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.
Fab idea to get the kids actively involved in helping to stop the chills. Plus I am a fan of layering up – definitely put on a dressing gown and not turn up the heating!
I close my curtains when I turn my lights on usually as that way I can help keep the heat in.
Can I get my daughter to wear slippers? Can I hell as like! Her feet are always freezing!
We keep a big blanket in the sofa to snuggle under in the evening.
These are some fantastic tips – I am someone who hates putting on the heating unless it is completely necessary. x
What a good idea to get the kids involved in saving energy, I’m always telling mine to shut the door, and we definitely go for layers before putting up the heating.
It is so important to keep your house warm over Winter. Simple things like draft excluders are often over looked.
So many great tips. We would live in our dressing gowns if we could.
If we put the heating on during the day we close the bedroom doors to keep the heat in. We also use draught excluders x
I wish mine would shut the doors behind them – no amount of telling them seems to work lol
I am a firm believer in jumpers and blankets before heating!!
We keep a pile of blankets in the storage part o the sofa, so in the mornings and evenings when we’re cold we snuggle up under those to keep warm
Great tips, I also find blankets, pillows and candles in the living room give the appearance of warmth and make you feel snug and homely.
We are looking at getting an online digital thermostat as our current one is broken so it seems like a good time to do it…but not sure which to go for! Which one do you have? It sounds like you think it works well?
Lauren, we have a HIVE system, which is British Gases own. It took them less than an hour to install and it works really well. I have heard good things about NEST too.
Great post and tips- you are so right about dressing gowns and slippers! Kaz x