There’s no doubt about it, winter is a season that is challenging to keep warm throughout your home. Have you ever wondered what did people do back in the old days to keep warm? If you have a winter birthday like me, you can imagine how difficult it is to celebrate without the dread of the blustering cold winter temperatures seeping inside. One of the most frustrating and difficult living situations is when your home has poor insulation. That causes us to turn the heat up and that will take up more energy and cost more money. This article will explain some ways to add additional heat and insulation in your home.
Have you ever wondered, what is the cause of all this relentless cold floating around in your home? What happens we lose heat because of radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation. In broad terms, suppose you leave for winter break, and although you will leave on your central heat while you’re not occupying your home. However, the air will warm up fast, but walls will take longer and that’s why it still feels cold inside your home. Yes, the walls to make a difference, and we never have the thought that is one of the main reasons some houses feel cold even with the heat turned up. The walls are cooler in temperature than other things in your home. Also keep in mind that your physical location can make a huge difference, and add to more cold drafts, for instance, living out in open space, woods, and near water.
Some tips about heat devices you should follow
There are some easy ways to overcome this and these tips will also decrease your energy bills. If you have curtains hanging up in the windows, just like how we change from winter clothes to summer clothes and vice versa your curtains will have to be for the winter months. There’s a win, win for both uses of the curtains during the day and night. Open your drapes, blinds, and shades on sunny days for the added benefit of free solar heat. After the sun has gone down, lower your blinds and close your drapes to stop warmth from escaping through the window. Just be sure that your window treatments don’t block each radiator or floor registers. However, the tricky thing about windows is when we use the solar heat the glass of the window will be warm, but that doesn’t have the same effect with the window itself you if can afford in your budget to purchase insulated windows do so.
Having a nice warm cozy fireplace or a fire built outdoors has kept people warm for centuries. If you have a fireplace in your home, and if you have to build the fire make sure that the fireplace is covered up with a screen. That will maintain the heat and keep cold air from seeping through the chimney. When a fire is not active you can feel the cold draft, and it’s a good idea to keep the screen there either way. There are some homes that are built with electronic fireplaces with a flip of the switch and instant heat is granted.
Space heaters have also been an instant warm up. Space heaters have come a long way, and they can use up a lot of energy. Fortunately, we now have space heaters that are energy savers, and less hazardous to cause fires. If you only need a heater to keep a room warm shut the door to keep the heat trapped inside, or if you need it for open space properly insulate the area around you. The best space heaters to consider would be the ones that have timers especially for throughout the night and when you’re not home.
Like I mentioned earlier in this article cold walls are a big problem to keep your home warm. Having solid brick or stone walls they will hold in warmth better than glass. When they get cold a lot of heat will escape. The walls will need to be covered with a thick and heavy plastic cover. Your local hardware stores will have them. The cold will be trapped on the thick and heavy plastic and that will block out the cold from your walls.
Another helpful tip is if you happen to have any large picture mirrors or large pictures in your home that will also add extra layers of insulation. If you have the large furniture like bookshelves or anything that’s tall and large to cover up any extra spaces in your home will keep the warmth from escaping is another alternative for your furniture to be effective to keep warm insulation in your home. In order to stay warm will depend on where you are located in your home although the air temperature is the same throughout your home. Position yourself to be closer t the inside of the house because you won’t be close to the walls. You want to follow where the heat circulates in order for this suggestion to be effective. Lastly, if you happen to have a desk or bed near the window, you’ll need to insulate those areas or move to another area altogether until spring time!
Having a drafty door will always give heat the freedom to escape. This issue does relate back to having poor insulation. If you have a storm door attached you’ll want to have a nice thick and heavy one, and laying a heavy blanket or heavy cardboard underneath the crack of the door will be helpful. Sometimes the cold weather is associated with heavy relentless wind. This is another reason why proper insulation is essential.
If your home has ceiling fans you will need to switch to winter mode. Next, they will have to be set and rotate in a clockwise direction. Having blades the going around in a clockwise rotation will push the warm air down naturally in the clockwise rotation. This would be similar to when you’re in the car and you can the effect of the breeze from another window that is rolled down rather than the window you rolled down next to you.
If you also want to add extra heat to yourself invest in thermal and thick and heavy clothing. Anything that has either duck or goose feathers are always the best options. For example, coats, gloves, hats, socks, long johns, and blankets. If these items are very heavy and thick you will maintain warmth from your own body heat.
These tips in this article will make a great deal of a difference to keep extra warm. Make sure to do your research, and let your choices and options have high quality for you to keep warm, and will help keep your energy bills lower costs throughout the winter months.