When winter comes round again, you’ll be back to that season when you are afraid of venturing out of your house and would rather stay indoors wrapped up in a blanket. Then figuring out the cheapest ways to heat up your room will be at the forefront of your thoughts. Especially if you have not won the lottery yet and can’t afford to up and just leave for warmer Carribean climates.
The need to save money increases, in proportion with every price hike in energy prices. With everyone looking for ways to keep their house warm by adopting inexpensive energy saving methods. Everyone wants to control their energy bills by relying on relatively cheap options like oil filled radiators, draught excluders, fan heaters and free wall insulation – if available.
Strictly using your mains gas supply to keep your house warm is not very practical, especially at times when you’re the only one indoors, occupying a single room in a house. In the same way, relying on just electricity to keep your house warm is not completely feasible as well.
Despite the high energy prices, we still need to warm our home, office, schools, and hospitals though. Apart from managing the use of our home heating options, energy prices are not completely in our control. There are still a number of measures that we can use to ensure keeping our homes warm enough without heavy heating bills.
For a start, you should pop your head into your loft – if you have one – and see if you have adequate loft insulation installed. Heat rises and one of the primary ways to lose heat is if you have inadequate, or no, loft insulation. If you notice that your loft insulation is threadbare or practically non-existent then you just might be able to get some installed for free.
The criteria for being eligible is that the home you live in belongs to you or if someone living at the property gets some qualifying benefits. Benefits that include pension credit, universal credit, child benefit, carer’s allowance and disability living allowance.
Click here if you need additional information on getting free loft insulation and to get a different view on if you are eligible.
Even if you are eligible, chances are high that you will still need to figure out some of the cheapest ways to heat up a room. If that’s you, then this informative article will have at least one option that will work for you.
1. Buy a Cheap & Energy Efficient, Space Heater
The process of heating up a whole house or apartment can be very costly and expensive. So getting yourself a cheap, energy-efficient space heater can be a perfect alternative to firing up the central heating system. Unless you are using dried cow dung in a traditional fireplace, when compared, electric space heaters consume 3 times less energy and cost a lot less to keep your room warm.
If you need a cost-effective and energy-efficient space heater in your room, then you should invest in a little cheap and energy-efficient space electric heater.
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If you can lay your hands on a quiet space heater for your bedroom then even better, as they do a good job at heating up bedrooms quickly without drowning out the sound of the television. The good thing is that, as shown above, there is a wide range of great space heater models available on the market nowadays.
Many are lightweight, while others come with swivel wheels allowing you to move the space heater from room to room or wherever you want it.
It is important to remember that, not every space heater is designed to save energy. Buying an old inefficient model can lead to some very high heating bills. You will do well to check user reviews before buying to ensure that it has built-in energy saving features like a programmable timer or a built-in thermostat.
And the oil-filled electric heater is also a great energy-efficient heater that can be used to heat up your home. This heater model is filled with thermal oil that retains heat and slowly dissipates it into the room over a period of time. When you turn on the heater, the thermal oil quickly warms up and it retains the heat for a long time after you have switched off the heater. That is why it saves energy and your heating bill at the same time. This is the most efficient way to warm up a room.
2. Invest in a Smart thermostat
If you already have a space heater and are just looking to further control your heating bill, then you should get a digital and smart thermostat. Old fashioned and manual thermostats can increase your heating bills loads because you’re unable to properly monitor it and set it at a minimum level. They are also not as efficient as smart ones, making it difficult for you to accurately control the temperature in your home.
There are programmable and smart thermostats kits available in the market that can be retro-fitted to your existing heating system and can then be used to set the temperature accurately. This then allows you to switch on or switch off the heating, depending on if you are home or out and about. Some suppliers claim that their smart thermostats can save you up to £180 a year on your heating bill.
A smart thermostat can monitor the heating levels in your home and will detect any temperature changes from cooking i ti then adjusts your heating temperature accordingly.
3. Insulate your House:
As mentioned above, proper loft and wall insulation can prevent heat loss and warm air from escaping from your home. If you are able to get it for free, great! If not, then insulating your house can get a little pricey. The only way to save some money on installing loft insulation is if you are able to do it yourself.
This will save your money in the long run and it is the cheapest ways to keep your home warm during a cold spell.
The way heat travels, it goes from warmer areas in a house to the cooler areas – until the temperature in both areas reaches an equilibrium. Every home has areas that are colder than the rest of the house, places like the loft, garages, basement, party walls and connecting outside walls. Inevitably, warm air will move from within your home to these areas.
To prevent this problem, complete insulation of your home will go a long way in helping you keep warm your home. Insulation can provide resistance to heat flow. There are many materials for insulation that are available to be looked at and worthy of consideration.
Including,
- Fibreglass
- Foam
- Cellulose
- Loose Fill
- Batts
- Foamboard
- Spray board
- Vapour boards
4. Buy Warm Clothes
If you do not want to make any changes to your home, then you should consider investing in warm clothes instead of paying heavy heating bills. Getting some decent warm clothing is a cold-weather accessory that is often overlooked.
Warm clothing is one the best ways to keep your body warm in cold weather, especially if you are at home and have no central heating system on.
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Warm clothes like heated jackets come with battery packs, ski socks, fleece onesie, hoodies, high-tech base layers, warm tight pants, etc. These warm clothes are usually made of high-quality warm fabric that prevents the heat from escaping your body.
If you live in an old house with poor insulation and lots of areas a cold air comes in though. Plug the gaps with a draught excluder, wear some warm clothes and then you can leave your central heating system set at a low degree without having a worry.
5. Investing in Solar Panels:
Similar to getting loft and wall insulation put in, investing in solar panels may cost you a bit but if you are in a position to do it, then solar panels are often projected to return the upfront amount spent within a few years in the form of fewer energy bills.
Installing solar panels not only saves your heating bills but it can also save you other energy bills that you might accrue. Do your some research beforehand though because you might be lucky enough to be one of the people in positions to receive a grant towards installation.
6- Upgrade the House Boiler:
If you are using a boiler older than ten years old, then it is worth considering getting a replacement that is new, efficient and technologically advanced. Old boilers consume more energy to heat the house and cause them to pay the heavy heating bills.
If it is time to replace the old with the new and you fancy getting a more efficient model – you should always check that it comes with energy-saving features or technology that will save you money. Research shows that you can save up to £350 by installing a new A-rated boiler in place of the old one you currently have.
A new heating boiler will consume less energy while producing the same amount of heat that the old model does and more efficiently as well. Additionally, the new boiler will have less mechanical and technical issues going into the winter season.
7. Simple Steps to Conserve Heat & Save Money
Many people think that they can warm up their room by just increasing the amount of heat generated. But this is not always correct.
There are some other smart ways of keeping your room warm
- Have a look at your Windows – Open windows are a big cause of heat loss. You can easily lose between 25% – 30% of heat from your home. Even closed windows with gaps around the window frame can still allow the heat to escape. So where possible get some cheap draught excluders or weatherstripping tape and line them up with the gaps where you can feel cold air coming in from. and thick drapes.
- Cover Openings – In every home, there are a few obvious open places like a mail slot on the door, chimney breast, dodgy doors beneath the stairs and random vents from where the heat can escape. If possible, you should cover up these open places to save heat.
- Keep Unused Rooms Closed – If you shut doors leading to unused rooms, it will keep the heat in a smaller area and prevent the cold air from moving around the rest of the house.
- Use the Thermal Curtains: Use some well-rated thermal curtains to prevent the heat from escaping from the room. When it is daylight, open the curtains to allow the sunlight heat to enter into the room. In the early evening, you should close the curtains and your room will be warm for a longer time at night.
Still Cold?
If you feel like your home is still cold and not retaining heat properly, then you should probably consider getting a thermal camera to assess where you’re losing the heat. The alternative will be to hire a heating expert to visit your home and inspect the whole house to examine what the potential issue is.
Final Thoughts
The cold and dark winter days can be hard to deal with, especially if you are without a central heating system to keep you warm. We all need more comfort in winter compared to the summer and one of the biggest elements of comfort during winter is heating that works and a warm home.
The cheap options described in this article are among the best available for the people living in colder inclines. By applying some of these cheap options, you can really lower your heating bills and stay warm indoors.
Some of the aforementioned options are instant and give on-the-spot results like getting an energy-efficient space heater or wearing some extra warm clothing. Others, like loft and wall insulation and solar panel installation, are a little bit more expensive but will return the initial investment in a couple of years.
As each person has a different work-life balance, it is good practice to choose a cheap heating option that works best for you and your family.
