As the cost of energy rises to before unheard of levels, householders are attempting to use as little energy as possible to heat their homes. For the elderly especially it is important to keep the rooms they use warm enough to avoid any harm to their health. Here are some top tips for keeping your home warm this winter.

The effect on the warmth of a room by closing blinds and curtains cannot be emphasised enough as research using a heat detected shows that this simple thing can keep the heat in a room rather than a high percentage of it escaping outside. Heavy curtains are the best and should be closed as soon as night falls.

It is important to stop any draughts coming into the room under doors by using foam draught excluder around the door frame and by putting a fabric draught excluder at the bottom of the door. Again, a heavy curtain across the door can be used to retain heat.

Making sure that the heating appliance that you are using is working efficiently is essential so having the gas central heating boiler serviced, having the chimney swept and checking the settings on storage heaters to see whether they are giving out heat when they should, could save you money.