Top ten tips to cut down on central heating use
The nights are drawing in and we’re getting a bit chilly. We’ve even been tempted to turn the central heating on in some of our colder moments. But it’s only October, and there are many cold months ahead.
Keeping the heating off is better for the environment, and like many other eco-friendly moves, better for your bank balance too. So, we’re trying to hold on for a bit without winding up with frost bite.
We’ve come up with 10 ideas to keep central heating use down to a minimum, by avoiding using it in the first place, and to conserve warmth when it gets really cold and you have no choice but to fire up the boiler.
We’ve tried to keep everything DIY-friendly so you won’t have to call in a professional. With the following tips, you shouldn’t have a problem turning your thermostat down by one degree.
1. Block your cracks. Any cracks in windows or around doors will let heat escape, so fill them up. A good way to check for cracks around doorframes is to close the door and see if you can see any light coming through. Remember that if light can come into the room, heat can get out. You can fix any gaps yourself with self-adhesive window and door insulation, which you can buy from DIY stores or online sellers such as Wilkinson Plus. An attractive way of keeping draughts from getting in through doors is to buy or make your own draught excluder.
2. Cover up your keyhole. Keyholes are often left uncovered, allowing cold air into your home. External doors should be fitted with a key flap over the key hole.
3. Keep doors closed. It’s best to keep all of the doors closed so that warmth doesn’t escape into spare or unheated rooms where you don’t need it.
4. Use rugs and carpets. Wooden floors look nice, but they do tend to come with a number of gaps through which heat can escape or drafts can get in. Putting a carpet or rug down will help keep heat inside.
5. Curtains. Make sure your curtains are nice and thick, and that they extend beyond the window frame. If you can manage the sewing it’s a good idea to line your curtains for winter, to keep cold out and heat in. Putting up a curtain inside your front door will also help.
6. Exercise. A quick, vigorous exercise session will warm you up – and keep you warm for a while after you finish, too. Dancing or aerobics are good exercises to try at home.
7. Keep cosy. Drinking lots of warm drinks, using a hot water bottle and wearing thick socks and thermal clothing will all help to keep the central heating turned off. Changing your duvet to a higher tog rating or adding a bedspread is a good plan.
8. Use candle light. Lighting lots of candles makes more difference to temperature than we thought it would, with a typical candle giving off about 40 watts of heat, and looks pretty too. Follow this advice from the Fire Service to make sure you are safe with candles.
9. Furnishing your radiators. Try not to put furniture in front of radiators, where it will block the heat. Placing a shelf slightly above a radiator ensures that heat is deflected inwards to a room, instead of up towards the ceiling.
10. Reflect radiator heat back into the room. Heat from a radiator on an external wall often escapes outside. To keep it in, line the wall behind the radiator with tin foil. You can buy special tin foil from DIY shops, but the kitchen stuff works too, and it’s cheaper.
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Originally posted 2007-10-08 13:29:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
