Nine Ways to Make Your Home Warmer This Winter (Without Raising the Temperature)
The houses we live in are not buildings, but systems. Every part of your home makes your life a little safer and more comfortable: the roof protects from rain and snow; the water supply system supplies fresh water and removes waste water; and our furnace, boiler or heat pump keeps us warm during the winter months.
But it is not always effective and cheap. It is estimated that between November and March it will cost you between $601 and $1,851 to heat your home, depending on the heating type. If your home is always colder than you’d like, those numbers could get even grimmer because you’re constantly cranking up the thermostat or running the heaters nonstop.
There are basic steps to take if your home is always too cold, such as sealing drafts, replacing furnace filters, and making sure your heating system is properly maintained. But if you’ve done all of this and are still pushing the thermostat up, there are a few additional simple, inexpensive (or free) steps you can take to maximize your comfort.
Change furniture arrangement
First, check your furniture arrangement to make sure you haven’t covered or blocked a heater or radiator. There should be at least 12 inches of space between heat sources and furniture to allow heat to circulate. If your couch sits in front of a heater, you’re paying for cooking on the couch rather than heating your home.
If you don’t have the ability to move furniture, consider installing vent extenders or deflectors to allow heat to flow into the room itself.
Buy thermal curtains
Even if you’ve replaced the seals and taken other steps to reduce drafty windows, they can still suck heat out of your home. Although sunlight penetration can be beneficial to the overall temperature of your home, it can also help prevent heat loss, so consider investing in a thermal curtain kit. On sunny days, open them to let in the sun’s warmth. When you feel cold, close them to stop heat loss through the windows.
Place foil behind radiators
Placing reflective material such as foil behind radiators can help maximize their efficiency; the foil will reflect heat into the room rather than absorbing it into the wall. This works best in small spaces where you’ll really feel the difference, but it’s so cheap and easy that it’s worth trying throughout your home.
Add outlet isolators
Sockets and light switches on the walls are essentially openings in the house through which cold air can enter. Install plate insulators behind wall panels to prevent drafts – they’re cheap, take a few minutes to install and can make a real difference. .
Block the chimney
If you have a fireplace with a chimney in your home, installing a cap can prevent cold air from entering your home (which can happen even when the damper is closed). If you don’t want to pay for a plug or for some reason can’t use one, covering your fireplace with a lid can also be an effective way to keep out drafts.
Buy duct fans.
A duct fan is inserted into one of the registers of your HVAC system, increasing the flow of air coming out of it. They are relatively easy to install and can significantly improve the efficiency of both cooling and heating. If your home is cold and you can barely feel the air coming out of one or more heaters, an additional fan may be the solution.
Landscape for the sun
If your home has a lot of trees and other landscaping features that block the sun, it’s probably a shady haven in the summer, but that likely contributes to the feeling of cold in the winter. Trimming trees and other growth and removing other landscaping features that create shade can open up your home to the sun, which will overall make your home warmer.
Don’t forget about rugs
Your floors are responsible for a lot of heat loss, especially floors above basements or basements ( especially if the basement or basement is not insulated). A cold floor can not only make the lower part of the room cold, but it can also turn your feet into little blocks of ice. Adding rugs can help a lot. Rugs can block some of the cold air seeping in from below and also insulate your body from the cold floor, helping to make your home overall warmer. (Just be careful not to cover the thermal register.)
Reverse ceiling fans
Have you swapped out your ceiling fans for the winter? Do you manage them? Ceiling fans that rotate clockwise push cool air up and warm air down. It’s easy to do and will have a noticeable impact on both how your home feels and how much it costs to feel that way.