Cut your heating bill
What is it that's making my heating bills so high?
Heat loss.
If you're looking for some easy, low-cost ways to cut down your heating bill, there's a few simple home hacks that could make all the difference. And if you do have extra budget, why not look into some property insulation options to really make a dent in those savings.
Let's talk about home heating hacks
Protect your heat. Fit a pelmet
Not just a hazy memory from the eighties - window pelmets are available in sleek, stylish finishes and will really help cut that spend down even more.
Warm air inside your home will actively seek out any cold spots or gaps around your property, so it's best to plug them up as soon as possible. It sounds too easy, but really is worth the effort.
Another option are draught defenders around your windows - simple and low cost.
Plus, closing your curtains as early as possible during winter will save you money.
Thanks to 'heat exchange', when the outdoor temperature is lower than inside your heated home, the race for that heat to escape hots up. So nip it in the bud by simply closing curtains and blinds as early as possible.
Could a rug be your magic carpet?
If you've got any solid flooring like hard wood, stone or laminate, during winter it'll be busy conducting heat away from your home when the temperature outside drop.
Something as simple as a stylish winter rug or two will help cut down heat loss, which means you'll also cut down how much you spend on heat you don't use.
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Would a hat on your house save you money?
That question gets a firm yes.
The attic can get really cold, and without attic floor insulation, that cold air will make its way down to your nice cosy rooms. Your heating system will then need to really work up an expensive sweat to battle against this cold air.
Putting a big hat over your roof would be ideal. The next best option is to invest in some loft insulation to keep the cold air upstairs away from the rest of the house.
Is your chimney sweeping money away?
Cold air will quickly move in through your chimney, meaning things could get draughty and damp quite easily.
If you've got a disused chimney, simply pop a draught excluder inside it.
Or if you still use your chimney, insert a chimney cap on the flue to keep cold air from changing hands with your heat. Not just a smart headpiece that saves money, it'll also keep out rain, snow and debris too.
So to keep the heat in and the unwanted visitors out, look into a chimney draught excluder or chimney cap.
Is your sofa blocking your savings?
Heating a room instead of your furniture might not sound like much of a fix. But heat can easily get trapped behind furniture, which means it can't circulate around the room and heat it properly. That means you're left feeling cold - or thinking that the heating isn't working properly.
If that's happening in your home, try moving furniture a few metres away from your radiators to see if that helps heat your room better.
Can pipe lagging save you £80* a year?
If your pipes or hot water tank are hot to touch, they're wasting your money and need to be covered.
Pipe lagging is also absolutely essential in cold attics.
Lagging will help stop the pipes from bursting when the weather gets cold and reduce the likelihood of having expensive leaks. That's an insurance policy that could save you far more than £80.
An early curtain drop that works
Windows can get really cold, and when warm air makes contact with these cold windows, heat makes a quick escape. Then you'll feel a draught of cold air in your room instead.
Close curtains and blinds as early as possible to keep your rooms warmer and your heating bills lower.
When it's colder outside than in, the warm air in your room will constantly transfer its heat to the colder air outside through the windows, walls, and any small gaps. Daily temperatures start to drop in the late afternoon, so closing the curtains or blinds as early as possible will help keep your bills down.
Where your rads are matters
Do you have any radiators on exterior walls? You could be losing more heat than you need to.
Moving rads around your property probably isn't a realistic option. But a cheap way to fix the problem could be to reflect the heat back into the room again using reflector panels that go behind the radiator. These will bounce that heat back into the room and help save on your heating bills.
A radiator heats up and transfers warmth to the air and surrounding surfaces - including the wall it's mounted on. Since exterior walls are directly exposed to the cold outdoors, the wall becomes a 'thermal bridge' that pulls a significant amount of heat directly out of the room. Your rads then need to work harder to maintain the your indoor temperature, meaning higher heating bills.
Might this sausage save you from spending?
We all need a superhero - perhaps more than one. Gaps underneath doors are your sworn enemy when it comes to wasting heat as they help make your heating bill higher than it needs to be.
Why not invest in a stylish draught excluder who, during winter, will act as your door security against unwanted guests while you've got the heating on.
The heat inside your room will find any excuse to join the outside world, and a draughty gap beneath a door is a perfect escape hatch. Simply block its path - your bank balance will thank you.
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