The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) the name says it all, but what does it mean. Home Improvement to some this means a home extension, the Green Deal, a new kitchen or bathroom – these are all home improvements. NHIC aims to campaign for the improvement in the housing stock of the United Kingdom but also the improvement of single households. For some this is simply to live in a warm and cosy home this winter, without having to pay the heating bill all next summer.
There are a number of ways to save energy and improve the quality of your heating in the home for free or just a few pounds:
1) Move the sofa or other furniture which may be up against a radiator, this blocks the heat from the room.
2) In the evening when you turn on the light in the living room, most people close the curtains just in that room. By closing the curtains in all your rooms will help to keep the heat in.
3) Switch off lights in unoccupied rooms.
4) Unplug electrical items rather than leave them on standby.
I’m in my sixties now but the following I remember from my grandparents home:
5) Make your own draft excluder and place across drafty doors. My gran used to make them look like snakes or sausage dogs by sewing material into a tube and stuffing with odd bits of material.
6) In the winter my gran had a section of curtain rail above the front and back doors and she used to hang an old curtain on each as an effective draft excluder.
This is just half a dozen ideas to improve heat retention at little or no cost. NHIC wishes to create the largest library of energy saving ideas for the home including products, so send your tips to info@nhic.org.uk and we will list the best by cost from zero to thousands of pounds and credit the individual or company in our website.