What Are Your Home’s Winter Weaknesses?
The chill is well and truly upon many of us now and, as such, it’s important to take the time to look over your home, the space in which you live, and to make sure that it’s taking care of you and your family. There are some issues with the home that you might not even be familiar with that can start becoming a lot more of an annoyance, and even potentially harmful. Here, we’re going to look at those winter weaknesses, and what to do about them.
It’s not insulated
This should be priority number one when the colder weather starts coming around. If your home is not effectively insulated, then it’s going to get a lot colder. For most homes with brick walls, attic insulation should be the priority, but if you have walls of other materials, then they could probably benefit from insulation as well. You might want to check if your pipes are insulated, too, as without some protection, they may be liable to bursting in the water. This can be prevented by leaving the water to two or three times every day for a while.
It has air gaps
Even if your home is insulated, if you have gaps in its boundary that warm air can escape from, it can make it a lot more difficult to keep warm. As such, you should check for those gaps, especially around your windows and doors. In fact, if your windows are particularly old, you might want to check with providers like The Norfolk Window Company, regardless. New windows can offer a big jump in energy efficiency that can help keep in the warmth a lot easier while preventing the cold from leeching in.
Your heating isn’t efficient enough
If your home feels like it’s not heating up as quickly as it used to, then you might be onto something. Over time, heating systems can grow less efficient, as there can be hidden malfunctions and issues stopping them from working as well. Whether it’s a boiler that needs to be replaced or a build-up of rust and other matter in your radiators, you want to get your heating system serviced or inspected roughly once a year to keep it in the best working condition.
It’s just not comfy enough
It might not be as much of a concern as whether or not your home is able to heat up, effectively, but you want to make sure that your living space, especially smaller ones, is comfortable in the winter. When decorating your living room, you should be thinking about more than aesthetic alone. Switching out smooth and hard surfaces for soft furnishings, such as rugs and throws, can offer a lot more tactile comfort, and these materials are better at retaining warmth, as well. Similarly, you might want to swap out blinds for curtains, not only because they’re cosier, but because they offer better insulation, too.
With the tips above, you can make sure that you find the potential problems lingering in your home, and solve them so that you can be a lot more comfortable, not to mention safer, this winter.
