Age Space’s property partner Leaders offer you their tips on winter-proofing the home.
It’s that time of year again. Winter is here, and chances are the temperature will soon be plummeting and weather becoming less ‘elderly-friendly’. With that in mind, we’ve put together some top tips for protecting your home and keeping it warm and cosy during this cold snap.
Use your curtains
Open your curtains to let in as much sunlight as possible and make the most of the free heat it gives throughout the day. But, when it gets dark, close your curtains to add another layer of insulation keeping the warm air inside the room.
Readjust the timers on your central heating
No one likes getting out of bed in the morning, particularly if the room is freezing cold. Set the heating to come on 30 minutes earlier than you usually would to ensure the house has reached full temperature by the time you wake up.
Wrap your pipes up
If you are worried about your pipes freezing, wrap them up with lagging to avoid blockages and burst pipes.
Check your boiler pressure
Boilers function best at one bar so it is important to check the pressure of your boiler, particularly during the cold weather when you need it most. If it’s too high or too low, we recommend calling a gas safety engineer.
Draught proof your doors
If you are feeling draughts through windows, doors or letter boxes a quick fix for heating up your home is to block them with draught excluders.
Move furniture away from the radiators
If big items of furniture such as sofas, beds or tables are sitting in front of a radiator they are absorbing the heat and preventing it from circulating around the room. Moving furniture away from the radiators will allow heat to circulate around the room.
Find out where your stopcock is
This sounds obvious but it’s surprising how many homeowners and tenants don’t know where the stopcock is, if pipes do freeze, pressure can build up and cause them to burst. Although this is the worst-case scenario you should know how to turn off the water should this happen.
If you’d like any more advice regarding winter proofing the home or help with your property enquiries, please contact LEADERS via https://www.leaders.co.uk/branches or contact Joanne Darroch, Senior Branch Manager (Brighton) 01273 025728.
