How best to keep a cold house warm?

1. How best to keep a cold house warm?If you have an old house, a draughty house, or worse still, an old draughty house, you could find that no matter how high you turn up the heating, you never really seem to feel warm.There are several steps you can take though to help increase the heat in your home, and to stop the heat from escaping too quickly. Firstly identify any obvious draughts. Holding a piece of tissue paper around the edges of doors and windows can help you spot where draughts are worst. The paper will flutter if a breeze is coming through. Of course air will blow through the smallest of spaces, so find and fill any tiny holes you come across. If you don’t have double glazing, you should really consider replacing your windows; so much more heat is lost through single glazed windows than double. If you have gaps above or below your doors then you may want to fit a draught excluder to try and keep warm air inside the room. Or hang a curtain across doorways as an extra layer of protection against draughts.

2. Close your curtains or better still use curtains and a blind, the thicker the better, to keep the warm air in. Heat rises so make sure your loft is well insulated as otherwise you’ll lose a lot of heat straight through the roof. Draughts can also come up under the floor so have a look under your flooring to make sure you have sufficient underlay. Large area rugs can make a big difference too, giving an extra layer of insulation to the room. In large rooms, radiators can seem too localised. A good alternative to create an even heat across a large room is to install under floor heating. Easily fitted under carpet or porcelain floor tiles, under floor heating has come down in price in recent years making it very affordable. If it’s something you’ve looked at in the past, but dismissed due to the prohibitive cost, then it’s probably worth having another look now to see if the prices have fallen within your budget. Under floor heating is great for any room, it makes a room feel very luxurious and it feels fabulous under your bare feet. If you have pets, they will be eternally grateful too! Large empty rooms can feel colder, so do all you can make your room feel warm and cosy. Plenty of soft furnishings and warm rich colours in the décor will go a long way to making you feel warmer, even if the affect on the actual temperature is negligible. Keep the doors shut, and try to limit the comings and goings of the household. Several hours build up of heat can vanish almost instantly through a door left open for a few minutes over a prolonged goodbye to a guest, or a window accidentally left open. Make sure everyone in the house knows the importance of getting in and out quickly and keeping the heat inside! For more information visit http://www.tiles4all.co.uk/