A Guide to Keeping Warm in Winter
When winter comes, you need to brace yourself. The temperatures drop, there’s less daylight, and the weather is generally foreboding. Whether indoors or outdoors, you’ve got to wrap up until spring rolls around again and then makes way for summer. Are you getting ready for winter? From heating your home to using available resources, this is our handy guide to keeping warm throughout this bitter season.
Heating your home
When keeping warm in the winter, the prominent place to start is to turn on the heating. If you’re strategic with your heating use, you can use it effectively to stay warm in your home:
Set the heating to come on before you get up and to go off after you go to bed
There’s nothing worse than stepping out of a warm bed into a cold room. It’s especially not nice on bitterly cold mornings when you must get up to work. Set your heating so it comes on just before you get up and turns off as you go to bed. If the previous night’s weather forecast predicts exceptionally chilly temperatures, set your heating to come on earlier than usual so the house is toasty warm when you get up.
Keep your home at a safe, stable temperature.
Sudden temperature changes can be dangerous, so it’s better to heat your home at a stable temperature rather than a high temperature for a few hours. Set your thermostat to 21ºC during the day and 18ºC at night. If you can’t afford to heat all the rooms of your home, focus on your living room (or perhaps your office if you work from home) and, before you go to bed, your bedroom. Don’t forget to close doors and draw curtains or blinds to keep the heat in.
Check the heating regularly.
When the chilly season sets in, you want your heating to fire on all cylinders, so it’s best to check your heating in the summer. All it takes is to turn it on for a little while to see if the radiators and boiler are working. It’s better to find out sooner than later. If you look after them and have them checked regularly, you can detect and address any issues before winter arrives.
Watch out for carbon monoxide.
It would be best always to ventilate your home when using an appliance. If a heating or cooking appliance has been poorly installed, maintained, or poorly ventilated, it could give off the poisonous gas carbon monoxide, which you can’t see, smell or taste. Hire a registered and reliable engineer to check these appliances each year. Have carbon monoxide alarms fitted, too. These should also undergo regular checks.
Preserving the heat
As well as turning on the heat in winter, it’s essential to prepare your home beforehand to stop the heat from getting out and the cold from getting in. You can do this by draught-proofing and insulating your home. Not only will you be able to keep your home warmer, but you can also lower your energy bills, which is a handy little bonus.
Draught-proof rooms
Start with your windows and doors. The cold can seep in easily through any gaps around them, so seal these up ― you could also place draft excluders behind the doors ―and leave it no place to enter. Don’t forget about your letterbox. You’ll be surprised how much cold comes in through this.
Insulate your loft
Did you know an uninsulated home loses a quarter of its heat through the loft roof? This makes loft insulation another good way to reduce your energy bills, and the insulation will serve you for approximately 40 years before you have to look into it again. Your loft should have 10 to 11 inches of insulation. Going to this expense now will save you lots of money in the long run.
Insulate cavity walls
A cavity wall consists of two walls with a gap between them both, and if your home was built after the 1920s, your home is likely to have them. The outer one will be made of brick, and the inner one will be made of concrete blocks or brick.
You may also not know that a home loses a third of its heat through cavity walls, so you should insulate these, too. This job is for a registered installer, who will drill holes into the wall, inject insulation material and then cover the holes back up with cement.
If you don’t know whether your walls are cavity ones or standard solid walls (which is a single, solid wall), take a quick look at the brick pattern: if the bricks are evenly laid, it’s a cavity wall; if they’re not ― i.e. some bricks have been laid across the wall so that you see the end of the brick ― it’s likely to be a solid wall. (Incidentally, if you have solid brick walls, you could fit radiator reflectors behind your radiators to reflect heat into the rooms of your home rather than let the heat escape through the wall.
They work best with solid walls.
Insulate pipes and water tanks.
Insulating your pipes and water tanks is relatively straightforward and relatively inexpensive. When it comes to protecting the tank, all you have to do is buy a hot water cylinder jacket, which costs about £15, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to fit it.
In the case of the pipes, you add some foam tubing to the pipes exposed between the water tank and the boiler. You might have to call a professional if the pipes are in tricky areas.
Heating Aside…
You can insulate your home and turn on the heating, but it doesn’t have to stop there. The more measures you implement, the easier you’ll be able to withstand the cold temperatures.
Make sure you have a good duvet.
Check the tog rating of your duvet, which indicates the latter’s ability to trap warm air. If it’s seven or under, you’ll feel the cold when the winter nights arrive. The higher the tog rating, the warmer the duvet.
Ideally, you want a duvet with a tog rating of around 10.5 or upwards. Some people prefer to use the same duvet the whole year round. This is okay; one with a tog rating of 10 would be a reasonable compromise. You can add an extra blanket in winter.
Don’t forget that duvets are transferable, too. Why sit shivering in your living room? Drag your duvet into the living room.
Use an electric blanket.
Who doesn’t love the warmth of an electric blanket? Before slipping beneath it, however, check whether it’s the blanket you can leave on all night or if you must heat it and switch it off when climbing into your beautiful, spacious bed.
Have your electric blanket tested every three years to ensure safety. One of your other options is to pop a hot water bottle in your bed. You can choose either, but never should you use a hot water bottle and an electric blanket together. It’s hazardous to do so.
Keep moving
One way to prevent the cold from having too much impact is to keep active because it generates heat. If you’re indoors, you should avoid sitting still for more than an hour, so get up and walk around the house a little.
You can stay active throughout the day by spreading chores across the day. You can also do some exercises. If you’re ill or bed-bound, moving your arms and wiggling your arms, legs, and toes can help you stave off some of that unpleasant feeling of cold.
Wear warm clothes indoors.
Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, you should wrap up. Don’t feel daft about what you wear indoors. Don’t just leave it up to your duvet to keep you warm when going to bed. You can wear a hat and/or thermal clothing and support the duvet with an electric blanket or a hot water bottle (but never both simultaneously).
Enjoy a warm bath before you go to bed. This will warm you up and, additionally, help you to sleep once you jump into bed.
Layer up outdoors with thin layers.
Another approach you could consider is layering your clothing, especially if you’re outdoors. The layers trap the warm air between them, which acts as insulation. It would be best if you started by putting on a thin but comfortable, close-fitting layer, which will be the base for your outfit.
With each layer, the clothing should get thicker. You’ll hardly notice the cold. This is also a good way to dress children in winter. Ensure they wear many layers and that their clothes are made from wool, cotton or fleece.
Get your feet up.
Did you know that the air closer to the ground is colder? Perhaps you’ve noticed your feet get cold when standing in an outdoor sports stadium at a grass-roots match or sitting on a chilly train somewhere.
When you’re at home and the temperatures are colder, wear thick socks and comfortable slippers, grab a stool, and put your feet up.
Harness the power of drinks.
Naturally, it makes sense to reach for hot drinks when the temperatures drop. The body distributes the heat evenly, and the warm liquid will cause your body temperature to surge and stay this way for a good while. Warming your hands up by holding the cup is also a bonus.
You can give your body temperature an additional boost by adding some spices to drinks and food. Cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, cayenne, cardamom, horseradish and garlic all have properties that would do the trick.
If you can incorporate any of these into your drinks or meals, you could handle the drop in cold temperatures a little easier.
Look for financial help.
You could be so busy insulating your home, draught-proofing it, setting your heating and more that it may not occur to see if you can get some financial help with your home.
The Government actively encourages citizens to make their homes more environmentally friendly and offers grants to help with this, mainly when saving energy is concerned. In some circumstances, energy companies will also lend you a hand with the costs:
The Warm Homes Scheme
This scheme can help you to cut your energy bills. The scheme is open to pensioners and people on low incomes, and if you meet the criteria, you’ll receive a discount on your electricity bills. Energy suppliers manage the scheme and will credit the account of people who become part of it. You could receive a discount on your gas bill if you receive your gas and electricity from the same supplier. Why not apply and see if you’re eligible?
Home improvement grants
Under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, which aims to tackle fuel poverty and reduce carbon emissions, energy companies fund measures that households take to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. You could receive funding for loft insulation projects if you’re eligible to participate in the scheme. Other measures eligible for potential funding include the installation of smart meters and the replacement of boilers.
A note on wellbeing
Preparing for the winter doesn’t just mean focusing on staying warm. You should consider the bigger picture of your wellbeing. Eating well ― which includes eating plenty of fruit and vegetables ― and visiting the doctor for jabs against flu and other illnesses is also essential, as is exercise.
These things are especially necessary in the winter because the lower temperatures can make you more vulnerable to sickness and disrupt your wellbeing.
Follow the tips above and stay much warmer when those cold winter days and nights arrive. Wrap up warm. It won’t be long before summer is here again!
Related pages
- Top 5 Mattresses for Heat Retention, Helping You Keep Warm
- How to Heat Your Bedroom For Less than 40p Per Hour