Keep Your Home Warmer
Posted on June 18th, 2009 in Entertainment |
With the increased cost of heating our homes, many people are thinking about ways to save energy and ways to save money, while still keeping their homes toasty and warm. Others aren’t as concerned with saving money but with saving energy. Either way here are some tips where you can do both.
Eliminating drafts can be one of the best ways to warm up your home and save on heating. Check your walls, and doors and windows for areas where heat may escape and cold may get in.
Weather stripping can be an inexpensive and easy solution to preventing drafts. A rolled up towel can be placed in front of drafty doors. And curtains, rugs and wall hangings can be used to warm up the area.
Thick cloth and furniture can also help insulate rooms. You can put up curtains and wall hangings. Drafty floors can also be insulated with rugs and carpets. Even some soft cushy pillows and throws will help absorb the cold.
Improvements in insulation techniques make it worthwhile to spend the money and have a professional come out and insulate your walls and attics. If you have an older drafty home this can be a worthwhile investment.
A digital thermostat not only looks great it can really improve the performance of your home heating system. With the automatic settings you can have your home set at different temperatures throughout the day and week. A common use is to have the house cool while you?re gone and warm it up right before you return home. The same goes for when you?re sleeping. The heat kicks in right before you get up.
Keep your furnace properly maintained. It should be clean and free of debris. It should be functioning correctly and the moving parts should be well lubricated. Also filters should be checked and cleaned or replaced as necessary.
One of the oldest and yet recently innovative ways to warm up your home is the fireplace. With an energy efficient fireplace you can warm up a room and run your central heating less. Some great fireplace choices are gas and electric.
If your fireplace is old and drafty it can be made more efficient with a new modern fireplace insert. You can get gas or electric. It will burn more efficiently and distribute the heat better.
Some clean burning gas fireplaces have blowers which help distribute the heat throughout the room. Once again helping to create that zone that helps to lower the temperature on the thermostat. Modern fireplaces and accessories have really come a long way.
If you don?t have a fireplace the electric fireplace is a great option. They can be inexpensive and portable and warm your room while giving you something to look at. If all else fails, get a blanket and light some candles. Enjoy your winter.
