Do you remember last winter?
For those three months of cold feet and shiverings, most of Europe turned into a frozen dungeon.
The report says, Almost 12 strong windstorms hit southern Europe from December -February 2021, with the average temperature going lower by 1 degree than the average winter temperature of 1981- 2020.
And if all these aren’t enough, then Lã Nina, the warm oceanic current caused anomalous changes in the weather.
Southern Europe got quite a warm December, whereas up above in the northern and eastern parts, it was the sixth coldest December of this decade.
Now, don’t assume much about this coming winter. With the erratically changing climate worldwide, weather predictions are getting harder every day (thanks to pollutants and global warming, of course).
Experts say that winter 2022 will be tough with the third consecutive year of La Nina. So we better gear up to fight the chilling days. Presenting for you here 5 things to add to your house to keep it warm this winter.
1. Good Quality Curtains
It may sound simple, but just with a bunch of thick, premium-quality curtains, you can survive the worst winter days.
Learn to use it the smart way. In the daytime, open the curtain to welcome sunlight that heats your room naturally. Then, when evening falls, close the curtains to preserve that precious warmth inside your room. This easy trick works like magic and costs literally nothing compared to expensive central heating systems and radiators.
2. Install a Radiator Panel
Radiator panels, as the name suggests, simply radiate, i.e., reflect the residual heat from the walls into the room space, but don’t heat up the wall in this process.
It utilizes the residual heat circulation in a better way and acts as insulation of the room, just like the shiny insulation layer works in your Thermo flasks and casseroles.
Now, a large amount of heat is lost through the roof. Check with your energy provider to discuss loft or cavity insulation for this. Also, investing in a well-insulated water tank can save you from the sharp bite of freezing cold water in the tap.
3. Get good Carpets
A thick carpet of decent quality not only makes the floor look elegant but at the same time, it also works so finely to minimize heat loss by 10%, even better than floorboards alone.
Producing extra heat can cost energy and this money. So these options to preserve the already existing heat should be preferred first.
Carpets also feel good on your feet to walk upon, which is undoubtedly a factor you can’t exclude.
4. Control the Draughts
One of the most problematic but often neglected things in the winter is these draughts, especially if you live in an old wooden house or cottage-style home with single glazed windows and doors that don’t close properly.
Even the high-rise apartments have tiny but enough gaps around the windows underneath the door, which allows cold air to invade inside at the cost of warm air escaping from the room.
To solve this, the first choice would be to get better doors and windows with double glazing.
If you are on a budget or staying in rent, you can buy a £30 standard quality draught stopper to block the space.
5. Wood Burning stoves
The final solution, the ultimate answer to this freezing temperature, is a sweet old wood-burning stove.
Stoves work just smooth as they simply burn wood and produce adequate heat to warm up your whole drawing room within half an hour or even less.
This probably reminds you of traditional fireplaces. Yeah, agree. Fireplaces give a royal flavor. But we live in the era of arctic polar cap meltdowns, so better not to create more pollution than we can handle.
Advanced design wood burning stoves use sustainable green technology, being 100% eco-friendly.
These Ecodesign stoves burn the wood completely with no toxic carbon fumes. You may check the catalog of Panadero here. They’re a wood stove manufacturer of Spanish origin, with 50 years of legacy in the wood and metal industry.
Few other quick tips :
- Close the doors of rooms you’re not using
- Move furniture further away from the radiator as it’s absorbing heat
- Upgrade your boiler
- Put a shelf above the radiator
- Block your chimney up. Never seal the top (that causes extreme overheating)
Enjoy Christmas and New year with fresh pies and yummy fruit cakes rather than paracetamols. This winter is going to be comfortable; let’s ensure that now!
