Keep Your Home Warm this Winter
Winter may not officially start until December 21st, but these chilly temperatures make it feel like Jack Frost came early! Now is the perfect time to prepare your home for the coldest months of the year. Try these tricks and tips to stay warm all winter long (without just running the heat on overtime).
Check Your Insulation
If you have an older home or haven’t looked at your insulation in quite a while, it may be time to take a peek and check how your insulation is holding up. Insulation is the layer of padding behind your walls that helps keep your home warm by preventing the unwanted flow of thermal energy. Over time, your home’s insulation can wear down, or some older homes may lack insulation in certain areas altogether. If you feel like one room is always colder than another, the problem may lie within your walls.
Hire a contractor to inspect the health of your home’s insulation. It may be time to add more, upgrade the kind you use, or completely replace it. Modern technologies offer even better insulative capabilities compared to older options, so it may be worth replacing even if your insulation is still viable. Switching to a newer style of insulation may be the best way to keep your home warm this winter.
Stop Drafts and Air Leakage
Even with perfectly insulated walls, flooring, and ceilings, your home is still vulnerable to drafts and energy loss. As much as thirty percent of your heating costs escape through your windows and doors! Luckily, a few ways exist to solve this issue without replacing all your windows.
Energy Efficient Cellular Blinds
Save energy in style by investing in honeycomb shades. Made with energy efficiency in mind, cellular blinds prevent your home’s warm air from leaking through drafty windows. Hollow hexagonal slats sit on top of each other to create an insulating forcefield for your windows and doors. You can even get honeycomb blinds for sliding doors! Cellular shades prevent air, light, and noise from passing through so you can enjoy a warm, peaceful evening at home.
Open Air Vents
If you feel your heating isn’t doing anything, check the air vents around your home to ensure they’re open. It’s easy to accidentally close a vent while cleaning or moving things around. If you find one that isn’t open all the way, push the small lever to adjust the vent and enjoy the warm air flowing through. If you find your air vent stuck and unable to open, getting that fixed will dramatically help hot air flow through your home properly.
Keep Interior Doors Open
While you should always close your exterior doors when it’s cold, keeping your interior doors open promotes airflow and circulation in your home. Your HVAC system works by promoting equal airflow around your home. Closing doors disrupt the flow, so keeping interior doors open during the winter can help your home stay warm all throughout.
Huntington Window Treatments
Are you ready for the winter? Curtain Concepts in Huntington, West Virginia, can help you stay warm! Visit our showroom to view our Hunter Douglas window treatments collection, including energy-efficient cellular blinds. Or, schedule an in-home consultation to shop from the comfort of your home.
