Do you have a house that never feels warm no matter what you do? This is often a problem, especially in older properties, but there are a few things you can do to try and make your home warmer and cheaper to heat.
Firstly, do you have cavity wall insulation? This can make a big difference. It's easy to have added, it doesn't take long, and all the work is done from the outside of the property. There's very little mess and it isn't too expensive. Your walls will be checked for the depth of the cavity. There is a minimum depth, so it may not be suitable for your property, or part of your property. For example we have a kitchen extension built in the 80's which turned out to be unsuitable for cavity wall insulation so we just had the rest of the house done and not the extension which was a shame, but there was nothing we could do.
Energy efficiency technologies have advanced in many ways. If you have old double glazing from decades ago, you'll find modern double glazing will keep in more heat. There have been some great advances in loft insulation too; you can get some really efficient products these days that aren't at all bulky. If you have draughts that come through under the floor, you can also get insulating products that you attach under the floorboards.
Thick heavy curtains and rugs on the floor will also help keep out draughts. If you have a draught coming through your letterbox this can make a hallway surprisingly chilly. You can buy draught excluders that fit within the letterbox, they're cheap and easy to install.
If you have a large room and you're having trouble heating the whole of the room, consider under floor heating for a better spread of heating. This is especially nice in a previously cold kitchen; the heating system can be easily installed underneath the kitchen floor tiles.
Adding some extra heating in a hallway can help add a little overall heat to the house. Night storage heaters are not in fashion these days but they can be great for a hallway. Remember the old highly advertised Economy 7 electricity tariff where you got cheap electricity overnight? Well you can still get this, I have it myself as we have storage heaters and they are pretty cheap to run. If you're not familiar with storage heaters the idea is that they store up electricity during the night on your cheap tariff, and then release it slowly over the day. The problem with them is they are not adjustable, so if you have a heat wave, there's no way to stop the heat being released that they stored up the night before, but they are great for a hallway and definitely worth considering.
If you have a big house, it's sometimes best to focus on one room that you're using, put the fire on, close the door and put a draught excluder up against the gap. Draw the curtains. Put on an extra jumper and snuggle up!
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