With energy bills at an all-time high and winter well on the way, lots of us are worrying about how we’ll afford to stay warm until spring comes around again.
You probably know how turning down your thermostat by one degree can reduce your heating bill by 10% and how draught excluders help to insulate rooms, but there are some less obvious ways to warm your home. Here’s just five quick and easy heating hacks to keep you cosy.
Open your oven door after you’ve finished cooking
Rather than closing your oven door after you’ve taken your food out, leave the door open so that you get a quick blast of heat. As long as your home is reasonable well-insulated, you’ll feel the benefit for a while.
Turn off your heating 30 minutes before going to bed
Your radiators will carry on kicking out heat as they cool down, so turn them off earlier than you usually would and enjoy the warmth – for these 30 minutes, it’s free!
Move your sofa away from the radiator
This is one of the easiest – and most overlooked – hacks. If your sofa or chair is right up against the radiator, most of the heat is going into the fabric. Moving the sofa a foot or so away from the wall means that more warm air can circulate into your room.
Plop down a rug or two
While wooden floors are good to look at, you can lose up to 10% of your heat through them, especially if you’ve got sanded and varnished original floorboards. Putting down a rug not only helps to conserve heat, but you’ll feel more snug with it underfoot.
Think twice before turning that thermostat
We do love our modern luxuries, one of which is clicking on (almost) instant heat as soon as we feel even slightly chilly. Try to resist the temptation and wait a while. You could put on a hoodie or do some housework for 20-30 minutes before sparking up the boiler. You don’t have to freeze, just try to trim down the time that your heating is on.
