Stay Toasty! How to Keep Your House Warm in Winter

There are many joys of homeownership. Unfortunately, winter isn’t one of them.

Winter home improvement projects are expensive and time consuming when ill-timed. There are ways to ease the pain.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Create a plan of the best ways to keep your house toasty that work for your budget and schedule.

Check out these DIY and pro strategies on how to keep your house warm in winter. 

How to Keep Your House Warm in Winter

Keeping a toasty home during the winter isn’t about raising the thermostat. Turning up the heat is a costly solution that won’t have long term benefits.

Home improvement is the most effective way to keep your house warm. Here are the top ways to keep out the cold air.

Insulate Your Attic

Spray foam insulation in the attic is a common way to keep the heat from rising too far. Heat escapes through the ceiling with unfinished attics causing your furnace to work harder to maintain warm temperatures.

Attic insulation isn’t cheap but pays off in the long run. The Department of Energy estimates that an insulated attic means a savings of up to 50 percent on your heating bill.

An insulated attic also helps to keep the house cold during warmer months stretching your investment throughout the year. Tackle attic insulation as a DIY project or hire professionals to do the job for you.

Professional roofers often offer insulation services or have partners who can help. 

Insulate Your Windows

Replacing all the windows in your home can be expensive. Homes with multiple stories get hit hard when it comes to window replacement expenses. 

Old windows can let in lots of cold air during the window. The amount of cold air getting in worsens with the number of leaky windows in your home. 

Replace your windows with insulated, energy-efficient windows. The upfront cost is high, but the newer windows add value to your home while keeping it warm. 

One way to avoid replacing old windows if it isn’t cost-effective is to add temporary insulation to windows. Home improvement stores offer insulation that covers windows and doors during the colder months.

Temporary insulation is a great option for keeping out drafts. The only downside is losing the ability to open the covered window.

Once you take down the insulation to open a window, you often need to purchase new insulation to redo the job. 

Furnace Checkup

You want a broken furnace to be one of the last reasons your home won’t stay warm this winter. Replacing a furnace is not only expensive but can lead to unbearable temperatures if it gives out in the dead of winter.

Get ahead of any potential furnace problems by scheduling a checkup on your furnace. An HVAC specialist can give you information on the potential life span of your furnace and ways to conserve its energy. 

How to Keep Your Body Warm in Winter

Homeowners have the option of making home improvements to keep their homes toasty in winter. If you are renting a home or apartment, your options are limited.

Look for ways to keep your body warm when you can’t make permanent adjustments to your building. There are temporary improvements that will help you keep your space winter-ready.  

Rugs

Floors with no carpet lead to cold feet during the winter. Consider adding area rugs to kitchen floors and other spaces with tile or hardwood.

Carpeted floors add a layer of insulation to the floor helping to trap in heat. Depending on the thickness of the area rug, it can also replace the need to constantly wear socks around the house. 

Fireplace

If you’re lucky enough to live in a home with a fireplace, don’t be shy about using it. Many people are intimidated by getting fires started during the winter.

Even if it takes you a few tries to operate, a fireplace is worth the trouble in the long run. Fireplaces can heat the entire home without using any energy.

The process works slowly but offers a mild heat to nearby rooms. 

Space Heaters

There are those weird areas in the home that never seem to get toasty no matter what method you try. These rooms are where space heaters shine. 

Space heaters are not energy efficient but are a great last resort when all other heat saving methods have failed.

A small portable heater provides an instant temperature change for a room when you need to thaw out quickly from the winter weather. 

Use the Kitchen

When your fingers are frozen to the bone, cooking won’t seem like the ideal activity. Cutting on your oven throughout the day, however, can add another layer of warmth to your home.

Instead of opting for takeout, cook or reheat meals in the oven the old fashioned way. This method takes more time but leaves heat lingering in the kitchen hours after your meal is finished.

Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans can seem counterintuitive in the winter. But using the blades to push down rising heat works like a charm during the cold months.

Choose a ceiling fan that allows you to change the direction of the blades. This reverses the flow of the fan bringing the rising heat back into circulation.

This trick works great in rooms with high ceilings as the air can get uncomfortably uneven. 

Planning a Warm Winter

Planning how to keep your house warm in winter is easy. With less than $100 you can provide a quick fix to leaky windows and cold floors.

Permanent home improvement to keep your place warm will provide the best results long term. These options can mean months of savings to afford, but they will offer consistent savings on your energy bill for years to come.

Keep checking our blog for updates on ways to improve your home design.