How to keep warm while working from home
As the nation heads into its second year of Covid related disruptions, more and more people are finding themselves working from home. With more time being spent in the home than ever before, it’s imperative to make this environment as appealing and comfortable as possible! With this post we’ll discuss a number of approaches you can take to ensure that your house is kept warm through this winter lockdown!
The overarching advice is to ensure that your home is running as efficiently as possible! As obvious as it seems, the more effective your home is at utilising and storing the heat, the less it will cost to keep rooms feeling warm. We’ll go through a number of steps you can take to make your home and your bills more energy efficient!
1. Bleeding your radiators
Bleeding your radiators is a way to remove trapped air within the unit, this air prevents heated water from circulating as intended. It’s easy to diagnose this issue – if your radiators are warm at their base but cold at the top then this is almost certainly the problem. Using a radiator key, the trapped air can be released which allows the whole unit to heat up and provide more warmth to the room! It’s recommended that you bleed your radiators at least once a year, regardless of if it’s working as intended.
2. Ensure your boiler is running smoothly
Another way to maximise the energy efficiency of your home is to ensure that your boiler is running as smoothly as possible. As the source of all your heating, this is arguably the biggest factor which could be affecting your energy costs. If your boiler has internal issues, this can mean that you’re paying for more gas than should be necessary to keep your home warm. There are additional safety concerns which can also be completely avoided by an annual boiler service. For support, get in touch with our boiler experts.
3. Insulate your home
As lockdown looms before us, for many it gives the chance to make home improvements which have been postponed over and over. Whilst not applicable to all homes, considering that around 10% of the heat in your home is lost through the windows, one improvement is fitting curtains to provide a better thermal seal. While blinds are somewhat successful at reducing the amount of heat lost, there are more gaps than there are with curtains, so this allows for draughts which in turn allow the heat to escape.
