Heating your home can be expensive in the winter, but did you know there are a number of things you can do to keep warm without overusing your heater or breaking the bank?
We’ve performed HVAC services all over Southern California, and we’ve learned a thing or two about keeping homes warm. In that time, we’ve also picked up a few tips and tricks to help you keep your home warm without going overboard.
Installing an HVAC requires an upfront investment, and not everyone may be willing or able to take that leap just yet. Luckily, there are some things you can do to keep rooms warm during the colder months if you’re not ready to have an HVAC technician install a system or perform maintenance.
Each one serves as a benchmark to gauge the level of your heating needs so that you don’t overspend on something you may not need.
Below are 10 tips and tricks listed in order of complexity so that you can better address your heating needs appropriately.
Heating Tips and Tricks
- Keep curtains and blinds open
- Blankets
- Door draft stoppers
- Reverse ceiling fans
- Space heaters in cold spots
- Keep heat sources clear
- Radiator foil
- Window insulation kits
- Check for leaks
- Change your filter
1. Keep Curtains and Blinds Open
First up, and definitely the most simplistic, is keeping your curtains or blinds open. More heat enters the home when blinds and curtains are open.
Opening curtains and blinds is a simple but effective way to add some extra warmth to a room. When you think about keeping a room cool, you might actually close the curtains. The logic is the same here, except now you’re trying to prevent heat from escaping.
2. Blankets
Another simple solution that many people skip over is blankets. While this one seems like a no-brainer, go ahead and ask your friends and family whether they turn on the heater before trying a blanket.
While using a blanket warms a person rather than a room, it’s best to give it a shot to nail down just how cold your room is and how much more heat you need. Doing so will help save on energy bills.
3. Door Draft Stoppers
Aside from blankets, door stoppers are another easy trick that can have an effect on the warmth of a room. Door stoppers are often sold as door-width double-sided foam rolls with a track in the middle for the door to slide into.
Door stoppers help block drafts to prevent cold air from entering and warm air from leaving a room. Using door stoppers is a cheap way to help keep a room warm and takes minimal effort to install.
4. Reverse Ceiling Fans
It’s pretty easy to only associate ceiling fans with cooling a room on a hot day, but they can also help keep a room warm.
By switching your ceiling fan to spin clockwise, it will warm a room. Ceiling fans in a clockwise motion warm a room by:
- Pulling warm air up through the fan blades toward the ceiling
- The air that is pulled up causes the warm air near the ceiling to move toward the edge of the room.
- Warm air then falls back toward the floor, heating the room.
The longer the process goes on, the warmer the room should feel. If you’re still not feeling warm enough, it might be time to pick up some extra gear.
5. Space Heaters in Cold Spots
If the easier solutions aren’t cutting it, but you’re still not ready to make an investment in an HVAC system, space heaters are an easy next step.
Picking up a couple of space heaters and placing them near your most frequented spots in a room is an easy way to help keep the heat up. Space heaters are also ideal when you need to be in a room for a short time since they heat up relatively quickly compared to an entire room.
6. Keep Heat Sources Clear
Arranging a room is no small task, and compromises are often made. One of these compromises is placing furniture over vents or blocking other heat sources.
Keeping vents and heat sources clear ensures your heating system is working efficiently and you’re getting the heat you need. Even something as mundane as putting a couch over a vent can cause a dip in efficiency, so it’s best to be mindful when arranging a room.
7. Radiator Foil
Along similar lines to keeping vents clear is using radiator foil to help your radiator perform its best. Radiator foil prevents heat from escaping into the wall behind, ensuring more heat enters the room.
Applying radiator foil is straightforward, and the material itself is readily available. All you’ll need for this job is the foil, something to measure with, scissors, and double-sided tape.
8. Window Insulator Kit
Similar to radiator foil, window insulator kits help reduce heat waste. Window insulator kits are typically transparent plastic sheets that cover the entirety of a window to insulate it.
The benefit of window insulation kits is that you can still operate your blinds as normal with a little modification. A downside here is that they are fragile and may not be ideal for homes with pets or children.
9. Check Your Furnace Filter
Here’s one for those with HVAC systems who are noticing a dip in their heating performance. Checking and changing your HVAC air filter regularly can increase the energy efficiency of your system. It’s recommended that you check your filter once a month, sometimes more if you own pets.
Replacing your air filter once every three months is also ideal when trying to ensure your home get’s ample heat. You may have to change your filter more often depending on environmental factors like pets, air pollutants, and high levels of dirt or dust.
10. Check for Leaks
If you have an HVAC system, it’s important to check your system for leaks every so often. During the winter months, sealing small leaks helps trap heat inside, preventing energy waste and increasing your system’s efficiency.
Unfortunately, you likely won’t be able to check the whole system on your own. In this case, calling a technician to service your HVAC system might be the way to go. Whether you go with Money Wrench or another company, it’s important that you trust in them.
Now You're Prepped and Ready for the Cold
We’ve touched on 10 tips and tricks to heat a room that vary in complexity. Some of these solutions are the most basic of steps when it comes to troubleshooting a cold room. Each option is ordered by level of complexity, so you’ll be able to gauge your heating needs accordingly.
While running your heater consistently seems like the right answer to heating a room, there’s a lot more you can do to make sure you’re heating a room efficiently. These tips and tricks will help you save on your energy bills and keep rooms warm during the cooler months.
At Monkey Wrench, we understand that it’s crucial to be able to maintain heat in any given room and are happy to share these tips and tricks with you, whether you’re in our service area or not.
If you’re interested in exploring more permanent solutions or want to upgrade your HVAC
system, visit our HVAC services page. While you’re at it, stop by our list of 10 tips and tricks to cool a room for a look at cost-effective strategies to maximize your cooling that will come in handy during the summer months.
For those who feel like their system needs an overall upgrade, checking out the best smart thermostats of 2023 is a great place to start since it is a relatively easy way to modernize your home.
