What Are the Best Ways to Prepare Your Home for Winter?

The winters are the toughest time of the year for many. Your comfort is dependent on how well you utilise whatever you have at your disposal to combat the cold weather. When the temperatures dip and the outdoors become foggy and gray, the quilt becomes your preferred place to slip into for comfort and a cup of hot coffee and a beanie are your favourite items to have on hand. 

Getting ready for winter is very important, but does it always have to be a lot of work every year that it comes around?  Here, we will tell you all about how you can insulate your home so it can become a place of utmost comfort even if the weather outside is frightful. 

Preparing Your Home for Winter

There are multiple ways you can follow to prepare your home for winter. There is a good reason why winters are the time most people shut down their windows and apply one hack after another to beat the cold. Early mornings and late in the evenings, the chill can get very intense and often unbearable. Windows being made of glass, is often a location of great heat loss owing to the fact that glass is a very poor insulator.

While turning on the central heating will definitely warm your home, it is not a cost effective nor an environmentally friendly solution. Finding ways to incrementally decrease reliance on heating systems can help reduce your carbon footprint as well as fattening up your wallet. One way to increase indoor warmth is by finding the places where heat is lost, and windows are among the usual suspects. 

Weather Stripping

Weather stripping your windows and doors is a tried and tested and an often reasonable, do it yourself method of cutting down heating costs. It can take a bit of effort, taking measurements and exploring the crevices and openings in your doors and windows. choosing the right way of weatherstripping a door, and ‘adjusting the cuts’ if required. Once the measurements are taken and the strips are in place, you are all set to block the cold gush of air from coming in and keeping the heat inside. 

Like many of the methods we will mention, weather stripping will only need to be done once and will require just regular maintenance and cleaning. The sealing strips may need replacing after several years, but the savings gained from having them in place will outweigh the cost of replacement. 

Choosing Energy Efficient Window Blinds

This is where choosing the most efficient energy efficient blinds and shades comes in to further insulate you. These window dressings provide a barrier between the glass windows and the outdoors, allowing the warm air to stay inside. The key is not leaving the glass exposed, as they allow cold winter air to enter, forcing you to use your heating system more to keep room temperature comfortable. One type of window dressing is made specifically for insulation, and that would be the Cellular Shades.

Cellular Shades for Utmost Comfort

Without a doubt, cellular “honeycomb” window shades are the best for insulating. They boast fabulous technology through a textured design that is made to trap air, creating an insulating barrier on the window. These shades consist of cell pockets that are built to trap heat in and cold out. When placed next to the window, it prevents the warm indoor air from escaping and the outside cold air from coming in. 

The honeycomb design, with its sophisticated appearance, can fit in any kind of home. These shades can last for a very long time when taken care of regularly. They only need minimal cleaning on a regular basis. Cellular shades can reward you with a home that will be cosy and comfortable all through the year, especially during the winter.

Plantation Shutters for a Design Unlike Any Other 

If you are looking for an alternative to shades or blinds to cover and insulate your windows, we would like to recommend shutters. Shutters are made from wood and are built directly onto your window’s frame, adding a direct layer over the glass. 

Shutters are a permanent feature that are easy to open and close, allowing you to control them with ease. Also, because they are built directly on the frame, you can add additional treatments like drapery in front of them using a wall mount above the window. This addition will allow for even further insulation. 

Shutters were built for winter cabins especially to beat the outside cold. Their finish makes them ideal choices for an upscale look in a contemporary home as well as one with old-world charm. Shutters simply need regular maintenance, the same as the above mentioned winterizing methods.

Getting Insulated Fabric 

Heat loss is a constant uphill battle during winter. Even with the solutions mentioned above (weather stripping, cellular shades, plantation shutters) warm air will still find ways to exit through the glass windows. However, as mentioned previously, it may be possible to add additional layers to these solutions. Getting a fabric drapery that is thick in material can help to prevent this heat loss.

You may have installed a light filtering or translucent curtain for your window when the weather was more pleasant, but now these fabrics are not ideal when the weather turns cold. Replacing these thinner fabrics with a thicker one will help to keep your home warmer. Like wearing a jacket above your regular clothes, adding additional layers will help to keep the warm in and the cold out.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, there are multiple ways in which you can set up your home for the winters and you can combine them. Winter is a tough month, especially if you aren’t fond of the cold. Fighting to keep your place warm without using your heater too much is a noble but uphill battle. The methods provided above can be a great starting place for you when trying to keep your house warm during the winter.