Keeping your home as warm as you wish during winter would probably make you run bankrupt. The energy bills will be too high for you to afford, especially during this cold season when your activity has been reduced thus income generation is at its lowest. Turning the thermostat up by just a few degrees may end up crippling your bank account.
Lucky for you, there are a number of cheap and natural ways of heating your home without having to blast the heaters on. These range from lining the windows by the use of bubble wrap to a simple changing of the blade rotating direction of the ceiling fan. In a nutshell, there are a number of heating hacks that you need to employ in order for you to get through this coming winter without incurring much cost.
1. Caulking the window frames.
Application of caulk ensures that the air leak cracks around the window are sealed off. Caulking is not that expensive. It only costs a few dollars but the savings are major. This is one of the surest ways of reducing your heating energy bills during cold weather.
2. Open the curtains whenever it is sunny out
If you didn’t know, there is a lot of natural warmth that is always provided by sun during cold days. By just opening the windows, you will realize that there will be an increased urge to adjust the thermostat down thus reducing your heating bills. This also implies that you should close your curtains just before the sun sets to prevent cold air from entering the rooms and the heat from escaping.
3. Use carpets on tile or hardwood floors
Rugs & carpets are important in keeping heat from escaping via the floorboards. In addition, these rags are warmer to walk on when compared with hardwood or the ceramic tiles thus you won’t be tempted to add more heat.
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4. Showering with an open door
Warm and steamy air is allowed to travel all over your house if you bath with the doors open. You obviously need this hot or rather warm steam in the other rooms for more comfort.
5. The use of a fireplace plug
By the use of this plug, you guarantee keeping the warm air within thus extending the warmth to the occupants. This is especially the case if your chimney damper is leaky, rusty or just loose. Up to 20% of the warm air is kept within by the use of this plug.
6. Adding more insulation
If your house is one of those older homes, considering the addition of insulation to the walls together with the attic is prudent. Though it may cost quite high, in the long run, insulations will prove to be worthy investments in reducing the heating bills.
7. Sleeping with water bottles
At the foot of your bed, you should have some hot water bottles. Though this is an old tradition, it is a proven fact that it works. At the foot of the bed, slip the hot water bottle under your blanket after filling it with hot water. All through the night, you will enjoy having toasty toes.
8. Leave the door of your oven open after baking.
One way of keeping your kitchen frowzy is by just turning your oven off and leaving its door open after you are done baking. All this wonderful and much needed warm air will heat up the entire kitchen.
9. Keep cold air out
A lot of cold air seeps into the house underneath the door. By the use of a draft stopper, you will be able to insulate your house from such cold air. The draft stoppers can either be bought or made at home!
10. Use bubble wraps to insulate your windows
The use of bubble wraps on one’s windows makes it possible for cutting of heat loss by a half. This though not a very attractive choice, it is an option that can help you reduce on your heating energy bills.
11. Close any of the unused rooms
Larger homes cost more to heat thus the larger your house, the more you will spend to heat it up. In case there is a storage space you aren’t using, or a guest room that is not occupied at the moment, close their doors & use a draft stopper to seal them. It doesn’t make sense to spend much money heating a room you aren’t using.
12. Reverse the direction of your ceiling fan
Ceiling fans have been designed to rotate on counterclockwise directions. It is through this way that they create a draft through pushing air downwards. During the winter season, reversing the fans direction to clockwise fashion pushes the cool air upwards while mixing it with the rising heat. The mixed air then spreads downwards, thus making the room to have a warmer feel.
13. Snuggling up using flannel sheets
The use of flannel sheets together with a thick comforter ensures that you are kept warm during the cold winter nights. As long as you are warm, you will either not need to heat up the rooms or you will have to adjust the thermostat downwards.
14. Install a programmable thermostat
Set your thermostat at several degrees cooler during the hours when you aren’t in the house. Reducing the temperatures by around 10 degrees F will enable you to save as much as 10% of your heating bills.
15. Use a DIY terracotta pot heater to warm up your entire room
All that you need to make this heater are two clay flower pots and a sterno flame and you have a heating contraption that saves you the high electricity bills.
16. Bundle up when all these don’t work
All wool everything and this can never fail you. Ensure that you have wool leggings, woolen cardigan, woolen gloves, woolen cap, woolen scarf and even woolen trousers if you can get one.
A combination of all these or as many as possible will reduce your heating bills up to over 80%.