With spring still some way off, here are some practical and cheap hacks to keep you and your property warm(er). This article assumes you have already followed the good practice advised by your friendly professional Chartered Surveyor, such as appropriate loft insulation and property maintenance. Also, that you have foregone chic and are wearing Michelin Man-style layers topped with a hat!
Exterior walls are likely to be colder, so move furniture closer to interior walls. Try dressing exterior walls with filled book cases or fabrics, such as ornamental rugs or tapestries. Bare tiled or wooden floors will also be warmer with rugs.
Draughts can very quickly cause heat loss so keep doors shut. Lag the gap beneath the door with draught excluder tape (easily available by the metre from DIY stores and on line), and/or a fabric draught excluder.
Draught excluder does not need to be bijou: an old rolled up jumper, towel, sheet or newspaper will do just as well. Or you could get creative with fabric scraps and make your own customised version – just don’t sit still for too long making it or you’ll undo the benefit.
The draught excluder ideas above also apply to ill-fitting windows. You could also create your own secondary glazing. Buy DIY film to fix around the frame or, if you don’t mind losing your view, stick kitchen foil around the window.
Strategic use of curtains can help with heating. On sunny days, draw all the curtains back to allow the heat to build up and then reorientate where you sit during the day so you stay in pools of sunshine. Close the curtains at night to keep in the heat that you’ve garnered.
Cooking and tumble-drying generate heat (and can also contribute towards condensation within the home – see our article). Share the heat with nearby rooms by leaving the kitchen door open. If you don’t need to keep smells/condensation down, leave the extractor fan off by the cooker, and, when you remove your clothes from the dryer or turn off the oven, leave the appliance doors open to share their residual warmth.
If all else fails, and you don’t suffer from allergies, a bunch of sunny yellow daffodils somewhere prominent might lift spirits and remind you that spring really is on its way … honest.