Okay, spring and summer won’t cause you much concern with regards to capturing enough heat in your home. Yet, just a few months after, you will need to reconsider your approach. If not for anything else, just making your home more energy-efficient is satisfying in and of itself. The trouble with many eco-friendly options for your home decor is, they’re just too obvious. Let’s face it, sustainable homes have a particular style about them. They look a bit bland, beige, cream and green seem to invade every corner of the home. But, it doesn’t have to be like this at all. Your home can become more energy efficient with some not-so-obvious and obvious stylistic features.
Source Judi Baller-Fabian
Cute and cuddly
Mother nature has provided the best answer to many of our problems and an eco-friendly home is no exception. If there is more wool and cotton in your home, you’re bound to trap the heat molecules in your house. At the same time, you don’t want to make it too obvious that this is what you’re trying to achieve. A cute and cuddly solution awaits, in the form of stuffed toys. Yes, you heard that correctly in your mind, stuffed toys can be placed all around the home and they will prevent heat from escaping the room. You should put stuffed toys in window sills especially, as this is where the majority of heat loss occurs. Think about what your favorite cartoon characters were growing up. A Winnie the Pooh and or Baloo the bear stuffed toy can sit in your bedroom window sill. What about your children? Putting stuffed toys of their favorite animals in the window sills will make their bedroom friendly and welcoming while keeping them warm at night.
At your request only
Patio doors and windows are a huge concern for homeowners when it comes to energy saving. These large window panels and glass doors are magnets for heat loss. The trouble with heat retention is, it requires a special kind of method regarding window design and production. You simply cannot have windows that were made 10 or more years ago in your home, if you want to save on energy bills. Look for products from specialists like Energy Shield Window & Door Company who specifically create energy-efficient windows. It’s not just the fine quality of the glass, but the window frames are thicker and made from superior material. We often blame our windows for increasing our heating bill, but the frames are just as guilty. So consider vinyl frames that don’t contract and expand as severely as wooden frames. Their glass doors are designed for heat reflection, so the temperature outside of your home is only invited in, at your request.
Recycling your warmth
As you know, hot air rises. The modern home has lacked a proficient way of recycling the warmth it generates for so long, but the answer has been staring at us all this time. The ceiling fan has long-been associated with cooling the home. However, if you set a ceiling fan on to a low setting whereby it’s not necessarily cutting through the air at speed, you can recycle the air inside your home. The hot air will naturally rise and when it does, it will be pushed out to the side and down the walls of the rooms. It pays to have cotton curtains and heat-absorbing paint if you’re not using wallpaper. What this allows you to do is set the heating system to low power and reuse the warm air over and over.
No more synthetic welcomes
You may believe that having a synthetic welcome mat is good for keeping your home clean. Although this is true, it’s not recommended you have such a mat indoors. Placing a welcome mat outside but having a cotton or woolen rug inside right by the door, will prevent heat from escaping underneath the door. Having a long hallway rug is a fantastic idea. The hallway and foyer are key places where hot air is attracted due to the equilibrium effect. A stretch of heat-absorbing material will slow down the procession of heat molecules and gradually create a lukewarm temperature. Although this is quite obvious, it works!
There can be a slight ugliness to eco-friendly homes. It becomes too incorporated into your interior design and takes over the home. Not-so-obvious methods like the stuffed animals solution, allows you to style your home how you wish but trap as much warmth as you can. Large patio windows and doors are a key concern and usually, only newer designs will fix the issue.
