Anyway I hate paying a lot for my heating so I always look at some fabulous ways to save money where i can and still keep us nice and toasty.
We are quite lucky in our house as its a new build so it has well sealed windows and insulated walls and loft but I still begrudge heating the whole house when we only really stay in certain rooms. With this in mind I use the following tricks.
1) I turn off radiators in rooms that don’t need them such as the hall, kitchen and downstairs bathroom.
2) I set a heating timer on our boiler for one hour before we get up, 30 minutes before the kids come home from school and around the kids bedtime.
3) Teach the kids to shut all the doors in the house. There is no point heating a room if it all escapes into the hallway and up to the roof. By getting everyone to keep the doors shut we can make sure the rooms stay nice and warm for when we need them.
4) We spend most of our time in the living room and I have come to the realisation that 5 minutes with the gas fire on will heat the room and make it lovely and toasty when we need it. With this in mind if we keep the door shut we only need to have it on occasionally and yet still benefit from the warmth.
5) Wear layers. Nothing irritates me more than someone saying they are cold in my house when they are wearing a tshirt. Go and put a jumper on or get a blanket. There is no need to heat the whole house just because you have a chill.
6) Close the curtains and draw the blinds. By doing this you add an extra layer of insulation and prevent the heat escaping out of the windows.
7) Get a draught excluder. If you have a gap under your door buy a cheap draught excluder or make one yourself.
8) Place reflective panels behind radiators, particularly those on outside walls will help keep the heat in the house rather than being absorbed into the walls. You can make your own radiator reflector panels really cheaply.
9) use the shower instead of the bath to save on heating the water or why not share a bath with a family member (not at the same time! unless you want to of course).
10) Warm your bed instead of your bedroom. Who loves the feeling of jumping into a lovely warm bed at night? I know I do and I have a little trick. Instead of an electric blanket or a hot water bottle I stick my hair dryer under the covers for a few seconds before I climb in. Its bliss!
So there you have it my top ten tips to stay warm this winter and save money too!
We are looking forward to more winter adventures.
