How to save electricity in your home this winter

Keeping cosy in winter doesn’t have to be an expensive affair. There are a lot of energy-efficient options these days for creating and retaining heat indoors, and many of them have the additional bonus of adding value to your property as well.

Proper insulation is number one on the list of value-adding energy-saving solutions. There’s no point trying to heat a space that just releases all the warmth outside. It’s like trying to blow up a balloon that has a hole in it – even if you manage to inflate it, you have to keep adding air if you want it to stay full. Likewise, if your house isn’t properly insulated, you have to keep adding heat if you want it to stay warm. That’s an expensive operation with the current price of electricity.

The two main areas responsible for heat leakage are ceilings and openings like windows and doors. Both can be insulated easily by professionals or as a weekend DIY.

Ceiling insulation tends to make the most measurable difference to interior temperatures. It’s so effective that it’s a legal requirement for all newly-built homes and extensions in South Africa. There are several types of ceiling insulation available on the market, but make sure to check the thermal resistance value, or R-value, of your chosen product to ensure it’s appropriate for your home and climate. The higher the R-value, the more insulation the product provides.

A geyser blanket can make a substantial difference to your electricity usage, and many installers offer this as part of their service. Geysers lose a lot of heat to chilly ceiling spaces in winter, which pushes up the amount of electricity they use. Insulation will help to minimise this problem.

As for windows and doors, adhesive foam strips – readily available at your local hardware store – provide insulation to block any draughts coming through gaps in the frames. Door draught excluders are also available for exterior doors that don’t seal tightly against their sills.

No matter how well-sealed they are, windows do lose heat through the glass as well, so good quality curtains or blinds are also a must for a nice, cosy home.  Open any curtains on north-facing windows during the day to let the sun’s natural warmth heat your home, and then close them at night to keep that warmth indoors.

Of course, in the middle of winter, a little bit of sunshine might not warm things up quite enough, but that doesn’t mean you need to use electricity-guzzling heaters to get temperatures up to more bearable levels. Fireplaces are a wonderful, electricity-free source of heat in winter and modern, clean-burning, closed-combustion options can generate a generous amount of heat with very little fuel. Houses with working fireplaces are also extremely popular with buyers, so you could definitely recoup the cost of installing one if you eventually sell.

Other energy-efficient heating options include gas heaters and specifically-designed low-power heater panels. These are best used to heat single rooms, however, and not an entire house.