Heating Your Home In Winter

As the days become shorter and the pre-winter chill creeps in, it’s all too tempting to turn up the heat to keep the cold air away. Luckily, several meaningful methods are available to help you stay warm in the winter without a heating system, and you may even increase the efficiency of your home in the process.

Are you struggling to stay warm this winter? Keep reading for simple tips and tactics to keep you warm inside your house. This is the ultimate guide to several methods for keeping your home warm in the winter without increasing your heat bill.

Reverse Your Ceiling Fans

When it’s cold outdoors, do you consider turning on your ceiling fan? You most likely do not. However, if you make one critical step first, you can truly keep your house warm. During the colder months, rotate the blades forwards or clockwise to suck the air up, then push the warm air down the sides of the room.

Because hot air rises, sometimes all you need to do is nudge it in the proper direction. In the summer, most ceiling fans rotate counter-clockwise to produce an airflow. In winter, all you have to do is reverse this so that they are moving clockwise at a slow speed, assisting in pushing warm air back towards the room.

When you switch the fan to winter mode, the blades will reverse their direction. It forces the warm air stored at the ceiling down into the room to cycle with the chilly air. Keep your fan on low speed for maximum effect. This method will make you stay warm for longer, allowing you to lower your thermostat and save money. According to some studies, you might save up to 10% on your energy bill.

Cook And Bake A Lot

Cooking and baking can generate a significant amount of heat in a home. Prepare your meals for the week on weekends when you’ll be home all day to warm up the house. Prepare a roast or soup that will need several hours to prepare.

Bake some treats and invite some friends over to enjoy the spoils. Heat will radiate throughout your home if your oven and stove are working. Furthermore, you will be active while cooking, which will keep your home warm.

Make Use Of A Hot Water Bottle

A good old-fashioned hot water bottle is always the simplest way to keep yourself warm at night. The tried-and-true “hot water bottle under the covers” trick is still one of the easiest and cheapest winter warming methods. Simply slip your water bottle beneath the covers a few minutes before bedtime, then tuck your tootsies into a toasty duvet shelter.

It genuinely works and may keep your feet warm throughout the night. Just make sure to use a well-insulated hot water bottle since uninsulated vessels might leak during the night. This may result in an unpleasant and highly chilly awakening. Some people get a similar result by using heated pads or electric blankets, but these come with their own set of hazards.

Consider Using An Electric Blanket

The advantages of an electric blanket include the ability to set various temperatures for each sleeping person. An electric blanket can keep you warm this winter and comfortable at night, and it is less expensive than an inefficient and costly old heater.

There are over-the-knee variants for sitting up that are usually coated in a lovely, fluffy, and toasty fabric. Electric blankets might be exactly what you need. They consume relatively little energy, and everyone in the house may change their blanket to their desired temperature regardless of the thermostat setting.

Some blankets even include two settings for couples who cannot agree on what constitutes comfort. These blankets can be set from warm to cool per side of the bed, allowing your companion to sleep at a completely different temperature than you. Always remember to unplug a blanket while not in use.

Raise Your Core Body Temperature

Most people have a core temperature of around 37 degrees Celsius or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. When you lose body heat quickly, such as in cold surroundings or cold water, it’s critical to retain body heat and restore your body temperature to avoid organ failure and even death from prolonged low body temperature.

In addition to clothes, your activity can influence your body temperature. Making a delicious hot drink is another helpful method to stay warm. It has no physical effect on your temperature, but your mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of your body. Warm this location, and the hypothalamus may believe your entire body is hot.

In addition, try herbal tea or hot chocolate if you want to sip your way to warmth. Caffeine has been demonstrated to raise your core body temperature, warming you from the inside out. Tea may make you feel warm, but, contrary to popular belief, drinking ice-cold water might keep you warm in winter. This is because it causes your blood vessels to constrict. In the same vein, however, you may not want to add a nip to your mug; alcohol dilates blood vessels, allowing more heat to depart your body.

Keep Your Oven Door Open

Warm meals are comfortable in chilly weather. You may find yourself using your oven more frequently, so make the most of the warm air. Turn off the oven, but leave its door open once you are done baking or roasting. The heated air travels into the kitchen, making it pleasantly warm at the very least.

A word of caution: don’t take this habit too far. When the oven is turned off, you can use the residual heat, but never use a gas oven to heat your home. A gas stove emits hazardous quantities of carbon monoxide. It may make you very sick or perhaps kill you and your family if it leaks from your gas oven.

Purchase Some High-Quality Thermals

Thermals are helpful for more than skiing. One of our wardrobe necessities is a thermal top and pants set, and they are perfect for layering underneath winter outfits and will keep you warm. To achieve the complete impression, invest in some high-quality, comfy clothing.

If you do not like thermals, fleece-lined leggings are a good substitute. They are also the perfect winter tights, so if you have to wear skirts in the winter, a pair should be your go-to cold-leg answer.

Keep Your Windows And Doors Closed And Sealed

The easiest step to keeping your house warm without a heater is to ensure that you keep all your doors and windows closed. Examine the area surrounding the door frame as well as under the door. You might wish to invest in weather stripping or a door sweep. Again, at the least, create a draught excluder or put a towel at the bottom of the door.

You could also make your windows and doors airtight by covering them with transparent plastic sheets. It will help protect you from the cold weather, and the warmth from the sun will heat your home without allowing cold air to enter. If you must use a heater, get a tiny personal space heater that can be moved from room to room. It is a significantly less expensive choice.

Envision The Warmth

Heating and cooling account for around 25% of the average household’s energy usage, so it makes sense to reduce it whenever possible. Think of yourself as warm if you are what you think. Scientists discovered that specific meditation practices could raise core body temperature.

One strategy involved participants visualising flames at the base of the spinal cord to limit heat loss, while the other featured ‘vase breathing,’ a breathing method that causes thermogenesis or the generation of heat.

As tempting as it may sound to burrow up beneath a blanket, you should maintain a light level of activity, such as strolling about the home at regular intervals. It will increase your body heat and trick your brain into believing that you are warmer.

Use Additional Carpets And Rugs

The qualities of marble and tiles absorb the coolness of the weather. Carpeting the tiled or marble floor is one of the better methods to keep your house warm during this winter. Even if you have wooden floors, a beautiful rug can not only enhance the beauty of your living room but will also boost the cosiness of your home.

Place rugs on all three sides of the bed to help offset the impact of severe cold weather. Use some colourful floor cushions on the carpets in your living room for the best winter decor. On chilly nights, this might also be the ideal area for your guests to have a cup of coffee.

Insulate The Inside And Outside Of Your House

Check to verify if your attic is correctly insulated. If it isn’t already insulated, you should add some insulation. If your home is older, examine the insulation since it might settle with time, reducing efficiency. Increasing your attic insulation to the required levels will save you money, keep heat from escaping, help to heat your house, and save up a lot of heat.

Professionally insulating your entire house may appear to be costly to some. However, DIY loft insulation is an option. Rolls of foam insulation are inexpensive, and three rolls of 8-inch deep foam should be sufficient to provide an important layer of protection to most lofts.

Mineral wool, such as Rocksil or Rockwool, glass fibre, and recycled paper products are all effective. However, if you do it yourself, remember to wear a facemask, goggles, and protective clothes, and allow adequate spacing around the eaves to minimise condensation.

Close All Unused Rooms

Rather than attempting to keep heat contained throughout your whole home, close the doors to places you will not be utilising. You will get greater efficiency if you close all the rooms that are not in use. Pay close attention to rooms that are prone to heat loss, such as bathrooms and laundry rooms. The fewer rooms you leave open, the more heat will be trapped in the ones you’re utilising.

Closing the doors to all unused rooms will help retain heat in the rooms that are most frequently used, such as the kitchen and living room. It will also help keep cold air from entering the remainder of the home. Use a draught snake or a plastic draught stopper to prevent cold air from entering the rooms you’re attempting to keep warm.

Seal The Fireplace

An unsealed fireplace is one of the most common sources of heat loss. A fireplace generates a lot of draughts from the cold outside. Even when the damper is closed, a chimney can operate as a wind tunnel, pulling cold air into your house through the fireplace opening. To remedy this, you can buy a fireplace draft stopper to seal your fireplace.

Fireplace draft stoppers are available in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they all serve the same purpose: to keep your home toasty by preventing cold air from entering. It is a reusable inflatable object that fits into the firebox below the damper. Whether you opt for a fabric draft blocker, a chimney balloon, glass doors, or even make your own artistic cover; the stopper will keep your home warm while saving you money on energy bills.

Check that there are no hot coals in the fireplace before beginning the installation. When not in use, always keep the fireplace closed.

Use Experts For A Warmer House During Winter

Choosing energy-efficient heating systems to keep your home warm in the winter is beneficial to the environment and reduces your heating bill. It also means that you will have the extra money in your pocket to put towards a down payment on your first house, your next car, or future investment properties. Talk to your adviser about finding alternatives for an inefficient heating system during winter if you are doing home improvements or construction.

Winter isn’t always pleasant, but these cold-weather hacks will help make the season more comfortable. Moreover, should you require extra tips and information or are looking to upgrade or maintain your heating system, it is typically best to do this before the winter chill arrives. As such, contacting reliable professionals to quote or assist you in making your home warmer this winter should be done a few weeks in advance.

‍