thermal comfort

Tips for keeping warm at home without pushing the heating

Solutions to increase your thermal comfort and keep you warm without exploding your heating bills!

Winter is fast approaching and with it, the prospect of having to run the heating system of the house thoroughly to get hot. Source of overconsumption of energy, it generates, obviously, a increase in the energy bill. In a context of ecological and economic crisis, we can however avoid this excess while keeping the whole house at the right temperature and good thermal comfort, provided you follow some advice. How to limit this overconsumption? What are the solutions to stay warm without pushing the heat to the limit? Some answers in the form of tips more or less easy to undertake.

Install custom shutters

The first trick is to install traditional or custom shutters on doors and windows. Indeed, when closed, it prevents any loss of heat through the opening on which it is placed. Synonymous with safety, the roller shutter also offers optimal thermal comfort, like the roller shutter to configure here. However, his choice depends on the type of dwelling, whether it is an old house or a new building.

  • Renovating shutters

Renovation shutters with trunk can be found to renovate the openings of the house with no special location for shutters. For this, the trunk can be installed under the lintel of the window or in front to save the brightness of the opening. All existing safes do not guarantee total thermal comfort. Also, it is advisable to favor compact ones with a perfect winding, burglar-proof because they are made with resistant and thermally efficient blades.

  • Rolling shutters special new construction

Roller shutters for new construction are also available. In this type of roller shutter, the trunk is directly integrated into the masonry. Both practical and aesthetic, this system compensates for any loss of heat or freshness.
If your home already has interior shutters, but needs to be rehabilitated to increase its thermal comfort, changing them with electric shutters is another alternative. By choosing aluminum blades rather than PVC, one gains in longevity and performance in terms of thermal insulation. Filled with polyurethane foam, they withstand outdoor temperatures in winter or summer.

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Use thermal curtains and / or double curtains!

Another solution is to install thermal curtains on windows or single glazed doors. If they do not optimize the energy performance of the house at once, they can still improve and save energy. Indeed, a door or a window with a single glazing does not fail to create a cold wall, the thermal curtains thus clearly improve the sensation of thermal comfort in decreasing the cold wall effect.

To fight against this feeling of cold, putting a thermal curtain (also called an insulating curtain) prevents the phenomenon from spreading throughout the room. Thanks to the material of manufacture of its inner side which saves the ambient heat, the thermal curtain makes it possible to keep at the right temperature the interior of the house.

You can also further increase efficiency by installing double curtains with an air gap of about 5 cm between the 2. This will almost have the effect of an additional double glazing on your thermal comfort and above all it is accessible to tenants without large investment (and it is removable)! There is also an appreciable aesthetic advantage, you can have 2 possible curtain colors! See the example below with 1 dark blue opaque curtain and 1 cream thermal curtain.

Double curtain rail

The most delicate, for non-DIY, is to put a 2ieme rail (or rod) to curtain. here are tips for laying double curtains. You can read this comparative shutters, curtains or blinds What is the best solution?

Use doubles or triple glazing to the windows

The installation of double or triple windows on the windows is another solution to avoid overheating his home. Consisting of a set of 2 or 3 glasses separated by one or two air spaces depending on its type, double or triple glazing ensures optimal thermal comfort. This performance is due to the presence of argon, an insulating gas between its spaces. Enclosed between the insulating glazing units made of preferably layered glass, this gas optimizes the energy performance of the glazing. For the use of this glazing is effective, it must however previously treat all existing thermal bridges in the house. Example: thermal bridging in a bathroom

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Obviously the simple windows are no longer installed in new construction and renovation they are limited to historical sites (classified monuments).

Maintain regularly and clean his radiators

The regular maintenance of the central heating radiators of the house also allows to obtain a maximum performance. That means purging them at least once a year as soon as one of them does not heat up anymore. It also means defogging at least every 5 in its hot water circuit. For this, you will have to use a product with which to eliminate sludge residues resulting from the corrosion of piping and limescale deposits. Regular preventative treatments also prevent sludge from redepositing quickly.

Un simple dusting, achievable by all, can also increase the efficiency of radiators, few people think about it!

 

Maintain your boiler

Regular maintenance of the boiler also prevents the risk of overconsumption of energy, but also of blackouts and carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas boilers, coal, wood or fuel oil between 4 and 400 KW are also subject to mandatory annual maintenance visits. It is the same for flue pipes that must be swept at least once a year. Thus, the boiler can deliver its full potential without the need to operate it fully.

gas boiler

Let the solar heat when time permits

The most logical way to keep warm at home without heating is to let in the heat of the day when the weather is right. Even if the sun does not tip the tip of his nose for a few hours, even minutes, so take the opportunity to open the curtains and windows. This also allows to ventilate the rooms to renew the air and evacuate moisture or water vapor that comes from breathing or cooking. Dry air is indeed easier to heat than moist air, the reason to take advantage of it to lower its daily energy consumption.

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Delete thermal bridges of the dwelling

All these precautions are however useless if the dwelling still has thermal bridges through which the stored heat escapes. It is therefore better to put seals on the windows likely to pass the air, or to stick plastic film on the single-glazed windows while waiting to find better. When not in use, the chimney vent must also be closed, as this is the first passage of cold outside air.
When a room is not occupied, it must also be closed so that it can not cool others. Lastly, to insulate with heat curtains stairs or corridors that do not need to be heated prevents the cold from spreading throughout the house.

Dress warmer, the classic wool sweater of our grandmothers!

And finally, certainly the simplest, easiest and most economical solution: knowing how to dress properly. Fashion should not go beyond your thermal comfort. Today there are very trendy vests, fleece jeans, big funny slipper socks, very comfortable fleece throws ... all for a few tens of euros, clothes that you will keep for years and quickly pay for themselves (in just a few days).

We often think of the insulation of his house but much less of the insulation of his own body. Being well dressed or wrapped up in a fleece blanket allows someone in good health to easily withstand an ambient temperature of 15-16 ° C at rest (computer, TV, etc.) ... and you can still take off your coat ( humor)!

With all these tips, you can stay warm at home without the need to operate the maximum heating. The planet will thank you and your energy bill!

To go further, visit forum on thermal comfort

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