How to keep your living room warm without central heating ? Chances are, in the winter months, your living room is going to be the place you spend most of your time. Therefore, you want it to be warm, cosy, and free from draughts.
keep your living room warm
There are plenty of ways in which you can achieve this, some more expensive than others, but if you make the leap and spend a little more, it will be worth it in the long run.
Opt for an electric designer radiator
Joking aside, I’m not talking about electric storage heaters or those infuriatingly expensive fan heaters that serve virtually no purpose other than to turn your money into slightly warm air.
Turning every kilowatt of energy they use into heat, these modern designer radiators can be installed virtually anywhere with an electricity supply and kick out a decent amount of heat too.
With prices in our store starting at around £300, they aren’t the cheapest way to take away the winter chill, but with rapid heat-up times and the ability to work separately from your central heating, they’re a sound and practical investment for the longer term.
Check out why electric radiators could be a good option for your home with the help of our expert electric radiator guide.
Open & close your curtains
In the sky, even in winter, there’s a big flaming ball of gas that provides free heat and energy that you can harness in your own home, so you should make the most of it.
On sunnier days, open your curtains to let light in during the day and then be sure to draw them closed as soon as the sun goes down.
Doing so will act as an additional layer of insulation for your living room and help to keep warmth inside.
NOTE – you can do this in any room of your home. Just be sure to go and close the curtains again as soon as the sun starts to dip below the horizon.
And put up thicker curtains
As well as opening and closing curtains to warm up your living room without central heating, another top tip is to put up thicker curtains instead.
Conversely, you can purchase insulated curtain liners that are superb at helping a room retain heat.
Thermal curtain liners work by creating a sort of “dead air” space between the window and the room which helps to reduce air filtration and minimise heat escaping from your window space.
Installing a thermal curtain or thermal curtain liner means that heat will be kept inside during winter, reducing the need to switch your heating on as often.
Insulation ratings are measured by R numbers – the higher the number the more insulating properties the material has. Standard curtains usually have an R number of 1, while insulating curtains can achieve R-6, which makes them exceptionally good at helping your room to retain heat.
Block out draughts
Unless you are the owner of a very new property, the chances are you are losing some heat through gaps around windows and doors and possibly through cracks in the floor and walls.
According to the Energy Savings Trust, it will cost around £225 to have a professional draught-proofer come to your home and install draught-proofing, saving you around £125 a year on energy bills.
Doing it yourself will not cost anywhere near as much though, and there are a few things you can do to draught-proof your sitting room.
Simply install self-adhesive rubber seals around windows and doors and maybe look at making your own draught excluder – like this one.
Relatively inexpensive but with really positive results, draught-proofing can be done in an afternoon, with loads of helpful guides online about how to get the job done.
Make sure the floor is covered and insulated
As with the bedroom (or any other room for that matter), if you have laminate or hardwood flooring, your space will feel slightly cooler than a carpeted room would.
Now, forking out for a full new carpet is expensive, so the next best option is to get the rugs out.
A standard living room will lose about 10% of its heat through the floor, so a few well-placed rugs could go a long way to keeping that heat inside where you want it.
For those of you with suspended floors – that is a floor raised off the ground – I’m sorry, but if you haven’t already got it insulated below you may need to get a professional in to get it sorted and they can be expensive.
Using a batt of insulation or some expanding foam is the way to go, and according to Checkatrade, it can cost on average around £1400 to have the work done – with prices in London expected to be considerably more.
Move furniture away from external walls
As we’re talking about keeping warm without using your home’s heating system, we won’t speak about moving furniture away from radiators – although if you are going to fire up the boiler this is definitely something to consider.
In winter, and if possible with your available space, moving furniture away from your external walls will help to keep a space warmer.
Sitting on furniture perched against an external wall will feel much cooler than if that same piece of furniture was on an internal wall.
So, to feel that bit more comfortable and to delay the need to switch on the heating, try moving your living room furniture around and away from external walls – you may be surprised by the subtle difference it can make.
Use a terracotta heater
A simple and affordable terracotta heater is a great way to keep a space a little warmer without the need to use main heating systems.
It’s a clever way of warming space and can be bought online or made at home with a few simple components.
The idea of a terracotta heater is that the heat from a single candle flame (or two or three) is concentrated into a single point and then radiated outwards by one, two or three terracotta pots.
It’s basically inverted plant pots stacked on top of each other – and is so simple it should be illegal – but it really does work and can be useful to save energy at home.
It’s also a handy substitute and stand-by for if your heating breaks down completely and you have no alternative heat source.
PLEASE NOTE – open flames can be dangerous, and indoors could cause carbon monoxide poisoning, so it is best to be careful if choosing to use a terracotta heater.
