With The Cost Of Living On The Rise, It’s Never Been More Important To Know How To Keep Your Home Warm This Winter
As the colder weather is on its way and energy costs are rising faster than ever before, it’s never been more important to know how to keep your home warm this winter. Whether you own your property in London or whether you’re renting, finding ways to reduce your costs couldn’t be more vital this year. With this in mind, the team here at Properly has 6 helpful tips for you to put into practice so that you can stay toasty without breaking the bank.
1. Bleed Your Radiators
Check your radiators to see if they feel colder at the top than at the bottom. If so, there may be some cold air trapped inside which is stopping hot water from filling the radiator and preventing it from heating up. You can fix this problem by bleeding your radiator to release the trapped air. The hot water will be able to start flowing inside again, and that will allow even heating of the radiator to heat the room more effectively.
2. Keep The Top Of Your Radiators Free
It can be tempting to put your damp laundry on your radiators to dry, but if you allow the top of your radiators to become covered with clothing (or indeed, any other items), the warm air won’t be able to flow, and that will stop the heat from circulating. Use a clothes airer instead or dry your laundry outdoors whenever possible.
3. Add Effective Draught Proofing
Make sure to draught-proof any areas where cold air could be creeping into your rooms. Draught excluders can be purchased for use with your doors, and you can buy foam self-adhesive tape to apply to your windows. Think about your keyholes and letterboxes too. You can buy items in DIY stores that will block out any cold air coming through these small gaps.
4. Consider Furniture Positioning
Move furniture items such as sofas and beds away from your radiators so that the flow of warm air won’t be blocked. Whenever possible, put thermal curtains up at your windows and doors too. This will help keep the warmth in your rooms.
5. Insulate Your Property
If you own your own home in London, make sure you have sufficient insulation in your loft, under your floors and in your external walls as well as around the hot water cylinder. If you’re a tenant, it’s worth speaking to your landlord about insulation.
6. Service The Boiler
If the boiler in your property is inefficient, your energy bills can take a serious hit, so make sure you’re getting it serviced once a year and that your thermostats are frequently checked too. If the thermostat is old, it can sometimes delay the heating up of your home, or alternatively, could heat it to a higher temperature than necessary.
Follow our tips, and you should find that your home feels warmer this winter.
If you’re interested in buying or renting a more energy-efficient property, get in touch with the Properly team today on 0207 459 4400.
London Youth work to improve the lives of young people in London, challenging them to become the best they can, and last year helped over 27,000 young people through their sports development, youth action and involvement, arts and outdoor education programmes and employment prospects. We feel strongly that all young people should have an opportunity to develop themselves, and so are delighted to be able to support London Youth in their work, providing young people with access to opportunities they might not otherwise have had, to learn new skills, to make a positive change in their communities and to shape the city they live in.
Glass Door helps homeless men and women in London through their large network of emergency shelters and support services. These winter shelters provide a warm welcome, food, safety and shelter for up to 170 people every night. Properly feels passionately about the issue of homelessness. That is why we are delighted that together with our clients we can assist Glass Door in their fantastic work to help some of the most marginalised people in society.
Families become homeless for reasons we can all identify with. We are concerned about people who are struggling to keep things together in our fast-paced world – and we care about those who have no support. We chose the Doorstep Homeless Family Project because they are passionate and effective yet they are a small team with limited funding. They provide homeless families, living in temporary accommodation in London, with access to services to secure the emotional and practical support they require to enjoy a better quality of life.
We need nature and nature needs us. We support The London Wildlife Trust because we share its concern for the environment. We want to ensure that we keep nature in mind as we work in the property market – and crucially, with people’s homes. We also want our employees to engage with nature and benefit from the wellbeing this brings. London Wildlife Trust cares for over 37 of London’s spaces, and their vision is: “a London alive with nature, where everyone can experience and enjoy wildlife”.
Both Michael and Mariel were extremely helpful with our questions going forward whether it be regarding referencing or the property itself. Definitely not the usual estate agent experience (in a good way) and I would recommend Properly to anyone.
I was so pleased to be introduced to Properly. Mariel and Michael provide an excellent service that took the stress and hassle out of finding a tenant. They were a pleasure to deal with, efficient and fast. A marked difference from the hidden costs and poor communication often encountered from other high street estate agents. I would thoroughly recommend and happily use again!
Mariel & Michael have been amazing, very thorough, helpful and a delight to deal with, would highly recommend! Thank you both.
Had Michael round for a valuation of our flat – very knowledgeable and friendly and wasn’t pushy at all. When it comes time to sell we’ll definitely be giving Properly a call!
We did not feel rushed at all which was great as it really allowed us to really take the property in. We did put down an offer and Properly did a great job in securing a good outcome for both the sellers and ourselves.If you are looking for an agency that will do more than just open the door then look no further.
Mariel helped me sell my apartment in West London. She was always there when I needed her. Her advice was invaluable and made everything a whole lot easier. I can’t recommend her highly enough.
The level of customer service I received at Properly with Mariel and her team was frankly outstanding. It’s lovely when people genuinely care and go the extra mile which certainly they did. I couldn’t recommend them more highly, the most pleasurable property experience ever for me.
Amazing people, responsive, honest, friendly and professional. Cannot fault them and the type of company, you will go back to again and again.