Working to Develop Your Home and Garden

Improving your home's insulating factors can mean a more comfortable interior space year-round. Insulation keeps in your heating during wintertime and the air conditioning during summertime, and also keeps out excess humidity that can create a clammy feeling during both summer and winter.

While the insulation you have in the home itself is important for keeping its interior comfortable, there are other ways you can improve a home's overall insulation, beyond adding extra layers of fibreglass or blown foam behind the walls. Note a few simple tips and tricks for improving your home's insulating factors so you can create a comfortable environment inside the home, and reduce your utility bills as well.

Flooring

Stone and other solid flooring tends to hold cold, while carpeting tends to hold heat. If you live in a very warm environment, note if you might replace the flooring in at least a few of the rooms with stone, ceramic tile or a lightly-coloured timber. If you live in a cooler environment, opt for carpeting. If wall-to-wall carpeting is too expensive, or the home's current flooring is in good condition and you're not ready to replace it, add wool area rugs to various rooms, especially larger rooms that often allow heat to escape. Adding carpeting to upper floors can also trap heat as it rises from the rooms on the lower floors, keeping that first floor warmer during wintertime.

Ceiling fans

You may realize that ceiling fans help to keep a home cooler during summertime, as they circulate fresh air and dissipate heat. However, they can also keep the home warmer during winter; as heat rises, ceiling fans push that heat back down toward the room, not allowing it to collect around the ceiling. Many homes also have heating vents near the ceiling, and a ceiling fan can help circulate heat coming from those vents, helping the room to stay warm during wintertime.

Windows

Heating and cooling is easily lost through a home's windows, and poor-quality glass can easily let in heat from sunlight and also bitter cold winds. Window film can offer some protection, but it may be good to invest in upgraded double-glazed window panes. You typically don't need to get new windows to have double-glazed panes; an installer can replace the panes that are in the home's current frames with double-glazed, thermal or insulating glass, or thicker glass that helps to insulate the home. This will stop many drafts during wintertime and keep out excess heat during summer, making the home's interior more comfortable overall.