How To Effectively Heat Your Home This Winter

*This is a collaborative post on how to effectively heat your home this winter

Many households in Britain will be dreading the upcoming winter. With gas prices at an all-time high and the ongoing cost of living crisis eating into household budgets, it might be one of the most challenging winters yet. 

With this in mind, it’s a good idea to do everything you can to ensure that your home is heating effectively. This means checking for gaps in walls, doors and windows, draught-proofing and upgrading your heating system for maximum effectivity. Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that our money isn’t going down the drain because of things we can easily avoid.  

Improve your insulation to heat your home

Keep your house warm by giving it the best insulation. In the same way that we need multiple jumpers and jackets to keep warm over winter, the same applies for your house. Effective wall and roof insulation can drastically reduce energy bills by keeping energy from escaping the house. 

Roof insulation, at its most effective, should be at a depth of 30cm, whilst cavity wall insulation is a good idea as it increases the energy performance certificate of your house. This, in turn, increases the value of your property!

While at it, check for any wall gaps that need covering up. You might be losing a lot of heat through a gap you didn’t even know about.

Upgrade heating systems

Go straight to the source and replace your radiators and boiler with a newer model. Prioritise making these changes now in time for winter and shop around for the best deal or invest in some air source heat pumps that are easy to install and are environmentally friendly.

Boilers, if they are over 12 years old, can be working ineffectively and costing you more money. Again, get this sorted soon to reap the benefits this winter.

DIY draught-proofing to heat your home

It’s cheap, relatively easy and doesn’t have to turn your home upside down. First, walk around your home and see if you can feel any draughts. Then, fix those areas with a self-adhesive seal which is easy to use and can cost as little as £2.50 for 10 metres. Install some strip excluders around doors and windows, ensuring no heat escapes.

Such simple things can make a huge difference to your energy bill. The Energy Saving Trust estimated that thorough draft-proofing can save you around £30 on heating bills per year.

Double glazed windows

Future-proof your house and add some serious value with double or even triple-glazed windows. An asset for now and in the years to come, you will be thankful you invested in the long run.