Keep Your Home Warmer in Winter While Reducing Waste and Saving Money

The aim of these five simple measures is to prevent cold draughts caused by warm air leaking out of your house. I've found bubblewrap very useful, as you’ll find out. Australia Post parcels are often lined with it and it's sometimes available at op shops. Rather than sending it to landfill, keep a stockpile for those cold winter months.

It's always good to be aware of what's happening around your house. One cold, windy morning I could feel a draught coming from the bedroom windows, and realised that the blinds were gently moving. Checking outside, I found there were gaps between the window frames and brick wall. This inspired me to investigate leaks all over the house, and with these simple solutions my home stays much warmer.

1. Bathroom, toilet and laundry rooms

   These are always the coldest rooms in the house because the windows are bare.  Magnetite is a cheaper but effective form of double glazing.  It might be worth seeing if your landlord is willing to have it installed, otherwise try a couple of layers of bubblewrap. That narrow window beside the front door would benefit from the same treatment.

   Covering gaps above the glass in bathroom, toilet and laundry windows, as well as air vents in your walls, can raise room temperature by several degrees as well preventing draughts. Reuse cardboard, corflute or a double layer of bubblewrap to cover. If you're renting, you'll find that masking tape helps form a good seal when you stick these on, and is easy to remove when you leave. Home owners can simply plaster over the gaps of air vents, or ask your landlords if they will allow you to do this.  

2. Doors and windows
   If you put your hand against the edges of your doors and windows, you'll likely feel the movement of cool air. Lengths of rubber sealing are cheap, and available at hardware stores. For internal doors which have a gap at the bottom, you can use a "snake" made from old stockings filled with scrap fabric, or rolled up towel.  

3. Curtains and blinds
   If your curtains don’t have pelmets, strips of reused corflute or thick cardboard attached with masking tape between the curtain rail and window frame will prevent the loss of warm air. To effectively block heat from escaping and cold entering, curtains and blinds need to be blockout. If you can see through them, you'll be losing heat through your windows.

4. Skylights
   Though they add lovely natural light to a room, skylights are another source of heat loss in winter. I've found a double layer of bubblewrap taped into the frame prevents this.

5. Heating
   Keeping the temperature in your house at 18-20 degrees will lower your heating bills considerably. If you don't have a thermostat, it's worthwhile keeping a thermometer handy. The SEE-Change office has free home thermometers available on request. If you're sitting for any length or time, wear extra layers or wrap yourself in a blanket. A 2m length of polarfleece from a fabric shop makes a cheap and cosy blanket, or pop by your local op-shop and you’ll likely find a warm woollen one.

By Lesley Collis, WasteLess