5 cheap (or free) ways to keep the house warm this winter
Don’t shiver in silence! Use these 5 simple (and cheap) techniques to warm up your home and stay toasty this winter.
Quick Summary
• Open curtains in the day, close them at night
• Make and use draft excluders
• Install window insulation films or use bubblewrap
• Keep furniture away from heat sources and use rugs/blankets to insulate the floor
• Use as few rooms as possible and close off the rooms you aren’t using
1) STRATEGIC CURTAIN USE
After double-glazing, curtains are the next line of defence against the chill of winter. Thermal lined ones are best, and floor-to-ceiling ones provide a good ‘seal’ of warmth.
However, it’s also important to know when to open and close these curtains to get maximum effectiveness out of them. Generally, when the sun is up, keep the curtains open to let the sunlight and warmth in. As soon as the sun goes down, close them to trap that heat in overnight.
The advanced version is:
• In the morning, have north-facing and east-facing curtains open. Keep south-facing curtains closed throughout the day.
• In the afternoon, close the east-facing curtains and open the west-facing curtains. Keep the north-facing curtains open throughout the day.
• Once the sun sets, close all the curtains (including the north-facing ones).
• Repeat in the morning.
Curtains aren’t just for windows either! Pinning a rug or blanket over an external door can help give it an insulation boost too. Pro-tip: cover up pet flaps in the same way.
2) MAKE (AND USE) DRAFT EXCLUDERS
Draft excluders are long pieces of thick material, usually in the shape of a sausage, that are placed at the bottom of doors to keep the cold out and the warm in. You might be surprised at how much of a difference blocking even a small gap can make!
Keep reading: www.curtainclean.co.nz...
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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63.2% Summer
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35.5% Winter
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1.3% Other - I'll share below
2025: The Year of Puzzling It Out!
There’s a one-story house where everything is yellow.
The walls are yellow, the doors are yellow, and even the furniture is yellow.
What colour are the stairs?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
We're talking new year resolutions...
Tidying the house before going to bed each night, meditating upon waking or taking the stairs at work.
What’s something quick, or easy, that you started doing that made a major positive change in your life?
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