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Karolina Grabowska via www.pexels.com

This autumn is going to be a little different for most people. With so many of us working from home and acting safely by staying indoors, there will be a lot of people who suddenly realise they’ll need their heating on for longer periods throughout the day. In some cases, people will be looking at switching from the heating coming in in the morning and evening to figuring out how to keep rooms warm without heating having to be on all day long.

Fear not if you’re reading and just realised this is about to happen in your home, as I’ve compiled some essential information and savvy tips which will help in keeping your rooms warm this autumn.

The “HELLO WORLD” position

When the weather is miserable outside, and you’re prone to hitting the snooze button on your alarm before shuffling along to the bathroom, the last thing you want to do is burst out of bed, pull back the curtains and shout “GOOD MORNING EVERYONE” out the windows.

But when you realise that it is one of the easiest ways to naturally heat rooms from 9 am onwards, you’ll want to get everyone pulling the curtains open as quickly as possible. Those eerily bright autumn mid-mornings are when the sun is strongest, and your windows will take all the heat it can like it’s running out of style. It can help you avoid needing to put the central heating or plug-in heats on for short and expensive bouts.

Oh, and do the exact opposite in the evenings. Pull those curtains closed again, so you trap warm air.

Put ceiling fans in reverse

This tip may sound like pseudo-science, but it genuinely works. If you have a room with a ceiling fan that you use in the warmer months, check if you can toggle the switch to have it move in the opposite direction in the colder months.  Ceiling fans are there to pull warm air up in the summer and reversing that motion will see them push warm air down the centre of the room.

I know it sounds like it won’t work but give it a go and you’ll be surprised.

Get new radiator valves

If you’re reading this and don’t have thermostatic radiator valves all over your home, you’re missing out. These are essential in my home, and work wonders at keeping rooms at just the right temperature. Unlike a small manual valve, they have a little thermal sensor inside which helps control the flow of hot water to keep the radiator at a constant temperature. It means you’ll no longer have to go room by room fiddling around with your valves.

If you’re after a good deal on a valve, you don’t even need to visit the local DIY store to get one. Check out the range Trade Radiators have in stock, with valves in all shapes, sizes and colours to match any room.

Move your sofa

Sofas are serial heat blockers, and yet many of us will place them right in front of radiators as a way of hiding the radiator. It’s wholly inefficient, which is why you should be leaving at least six inches between your sofa and the radiator for air to get in. If it’s the case that your sofa is raised (i.e. has bare legs and a large gap underneath) you can get away with being closer just as long as you don’t block the natural circulation in the room.

Rug it up

Unless you have underfloor heating, floors should never feel warm in the colder months due to air circulation. In rooms like the living room or bedroom where you tend to be barefoot, it’s ideal to pop a rug down when you have wood or tile floors. Think about how we all tend to jump out of the shower onto the bath mat and not the tiles. You want to apply the same logic in rooms throughout your house.

Get some reflector foil

It may look like a roll of aluminium foil, but radiator reflector foil is your best friend when it comes to heat productivity in the winter. These sheets can be cut and placed on the wall behind your radiators to help stop a good chunk of that new warm air being pulled directly out. If you have radiators attached to exterior walls, it’s a no brainer.

Now that you’ve sorted out your radiators, what’s next?

Been bitten by the DIY bug and now feel it’s the ideal time to check on other things around the home? Read this guide on the Top DIY Jobs To Take On At Home and see what jobs you could be taking on.