Brrr! Preparing the home for winter.

As we move through autumn into swiftly approaching winter keeping yourself, your loved ones and your home warm soon becomes a priority as the nights draw in and the cold embraces us.

Not only is the cold unpleasant to feel and experience but it also can be a risk to your health, being particularly risky for the elderly and young children.

Being parents to 2 young children, 1 being a newborn baby, it is vital for us to try our best to keep our home and our children warm during the colder months. As we live in an older house that gets quite cold it can be a little tricky to keep the cold at bay especially thanks to the cost of heating but as it is important to keep our home warm for the sake of our children (and ourselves) I have been looking at ways to prepare your home for winter.

As sharing is caring I thought I would share with you the top tips I have found for getting your home ready for the colder months –

* Check the temperature

Use a room thermometer so that you can keep an eye on the temperature and adjust the heating accordingly so it’s not too cold or too hot

 * Wrap up

Wear several thin layers of clothing to keep warm and when the cold is bitter reach for thermal underwear, warm tights or socks.

Snuggle up with a shawl or blanket for added warmth and wear warm clothes in bed.

When out and about wear gloves, a hat and a scarf to keep hands and face warm so that when you go home you are not already cold as it can be hard work warming up once you are cold.

* Shut the curtains

A great way to prevent heat loss is shutting the curtains. Keep curtains open during the day to allow the natural heat of the sun to penetrate the house but at dusk close the curtains to keep the heat within the home trapped where you want it – indoors.

It is also worth investing in thermal curtains or adding a thermal lining to your existing curtains to help reduce heat loss.

* Update your heating system

If your house’s heating system is old and no longer working at its best it may be worth considering investing in a new heating system that is energy efficient and effective at heating up your home.

Whilst it may be costly in the first place to update your heating system in the longer term it would work out cost effective if the new system is energy efficient and more effective at heating your home than your current heating system.

If you use electric radiators and find that they no longer heat your home well and you want to invest in some new energy efficient electric radiators click here to take a look at Best Electric Radiators.

* Insulate

Installing loft and wall cavity insulation is a great simple and effective way to reduce heat loss within your home which in turn means your house stays warmer.

There are government schemes available for free loft and wall cavity insulation so check to see if you qualify. If you do not qualify it is worth bearing in mind that whilst there is an initial expense with adding loft and wall cavity insulation in the long term as it helps reduce heat loss it should save you money as you will hopefully be less inclined to turn the heating on saving you money on your heating bills.

* Banish drafts

Draft-proofing is a great way to reduce heat loss and keep you warm. Check for drafts under doors and around windows, blocking drafts with draft excluders and foam strips.

* Ignore the spare room

If you have a room that you don’t use at that time then don’t heat it. Rather than wastefully heat a room that is not used, turn off the radiator in that room and close the door, it will save you money as you won’t be heating a room that is not used.

* Reflective radiators

Fit radiator reflectors to radiators to reflect more heat back into the room. It is easy to do, costs are minimal and it will help keep you warm during the colder spells.

So these are the top tips I have come across for preparing your home for winter. Now all I need to do is enforce them so that our little loves ones are warm regardless of the weather outside.

Do you have any tips for keeping warm during the colder months?

* In collaboration with Best Electric Radiators *