Our energy bills are the second only to our mortgage, so it pays for me to work at ways to reduce them or at least keep them in check.  But I don’t want to be the only one doing it,  I also want to encourage the kids to work at reducing the bills and educate them as to why it is important that we save energy.

I will say is that as a mum it is important to me that my children are warm, but I also want to make as many savings as I can, so it is all about balancing.   So what can you do with your children to keep your home warmer over winter?

How the kids can help in keeping the home warm over winter

Actively encourage your kids to wear dressing gowns and slippers.  In the home I grew up in I don’t remember being cold, but I do remember that we all had slippers and dressing gowns and we wore them.  So if they boys are cold wearing just their PJ’s then it is time to layer up!

Change to a digital thermostat.  We upgraded our heating system to an online and digital thermostat and we LOVE it.  It saves us money and we only heat the house when it is occupied. It allows us to have multiple timetables and also turn the heating up, down and off using our phones.  So we keep our home warm when we are in it.

Keep the heat in and the cold out.  This means that I encourage the boys to CLOSE the door.  In fact Alvin has fixed this for me.  They know that they will have to chase down an excited dog if they don’t keep the front door shut.  I also make sure that the windows are closed in the winter too.

Close their curtains.  I make sure that the boys close their curtains at dusk to keep the warm in and stop drafts.  It is something that they can do easily themselves.

Let the sun in.  Yes you guessed it, open the curtains! make the most of any winter sun and heat by opening the curtains and letting it in, again something that the kids can do without any help.

There are lots of other things that I do to save on energy bills throughout the year, but the above are ones that the kids can actively get involved in and ensure that their home stays cosy over the winter.   LV have put together a list of six simple ways to keep your family home warmer for longer this winter.

I would love your tips too, so please leave them in the comments section.