Would so many people travel south in the winter, if they kept their homes a little brighter and warmer? Let’s look at the best ways to get that winter chill out of your home, so these months aren’t such a miserable time.

It’s that wicked time of the year when cold front after cold front scours the York and Durham countryside of all its heat. The rattling windows, eaves, and howling winds tell you it’s nasty out there.

And as you’re sitting huddled under a blanket with yet another hot chocolate in your hands while listening to your home furnace fans blowing constantly, you’re wondering why your house leaks heat.

Goosebumps Should Not be an Indoor Thing

Yes winter is nasty and the winds will suck all the heat out unless you take measures to hang onto it. So here’s some quick fixes and lasting fixes that’ll reduce your heating bills, rid you of your goose bumps and let you feel good during the winter.

1. Your Fireplace Chimney. Our favourite place to sit, but if the flue is open, then close it when it’s not in use, and consider plugging it up if air is escaping upward.
2. Wall Outlets and Kitchen Vents. These may allow air to move and heat escape at a higher rate than you think. There are foam inserts that may help.
3. Insulation in Attic and Walls. A major cause of heat evaporation and a must do if your home is always cold. You can have a professional home inspector with a heat loss camera discover precisely where the heat is escaping.
4. Low e Windows. Replace windows with high efficiency double/triple pane windows. Heat may be passing right through your glass since glass is porous. Double/triple pane windows with glazing provide a tremendous barrier against such heat loss.
5. New Insulated Doors. New vinyl or fibreglass doors have an insulated core and compression gaskets that prevent heat loss. Find out how to select doors.
6. Add a Storm Door. These extra doors help seal the main door if it’s in direct exposure to strong gusty winds. And the space between it and the main door gives further insulation.
7. Use Black-out Rollup Blinds. These blinds are thick and solid. Not only do they keep the light out of your bedrooms, they help act as a barrier to air movement and escaping heat.

Make Heat Loss Prevention and Comfort a Priority

It might be time to look at fireplaces, geothermal heating, in-floor heating, as well as planting trees and shrubs around the house. Look at your heat loss issue from a wider perspective and make energy saving a strategy to help make your home more comfortable.

Windows are a major source of heat loss. Even if you insulate your home well, it could be all for nought if your windows are leaking heat constantly day and night. Check out our home energy saving tips, discover why old windows fail, and know how energy efficient windows work.