Tips to Keep Your House Warm

Inside today’s article, we are going to discuss some ways that savvy homeowners can keep warm during the winter months – and beyond!

We have discussed energy efficiency in blogs in the past, but primarily with a focus on reducing electricity bills and eliminating energy waste in the home – both very important topics for any homeowner. However, a third factor comes into play that should not be ignored: the comfort of you and your loved ones. Saving money is great, but it should never stand in the way of your ability to relax in your home. If you are shivering from the frigid weather, it may just be worth it to expand a few extra dollars a month in heating costs!

Keeping Your Home Warm

Depending upon when your heating emergency occurs, you may not be able to receive immediate assistance. Sometimes you may have to wait a few hours; other times, you may find yourself waiting a day or two. The tips below will hopefully help you get through these wait times, as well as those situations where the weather is more frigid than usual and you don’t necessarily need an HVAC professional to save the day.

Cheap Ways to Heat the Home

You will hear a lot of advice on the Internet about technical methods to keep your home warm – many of which are legitimate. However, you would be surprised at how many simple, no-brainer ways you can achieve the same affect with minimal thought and effort.

One such method involves your curtains. During the daytime, consider leaving all of the curtains in your home open to allow in sunshine and natural heat. Then, as the sun sets, close all of the curtains to help trap all of the heat you have collected during the day.

Another, very simple thing you can do is throw on a sweater or wrap yourself up in a blanket – this literally does not cost you a dime and if you get too hot, you can simply remove the excess clothing. You would be surprised how much this actually helps and how much money you can save if you make this a habit versus adjusting your HVAC thermostat.

Another “cool” (pun intended) way to beat the winter chill is to get busy in the kitchen. Cook up a warm batch of cookies, heat up a mug of warm milk, and maybe throw some soup in the old crockpot. All of this will help add to the ambient heat of your home, as well as raise the temperature of your body as you consume your delicious treats!

Finally, here is a method that will help you stay warm and reduce energy bills by up to $7 per month, per room: run your ceiling fans in reverse. In normal operation, a ceiling fan sucks warm air into the roof, making the rest of the air down below seem cooler. When run in reverse, ceiling fans actually push the warm air that naturally rests around the ceiling (warm air rises) back into the room, making it seem warmer and making you less likely to crank up your heater and eat up your electricity.

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