The wintertime is, of course, a time where the temperatures plummet and the cold sets in. Now, this cold will set in outside, there is no denying or fighting that. But, you can stop this cold from setting in within your home. And, if you value your and your family’s health, then you should be doing all you can to stop this cold from setting in within your home! Yes, you should be doing all you can to keep your home truly warm this winter; for advice on how to do so, make sure to read on.
Test your heater before the cold really sets in
Before the conditions of winter really take their hold on the climate, make sure your heating system is working as it should be. Specifically, this means testing it to see if it is up to the task of both being used daily and providing the vast amounts of heat that it has to produce. To test your heating system in order to make sure it is working as it should, first try setting your thermostat and temperature to a heat that is at least 10 degrees warmer than the temperature already found within your home.
Once this is done, make sure you listen very carefully to your heating system as it is turning on and make sure that you pay attention to the time it takes to turn on — anything that you perceive to be out of the ordinary may mean there might be something wrong. Then, once the heater has been turned on for 15 minutes use a thermometer to test the temperature of the room — if the reading on the thermometer is different to the reading on your heater’s thermostat, then something is most certainly wrong.
If you do find something wrong, don’t waste any time in getting your heating system fixed or even replaced by professionals in that field.
Bring an additional heating system into your home
However, no matter how much you test your primary heating system and how healthy it appears to be, you should have an additional system on standby to act as backup should anything go wrong. Well, you don’t want to have to freeze whilst you wait for your broken boiled to be fixed, do you? No, so get yourself an additional heating system!
This system can come in many different forms, shapes and sizes. It could, for instance, come in the form of a gas furnace. What such a furnace would do is use its constantly working thermostat to detect when the temperature within your home, or within specific rooms in your home, drops to a point where it would be uncomfortable or even potentially dangerous for you and your family to live in.
Once it has done this it will then get straight to the task of warming your home up again until it once again reaches a habitable temperature. Or, you could opt for what is known as an oil filled portable heater. This is a kind of heater that heats up any room you roll it into, even the largest of rooms in your home. Plus, this is a kind of heater that doesn’t make a huge dent in your electricity bill, either, as they are famously cheap to run.
The point is, you never truly know if and when your heating system is going to break, no matter how many tests you do on it and how regularly you check it. So, make sure there are additional heaters in your home that will keep you and your family warm when your primary source of heat is not there to do so.
Consider loft insulation
Your home’s roof is one of its biggest conductors of heat, which basically means your roof is one of the main reasons why your home might be so damn cold in the wintertime! But, you can stop your roof being one of the biggest culprits in allowing the cold into your home this winter by getting your loft insulated.
Yes, even when you and your family do not use your loft all that often, getting it insulated is still something that you should do to protect the rest of your home from getting cold this winter. And, when it comes to actually having this work done to your loft just remember that it is advisable to have it done professionally, but it can be done by yourself. If you were to do decide to do it by yourself, make sure to consult a DIY help guide on the subject and this specific type of work, such as this one found here.
Don’t forget your shower
You know those cold winter mornings when getting out of bed seems like the biggest struggle you’ve ever faced before and probably ever will face again? Well, you can make this struggle far easier by simply not forgetting to make your shower as warm and as powerful as it can be when it comes to you showering in the morning.
To make your shower more powerful, which will then make it far hotter in the process, you have to boost your domestic water pressure. To do this, you’re going to have to consider having a water pump replacement. You see, when you have your old water pump replaced with the latest water pumping technologies and tools such as jet/well pumps, centrifugal pumps and submersible pumps, you will be able maneuver the fluid that runs through your plumbing system right through to the discharge point (our shower head) far quicker than ever before. And, when the water that runs through your plumbing runs quicker and reaches you quicker, it will be more powerful and far hotter.
Get yourself an electric blanket
If you want to stay truly warm this winter, be it during the day or the night, you’re going to have to get yourself an electric blanket or a heated mattress. You’re going to have to do so because, simply, they will keep you warm when all else seems to be failing!
When it comes to choosing the best electric blanket or heated mattress for you, make sure to take a few things into consideration. First of all, think about how safe they would be in your home: consider things like how safe your children are likely to be around them and how many times they will be subjected to liquids.
Second of all, condor whether or not you will have the time, money and patience to maintain them and actually run them. And third of all, consider how much such a venture would cost upfront and whether or not the payment would be worth it.
Tend to your hard floors
If you’re sick of freezing your little toes off overtime you touch hard floors in your home, then simply get them heated. You see, when you have an underfloor heating system fitted below your floor you will be able to be sure that you will be able to go anywhere in your home, at whether time in whatever footwear you want without having to worry about how cold your floor will be.
Or, if this seems like a stretch too far, then simply laden your hard floors with soft rugs that won’t feel too cold to walk upon when you are barefoot.
Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary from the cold winter climate outside, and you shouldn’t settle for it being anything less. So, make sure you take the home-warming advice above into account!
