The winter weather can sometimes bring a ray of problems to your door – quite literally. From frozen pipes to chilling draughts, don’t cause yourself any extra bills this year, consider our top tips for protecting your home during the winter months.
It's Important to Keep your Home Safe During Winter
Insulate your Pipes
A common issue come wintertime is burst pipes. If your pipes are exposed within your home, it is a good idea to insulate your pipes and the loft water storage tank from the cold. You can do this by putting insulation foam on top of pipes rather than underneath them. This can also make a difference to your heating bill as it will help prevent heat loss.
Check your Taps
Frozen pipes can cause a ray of problems in your home as when they expand, they will crack. It’s important to regularly check all the taps in your home during the winter months, if little or no water flows, there may be frozen water in the pipes. If this is the case then you must shut your water off at the stopcock and try to thaw the pipes by using a hairdryer, a hot water bottle or a towel soaked in hot water. The best solution would be to call a plumber before the pipes burst!
Are you on holiday?
Ask a relative or friend to check your home if you're away for a while. This should help make sure leaking or burst pipes are spotted early and damage is kept to a minimum. If you are away from home in the winter, you can also set the central heating to come on for a short period each day to prevent pipes from freezing.
Prevent Draughts
Block draughts from windows, external and internal doors, skirting, loft hatches, and pipes or cables passing through walls by closing your curtains in the evening, using a door cushion to block draughts or taping your windows with clear tape. You would be surprised the difference this can make!
Preserve all the heat you can
It’s important to get your heating appliances serviced, or your chimneys swept to make sure that the fire burns efficiently. Radiator reflectors will direct heat into the room and not out through an external wall - make sure the radiators are not covered by curtains or furniture. Another useful tip is to set your heating to 18–21°C to keep your bills low, and to come on earlier and go off later rather than turning the thermostat up.
Have you got any handy tips for keeping your home safe during the winter months?
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