If we consume a lot of electricity during the summer season to cool the house, similarly, during the winter months, bills skyrocket due to excessive use of heaters. Of course, keeping the house warm when it is cold outside is important, but we do not necessarily have to resort to excessive use of heaters. Today, in fact, we will see some tricks to heat our home without abusing heaters and without having high costs in the bill! Let’s find out together what they are!
1. Closed doors
First of all, the first trick we recommend is to keep the doors of unused rooms closed. In fact, we often tend to turn on the heaters and leave the doors open, ignoring the fact that by doing so, heat will dissipate, and the house will struggle to heat up. In addition to room doors, also avoid opening outside doors too much to avoid letting the cold in the house. Obviously, however, this does not have to apply throughout the day, as it is good to schedule times when the doors should remain open to encourage air exchange!
2. Take advantage of the sun’s heat
The strongest source of heat, it is known, is the sun, which is able to heat your home naturally. And, therefore, why not “harness” it? To do so, you will simply have to move the curtains during the day to allow the sun’s rays to penetrate the glass in your doors and create a warming effect in your rooms. Conversely, then, in the evening and at night, we recommend that you close the curtains again so as to create a “barrier” and retain the heat inside the house and insulate the room from the cold outside. To make this remedy work even more, you can also use blackout curtains with thermal lining.
3. Warmer blankets
Of course, resorting to warmer blankets may be a trivial and obvious remedy, yet it cannot be overlooked as it allows us to keep warm without resorting to heaters. We remind you, in fact, that it was the trick of our grandmothers! We recommend, therefore, that you use nice warm padded blankets that can trap heat and keep you warm while you sleep without necessarily having to turn on the heaters in the night! Similarly, you can use plaids to keep you warm while you are on the couch watching a movie!
4. Watch out for the cracks
Often the house struggles to heat because there are cracks in the window or door frames, which allow drafts of air to enter. We recommend, therefore, that you take care that there are no holes or cracks, and if there are, it would be a good idea to fill them right away with inexpensive and easy-to-find solutions, such as foam tape or sponges made especially for this purpose. Cold drafts will be just a bad memory! In addition, since cold air drafts can also enter from the chimney, we recommend that you close it after use, consulting a technician for advice on how to close the passage in the safest way.
5. Draft guard
In addition to cracks in the window frame, however, drafts can also come from cracks in windows and doors-that is, from the space between the door and the floor. But fear not! In fact, in this case, you can use draft guards, which are those fabric sausages you used to find in your grandmothers’ houses on the windowsill or near doors. To make them, you can roll up old jeans and sweaters and place them along the cracks in doors and windows to act as thermal insulation and prevent cold outside air from penetrating.
6. Carpets on floors
Another trick that can insulate the house from the cold outside and retain heat inside is to keep rugs on the floors. To make this trick particularly effective, we recommend that you prefer woolen ones and place them in the busiest rooms, such as the living room. In addition, rugs are also a godsend for retaining the heat from radiators: just keep a nice rug under or behind the radiator and you will notice the difference!
7. Trick with the radiator
So far, we have seen tricks for heating the house without necessarily having to resort to radiators. Now, however, let’s look at a trick to try with the radiator on, which can keep the heat from dissipating and thus save us money on our bills while still having a warm house!
What are we talking about? The tin foil trick. All you will need for this method is, therefore, a Styrofoam board and aluminum foil. Start, then, by gluing the foil onto the panel using preferably foam glue and, once you have the panel, place it behind your radiator. We recommend that you always place it in such a position that the reflective part faces the room and the insulating part faces the wall. This remedy will be useful in that it will allow the heat not to leak into the walls behind, but on the contrary, to “push” it into the room!
Warnings
Once you have followed these tips you may already notice your house warmer, despite the fact that you have halved the use of heaters. In any case, we recommend that you contact a technician first in case of leaks and cold drafts from plumbing inlets and electrical outlets.
