Our homes are our havens – safe and secure and offer us a warm and cosy welcome after a long day, but even with energy prices rising, we shouldn’t have to compromise this feeling. There are ways that we can lower our energy use without turning down the thermostat, such as investing in an updated heating system or more efficient designer radiators.
Turning down the heating in your home may seem like the only way to reduce your bills, however, a cold home is not a healthy environment. Here are a few issues that come with lowering your home heating.
Why lower your heating?
With energy prices rising, we are all beginning to look for ways to save on our bills – that might mean turning lights off in rooms when you’re not using them or remembering to turn chargers or other equipment off at the plug when they’re not in use to stop our energy wastage.
Turning down your heating can be beneficial when it comes to saving on bills but can come with a few of its own issues that can affect physical and mental health, as well as result in dampness and mould. Lowering your heating ever so slightly, even by 1 degree can make a big difference when it comes to making savings, however, you shouldn’t have to suffer because of it!
Damp and mould
When you lower the temperature in your home, the cold increases the condensation on the walls, which then leads to an increased chance of rooms developing damp or mould. These things can be harmful to our health, not to mention look unsightly. Mould can cause coughing and sneezing and is especially dangerous for people that suffer from asthma. It can create an allergic-type reaction in many of us if we’re exposed to it for a long period of time.
There are ways you can prevent dampness and mould from taking hold in your house if you’re looking to turn down your thermostat. You could use a dehumidifier to keep moisture out of the air and make sure the room that causes the most issue is well ventilated by opening a window slightly. There are even mould inhibitors that can be added to paint if you decide to redecorate to eradicate the chance of mould appearing in the same place.
Impact on mental health
Although turning your heating down or off completely can seem like a good idea, living in a cold environment can have a negative impact on your mental health. If you’re living in a cold house, you could find that your energy depletes, and your memory and your productivity levels will begin to suffer. You will find that exposure to cold living temperatures can affect daily mood and exacerbate existing mental health issues.
Whilst reducing the amount of energy you use can seem beneficial when it comes to saving money, it shouldn’t mean that you must sacrifice your mental health. Living in a warm, comfortable home plays an important part in our overall well-being, so as a way of prioritising yourself and your health – make sure that your home is warm enough to keep you comfortable.
Impact on the immune system
As well as mental health, living in cold conditions can also have a negative impact on your physical health. There are many ways in which the cold can affect us, such as an increase in the risk of viral infections, like cold and flu, and can make people living with diseases that can make moving difficult even worse.
During the winter months, the risk of circulatory diseases becomes much higher and can be dangerous for elderly people especially. Keeping costs down doesn’t mean you should risk infection and bad physical health – there are ways in which we can save money and stay healthy which we will discuss in more detail below.
Keeping your house warm
There are alternative ways that you can look at to keep your house warm rather than automatically reaching for the thermostat, that can keep your warm and cosy at a reduced cost. You could look at upgrading your heating system so that it is more efficient and uses less energy to produce the necessary amount of heat.
You should also make sure that the insulation in your house is effective and is preventing heat loss as best possible – add thick curtains to windows, use draft excluders under doors and add insulation to ceilings and walls. Discover the criteria for qualifying for a loft insulation grant under the ECO scheme by referring to the informative guide provided by Warma UK.
You can save money and stay warm by making sure you have all the above in place to eliminate heat loss and reduce the amount of energy you’re using to heat your home. If you’re conscious about making further improvements, making sure you wrap up warm in the winter can also be a big help, but remember – saving money shouldn’t mean sacrificing your health!
