Winter is fast approaching, and the only thing that’s bothering you is how to keep your house warm without soaring heating bills. Well, you shouldn’t worry about this anymore. With simple renovation ideas, you can combat the cold winter temperatures and still keep your heating bills low.
The best renovations to keep your house warm combine preventing heat loss, and generating heat. Since it’s so cold outside, you’d need to keep the indoor temperatures warm all the time.
If you’re planning to remodel your house in preparation for the cold winter temperatures, try these clever ideas.
Close Up Cracks in Your Window Frame
Even a tiny crack on your window frame can allow some good amount of heat to escape, and chilly winds to flow in. To check whether there’s a draft on the frames of your window, just let someone stand on the other side of your light source (could be a flashlight or a candle) and if you can see it, seal up the crack using caulk. Do this for all your windows to ensure there’s no gap left.
Reverse the Direction of Your Ceiling Fan
Thought your ceiling fan is just for hot, humid days? Well, you’re pretty wrong about this. Your ceiling fan is also very useful during the winter. By reversing the motor so that it’s clockwise, the ceiling fan creates an updraft that in real sense pushes the warm air near the ceiling downwards. This helps you to keep warm for a longer time, and, therefore, you can lower your thermostat and reduce your heating bills.
Use Draft Stoppers on Your Doors
Don’t let cold air seep in through the crack under your door and disrupt your night sleep. All you need to do is to seal up these cracks using a door stopper. You can get one from a fit outs store, or make one by yourself. The latter option is cheaper and allows you to design a stopper that blends perfectly with your home décor. Even so, it’s up to you to choose the option that would work best for you.
Install Double-Pane Windows
While this normally comes at a cost, the upgrade will save you some dollars in the long run. Due to their energy-efficient qualities, double-pane windows will reduce energy usage by a great percentage during cold winters. These windows are designed in such a way to prevent heat loss to the surroundings and offer insulation to the outdoor temperatures. Double-pane windows aren’t only useful in winter, but also summer. During summer, they help keep the house cool, so, again you don’t have to spend more on energy to regulate the temperatures of your home. Therefore, this is a lifetime investment.
Use a Humidifier
Air feels warmer when there’s more moisture therein. You can use an inexpensive humidifier in your home to raise the humidity levels and warm it up. With a humidifier, you’ll not have to raise your thermostat that much. This reduces the amount of energy used to heat a room and consequently brings your heating bills low.
Want to keep your house warm this winter? Try these ideas and see how low your heating bills can go.