Ways to Keep Your Home Warm in the Winter

Many challenges come with owning a home, including how to make sure your home is warm and stays warm without breaking the bank. Surprisingly enough, there are many, many ways and things you can do to help retain the heat in your home that your heating system is providing, and to make sure it’s working efficiently. Our crew here at Handyman Connection of McKinney has compiled some of those tips and recommendations for you here. Let us know if you have other ideas, or which ones work best for keeping your home warm.

Automatic Timers on Thermostats

Automatic timers on your thermostat are your friend. Use them to your advantage. Pre-set the thermostat to reduce the temperature slightly as you leave your home for the day, and to increase slightly just before you come back home. This will help keep your home nice and toasty for when you come home, but without wasting heat throughout the day when nobody is around to use it.

Shower Time

Leave your shower or bathroom door slightly cracked or open when you shower. The hot steam from the shower will help to reinforce the heat and keep the heat flow consistent throughout areas near the shower.

Ceiling Fans

Most ceiling fans are built with “winter” settings included. Use this to your advantage. By switching to this setting, the fan will transition its spin from clockwise to counterclockwise to help push the rising heat down, instead of pushing it up faster. This will, in turn, help maintain a consistent level of heat throughout your home.

Draft Stoppers

Draft stoppers are an excellent way to help maintain the heat in your home, as that’s exactly what they are designed to do. Their purpose is to keep cool air from the exterior areas of your home out, and to retain and keep warm air inside without letting it escape. Install one on any exterior doors at the bottom, to ensure no heat escapes underneath. Also, if you don’t plan to use your fireplace, install one in there as well. This will play a significant role in keeping the cool air out, and in preventing warm air from escaping easily through the chimney. Always make sure the shaft is closed as well.

Furniture Rearrangement

Take a look through your house and examine how the furniture is laid out. It can actually have a significant impact on how your airflow works in your home. Make sure that no vents are covered by pieces of furniture or rugs. If they’re covered, they’re obviously not going to be as effective. Also, if there is large pieces of furniture cluttered in certain areas, that will also have an impact on airflow. Consider ways to rearrange if possible to help retain the heat and maximize your heating system’s efficiency.

Natural Lighting

One of the best ways to keep your home warm is by embracing warmth from other areas, including natural light. Open up the curtains and shades to allow as much natural light as possible to shine through your home to help keep it warm.

At Handyman Connection of McKinney, our goal is to help make your house a home and to be your go-to solution for any and all of your home maintenance jobs or needs. Don’t hesitate to give us a call with any questions or to schedule your next project!