6 Ways To Keep Your Home Warm
During the dog days of summer, the cold winter winds feel a long way off.
However, there’s always the knowledge that a few months from now, the air conditioner will be off, the heater will be on, and the task of staying warm will begin.
Top 6 Ways To Keep Your Home Warm
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to keep your home warmer during the fall and winter. Here are six practical tips for keeping your home toasty.
1. Use Rugs and Textiles
Adding rugs and textiles to your home during the winter can help everyone stay warm without turning up the thermostat.
Thick rugs provide insulation against the cold floors, especially in older houses or homes built on slabs. Adding luxe throw pillows and blankets to couches and chairs also creates a warm, inviting environment where you can curl up and stay cozy.
Consider adding a basket of slippers near your home’s entryway for your household and guests to use. You can also hang thicker curtains to help mitigate heat loss through the windows, which can account for over 30% of your annual heating costs.
2. Schedule Annual Furnace Tune-Ups
Scheduling annual furnace tune-ups will ensure your systems are running efficiently. Most heating repair services offer an annual tune-up service or an affordable maintenance plan.
It’s best to schedule these visits for the late summer or early fall before demand increases. If you wait too long, you might not get the visit in until after the cold weather hits.
During a tune-up, the heating specialist will clean filters, make adjustments, and ensure everything is in good working order. This visit ensures that your heating system is running efficiently for maximum output with minimal energy or fuel consumption.
3. Redirect the Heat
If your home has any minimally used areas, you can keep the high-traffic areas warmer by redirecting the heat. Close the doors to unused rooms. These rooms could include guest rooms, the bathroom, and bedrooms during the day while people aren’t home.
Consider closing or blocking vents in unused rooms to ensure that heat is redirected where it’s needed. If you have ceiling fans, turn them clockwise to push warm air back down to the ground. If you have a multi-story home, it’s well worth installing a fan over the staircase.
Ensure that nothing is obstructing your vents in high-traffic areas. For example, if you have a sofa in front of a vent, try moving it elsewhere or moving it forward to avoid impeding the airflow.
4. Repair Gaps and Drafts
Finding and repairing gaps and drafts should be on your annual home maintenance to-do list. You can rent or buy a draft detector or use a candle to determine where the air is moving in and out of your home.
Consider adding insulation to exterior walls or around electrical outlets. If you have drafty windows and doors, you can use weather stripping, caulking, and door liners to minimize leaks.
5. Use Supplementary and Residual Heat
Talk to your heating specialist about installing a supplementary heat source in high-traffic areas of your home.
Adding a heat pump will help you keep your house warmer by focusing your climate control efforts rather than waiting for the whole house to heat up. You can also explore adding in-floor or radiant heat if you have any planned renovations.
6. Control the Humidity
Humidity has an interesting effect on how we perceive temperature. If the humidity level in your home is too high during the winter, it will feel colder than what the thermostat is telling you.
This phenomenon is caused by invisible water droplets coming in contact with your skin. If you’re concerned about the humidity levels in your home, talk to a home heating or HVAC specialist about how to correct this issue.
Try these practical suggestions to help your home feel warmer without dramatically increasing your home heating costs.
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