Keep your home warm without spending a fortune
Brace yourselves – winter is coming!
It is the beginning of May, which means one more month of Autumn and it’s time that we start to prepare ourselves for the chillier months of the year.
We all know that we could keep our heaters blasting throughout the day to ensure our entire house is nice and toasty, but you may get a bit of a shock when you receive your monthly energy bill. On average across Australia, 40% of the energy used in homes is for heating and cooling.
So, is there any way we can keep our houses warm without spending a fortune? Let’s take a look at a few simple tips to help keep the temperature up and our energy bill down.
- Make use of the sunlight – If the sun peaks out from behind the clouds, make sure to open up your curtains and make the most of the free heat that comes from the glorious sun. If the sun going back into hiding, close your curtains. Curtains also act as a layer of insulation to keep the warmth in your house.
- Don’t let the heat escape – If you have had your heater running for hours and as soon as you turn it off, your house is ice cold it’s probably because your heat is escaping. Try to limit the amount of rooms that you are keeping warm, close the doors to empty rooms. Make sure your house is properly insulated and that there are no cracks, leaks or gaps for the heat to escape through. It is a good idea to go around window trimmings and using polyurethane to seal all gaps. Another handy tip if you do not have double glazed windows, bubble wrap acts as a quick and easy insulator to keep all of your warm air inside.
- Cover up your floors – If you have hardwood or tiled floors, it is a good idea to cover them up with rugs or blankets. Not only will the rugs keep your feet warm, but floors also account for as much as 10% of heat loss if they are not properly insulated.
- It all starts with you – There are easy ways to keep yourself nice and warm, first start by wearing nice thick socks. Another good idea to keep yourself warm is to use a hot water bottle or a heat pack, it’s like a pre-paid heater! You should consider swapping out bedding from cotton sheets to flannel sheets or placing a woolly blanket on top of your sheets to sleep on top of and then another woolly blanket on top of your doona, you are sure to be nice and warm all night long.
- Utilise ALL of the heat – If you have just finished cooking, leave your oven open (make sure the oven is turned off) so that all the left-over heat radiates throughout the house until the oven is cool. Another idea is to shower with the bathroom door open, the warm steam will run throughout the house.
If you do need to get your electricity sorted this winter, make sure to give MyConnect a bell on 1300 854 478 or put through a connection form by clicking the below link.
