to cover your floorboards is a cost-efficient way of keeping your home warm.

Information About Cold Weather Payments

For the first time this winter, cold weather payments are being issued. However, not everyone is entitled to them. These payments are only available for people getting certain benefits and living in specific postcodes. According to the Gov UK website, “you’ll get a payment if the average temperature in your area is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees celsius or below over 7 consecutive days. You’ll get £25 for each 7 day period of very cold weather between 1 November and 31 March.”