As winter approaches and energy costs continue to rise at a frightening rate, now is the time to start preparing your home for winter. In this article, we’re going to share some handy tips to prepare and see you through to the spring. Here’s everything you need to know…
1 – Test your heating
Prevention is the best tactic to start thinking about whether your radiators need bleeding and if your boiler could do with servicing. It’s better to get these tasks done and out of the way now.
2 – Give your windows and doors an inspection
Do a quick whip around your home and ensure that all of the windows and doors are closing tight if you wish to make your home more energy efficient. Additionally, now is a great time to check for any gaps that can be easily sealed with weather-stripping tape or foam sealant.
3 – Clear your guttering
Any build-ups and blockages of leaves can result in icy clusters that are very heavy and sometimes result in collapsed guttering during the winter. This is easily prevented with a quick inspection and clear-out.
4 – Consider insulating your pipes
Insulating the pipes in your home is a great way to not only reduce the loss of heating, but also prevent any potential freezing and busting – which can be costly.
5 – Get acquainted with your heating timer
If you’re not familiar, learn how to use your heating time and get into the habit of using it. Ensuring that your system runs smoothly is a helpful way to heat your home efficiently and keep those costs down.
6 – Ventilate your home properly
If you wish to prevent damp through the winter months you should be mindful of your ventilation. Closing the kitchen door whilst you are cooking for example, is one such way that you can prevent steam from entering the colder rooms in your home.
7 – Have your roof checked
As heat rises and much of the heat of your home can be lost through the roof, it’s always worth having it inspected to ensure that there are no loose tiles that could do with fixing before the winter arrives.
8 – Check your outdoor lights are working properly
Don’t forget how dark it gets during the winter months – and how early. By ensuring that your outdoor lights are in good working order, you can easily prevent any unnecessary slips and trips when it gets dark.
9 – Set some ground rules
Make sure that everyone in your home is aware of the rising energy costs and set some ground rules to ensure that they are all on the same page. Turning lights off when you leave a room, leaving the thermostat well alone, and any other cost-saving tips that you need everyone else to be on board with are worth talking about.
You could even penalties in place for repeat offenders! Extra chores for those who aren’t taking things seriously enough sounds like fair repercussions.
10 – Hire a plumber and heating engineer to run some maintenance tests
Just as you should consider having your boiler checked and serviced, it’s worth hiring a plumber and heating engineer to carry out some maintenance tests on all of your utilities and pipework. Now is the perfect time to spot any potential issues that can be easily rectified before they grow into more expensive problems.
11 – Get into the habit of opening and closing curtains effectively
Keep your curtains open during the day when the sun is out in order to allow extra heat into your home and then close them tight once the sun sets. This is an easy and effective way of keeping the warmth in and making the most of all of the free heat that you can get!
12 – Make a list
The routine opening and closing of curtains is good practice and something that you can add to your list of daily/nightly checks. There are so many little things that you can do to prepare your home for the winter and having a checklist is a handy way to stay on top of everything.
Final words
Give yourself plenty of time to prepare for winter and start making some of these changes now. If you wish to save as much money as possible on your energy bills at the height of winter, many of these tips will come in handy. If you are going to be hiring professionals to help you, be sure to only use trusted companies like 0800 HomeFix to help you.
We hope that you have found this article helpful and wish you all of the best. These are difficult times but we will all get through them together.
