Tips To Keep Your Home & Yourself Warm This Winter

Even during winter, you can keep your home warm and comfortable while keeping your electric bills down. We present below few tips:

1. Check and replace weatherstripping: If weatherstrippings on any doors or windows are worn out, they can let in cold air into the house. According to Black Hills Energy, around 12 percent or more of home’s heat loss occurs through windows and doors. Thus it is important to leak proof them. So check for any worn out weatherstrippings on any doors or windows.

Check all the rooms and if you find any worn and torn weatherstrippings it is time to repair or replace them. Some weatherstrippings may need to be replaced every few years due to wear and tear. It is quite simple to replace them and don’t need any professional people to do that for you. Anyone in the house can do it by pulling off the old one and putting a new one in its place.

This is an important step you can take to prevent heat loss from your home. As they say prevention is better than cure. If you prevent heat loss you may not need to turn up the furnace or heater more than necessary, thus preventing extra electric bills.

2. Adjusting Door Thresholds:Can you see light coming in through your front door? If yes, you are losing heat through that gap between the door and the threshold. You might be running a heater to heat up your house and a lot of that heat is escaping through this gap right under the door. Make sure there isn’t any gap between the door and thresholds. The heat loss is costing you money in terms of increased electricity bills.

Some thresholds have few screws that can let you adjust its height, thus eliminating gaps. Turn these screws counterclockwise to lift the threshold until you cannot see the sunlight from outside beneath your door. However don’t raise it so high that it makes opening and closing the door a problem. Also make sure the door doesn’t drag on the threshold as it can affect the weatherstripping.

3. Plug holes in the walls: Gas lines, electric cables or pipes that come into your house usually have gaps around them which might have been filled up with caulk. But the caulk cracks and peels off after some time leaving gaps which can let in cold outside air during severe winters. This might not seem as a big thing but can affect how warm your house feels inside.

These gaps are also places which can let in insects or mice into your house. It is a good idea to seal these gaps by using expanding foam. This will help in keeping out the cold outside air and enjoying a warm, comfortable temperature inside.

4. Use Portable Heaters: Space heaters can be used in places like the living room where the whole family gathers. During this time you can turn down the furnace temperature. The house may become cooler due to this but you will be warm. For every degree below 70 F that you turn down the furnace, you will save up to 2–3 percent on your power bills.

If you are looking to buy a furnace please check out this short guide: how to buy a heating furnace

5. Utilize wood fireplace: Wood fireplaces can provide more heat than gas fireplaces. They can also be more cost effective since you can burn scrap wood, sawdust, fallen trees or branches, thus saving some valuable money.

6. Make use of curtains:This is another cool, cost-effective idea to keep your homes warm. Hang heavy curtains or blankets over windows. The curtains will act as an extra barrier to prevent the cold outside air from reaching inside.

An additional thing you can do is to hang curtains or blankets around your bed while sleeping at night. This will help in trapping body heat and providing insulation during the night for a warm, comfortable sleep. However make sure there is proper ventilation and the blankets or curtains do not block fresh air completely because you need supply of fresh air during sleep. Furthermore if you place rugs on tile, concrete or hardwood flooring it will help in insulation efforts.

7. Chimney Balloons:The problem with using fireplaces is that when they are not in use, the warm air from your home is escaping through the chimneys. You can use an inflatable chimney balloons to prevent such a scenario. These balloons are available online on sites such as Amazon. They don’t cost a lot, probably around 50 bucks or so but can save you more than $100 per year in power bills, so they are a good investment.

The balloons can be blown up and stuck up the chimney. In case you forget to take them out before starting a fire, the balloon is set to deflate automatically. So don’t worry about the house being filled with smoke. However, keep in mind the balloons may become difficult to use or become sooty after many repeated uses and may need to be replaced after a while.

8. Use Sun To Your Advantage:Even though there may be freezing temperatures outside still the rays of the sun can bring about warmth and heat into your home. Keep your curtains open during the day. If any tree branches or plants are blocking sunlight from reaching inside, trim them.

Sunlight is free and an excellent source of heat. So make best use of it to get some warmth into the house and also reduce the furnace needs.

9. Lock Doors And Windows Early:Lock doors and windows early in the evening so that they will lock in tightly. As the evening progresses and temperatures fall, the windows might freeze in their positions. If the windows freeze in their current position, they may require lot of force and efforts to lock them tightly. If you don’t lock them tightly, the cold air can infiltrate into your rooms.

10. Keep Yourself Warm:

In addition to the above tips, it is important to keep yourself warm during winters. Eat warm foods like soups or spicy things and also stick to organic foods. Use several layers of blankets on the bed to keep warm during sleep. Also wear warm clothes and put on woollen socks and sweaters.