As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, it’s time to think about getting your home winter-ready. Keeping your home healthy and warm during the colder months takes careful preparation, and Autumn is a great time to get stuck into those preparations to ensure your home is fit for purpose ahead of the challenging winter months. Here are 5 tips to help you prepare your home for winter.
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1. Insulate to reduce heat loss
Installing or upgrading your insulation is a valuable first step to helping reduce heat loss in your home. While your home may already be fitted with insulation in the floors or ceiling, upgrading existing or fitting new insulation can help keep the heat inside in the cold winter months. A well-insulated home is also easier to heat and to cool, helps cut out noise, and reduces condensation, so you can enjoy year-round comfort while saving on power bills.
2. Seal doors, floors and windows
With around half of a home’s heating lost through doors, floors and window frames, it makes sense to get these fixed ahead of winter. Replace warped window frames and broken window glass, and cover draughty windows with thermal-backed curtains or blinds. Use draught excluders in old door frames to block any gaps and reduce draughts, and replace worn carpets and cover wood or tiled flooring with rugs.
3. Choose the right heater
Choosing the right heater for your home can make a significant different to your health and wellbeing in the colder winter months. The right heater will depend on the size of room or area that you’re heating, the layout of the rooms in your home, and the amount of insulation in floors, walls and ceiling. For more information on choosing the right heating source for your home, refer to the Heating Assessment Tool here. Remember also to check the energy efficiency rating to ensure you’re not wasting energy or money using an inefficient and expensive heating source.
4. Ventilate to reduce condensation
Good ventilation in the home – particularly during the winter months – is vital to ensuring your home stays warm, dry and healthy. Fit kitchens, bathrooms and laundries with extractor fans that are vented outdoors – or open windows when using these areas – to reduce moisture in your home. Open windows for at least part of the day, and avoid hanging wet washing inside.
5. DIY to improve wellbeing
Seasonal changes can mess up our moods so fight the winter blues with a few DIY changes around the home. Open doors, curtains and blinds to let in as much natural light as possible. Paint the walls a lighter shade of colour so rooms appear brighter. Replace harsh lighting with LED lights. And fit thermal curtains to help prevent heat loss at night.
Stay on track financially
Autumn is not only a time to prepare your home for winter – to ensure you stay warm, dry and healthy in the colder months – it’s also a great time to review your financial situation, and ensure you’re on track for the financial year ahead.
If you’d like to talk to someone about your current financial situation – and find out what improvements you can make there – contact a Mortgage Express mortgage adviser today. A Mortgage Express mortgage adviser can assist you with advice around protecting your home with insurance cover, refinancing or refixing your mortgage, or accessing the equity in your home to finance a renovation.
