The Optimum Home Design For Keeping Out The Cold & Keeping Your Home Warm In Winter

It’s late-January and winter shows no signs of ending. Most of us are feeling the cold, and with fuel costs rising every year, it’s no surprise everyone’s feeling the pinch. If you want to make your pennies go further, it’s worth optimising your home to ensure you’re not paying for heat which goes right out the windows. Follow these top tips to ensure your home is designed to keep the heat in this winter.

1. Invest In Thick Curtains

Covering your windows and French doors with thick curtains after dark will do a surprising amount for your heating bill. The best thing to do is to keep curtains open during the day to let sunlight in, capitalising on this free source of heat – but ensure you get into the habit of closing them after dark. You can even cover exterior doors with curtains to add an extra layer of insulation to your home.

2. Give This Double-Glazing Alternative A Go

Double-glazing obviously makes a big difference, but if you don’t want to splash out and refit every window in the house, you can cheat and buy a special film to cover single-glazed windows for about £15 a pop. It’s not quite as effective as proper double-glazing but it’s certainly better than nothing.

3. Try Sticking Some Tin Foil Behind Your Radiators

It might sound like something only practised by Area 51 conspiracy theorists, but the radiator foil trick is probably one of the best value adaptations you can make to save on your heating bills. The foil will reflect heat from the back of the radiators into the room, rather than leaving it to be lost through the walls of the house.

Click here to purchase radiator reflector foil.

4. Exclude The Draughts

A surprising amount of heat is lost from homes every day through draughts around areas like your letterbox, underneath exterior doors and cat flaps. You can invest in draught excluders and letterboxes brushes, or even just make your own from old pairs of tights and wool.

5. Consider Window & Door Placement

OK, so if your house was built 50 years ago and it’s otherwise in good nick, we’re not suggesting you knock it down just to ensure that your windows and doors are placed for optimum heat retention. But if you’re considering an extension to your home, it’s worth knowing where to put your windows and doors to secure a toasty temperature in winter. For example, placing windows and doors inset by one-third will reduce thermal bridging and could save you hundreds on your annual heating bills.

There are a huge number of ways that most of us can still cut down on our heating bills, and much of it is just common sense. By making a few small changes here and there, it’s possible to save hundreds of pounds annually on heating and make yourself a little more comfortable in the meantime.

Call the experts at BDS today for more tips and tricks on keeping the heat in this winter!

Image source: Pixabay