5 Ways to Retrofit an Old Home to Make it Warmer

 Snowy winter nights can easily lose their charm if you live in an inadequately-insulated old home. These five ways of retrofitting an old home to make it warmer will help you indulge in a toasty cosy ambience and improve your home’s efficiency without changing its existing structure.

1. DO AN ENERGY AUDIT

Before you set about retrofitting an older home to make it warmer, do an energy audit first. It will pinpoint the problem areas where warm air is escaping and cold air entering. You can do a simple audit yourself with a stick of incense on a windy day. Check doors, windows, and any other spots you think may be letting air in/out by waving the smoke from the lit up incense towards them. With gaps that let in cold air, the smoke will blow inwards, and will be sucked out toward heat-depleting leaks. A professional audit will be more precise, so ask your provider if a free audit is an option with them, or hire a professional energy auditor who will be meticulous in identifying the reasons for heat loss and devise a complete plan for making your home warmer.

2. SEAL WINDOWS AND DOORS

Professional builders in London recommend to start with the basics -- seal gaps around windows and doors. This is one of the most hassle-free and cost-effective ways of warming up your home. Caulk visible holes around window sashes and use weatherstripping to seal loose doors and windows. A plastic sheeting kit you can find at your local hardware store works great for sealing windows for the winter. Drapes and blinds can also help contain more warmth. Gaps beneath doors are never to be underestimated -- a one-eighth-inch gap beneath a 36-inch door has the same effect on your home as a 2.4-inch-wide hole in the wall. If even after weatherstripping, you still hear the howling sound of drafts under the doors, use a rolled up towel or buy a door snake to block drafts.

3. UPDATE ON INSULATION

New homes come fully insulated but older buildings often lack this energy-regulating feature, or are inadequately insulated with outdated materials. One of the easiest and most efficient ways of insulating an older home is by injecting non-flammable foam resin into walls. The foam contains bubbles that enhance its heating or cooling properties. Hiring trained insulators to do it for you is a safe way of making your home warmer without the need for remodelling interior or exterior walls. This convenient process takes about a day for an entire house to be insulated. Before retrofitting with insulation, consult your energy auditor about maintaining proper airflow to prevent dampness. Older homes are designed to breathe and need adequate airflow, so make sure even after insulation, they are ventilated enough and safe from building up moisture.

4. INSTALL A PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTAT

A “smart” thermostat is not a privilege of the newer, high-tech homes. You can install a programmable thermostat that will regulate temperature on weekdays and at weekends or create a different schedule for every day of the week in homes of any age. Such regulation ensures the house stays warm when occupied and saves energy when you’re away. Set your thermostat to maintain a steady temperature for longer periods and don’t turn it up or down throughout the day. Install thermostats away from heating and cooling vents, open windows and direct sunlight.

5. INSTALL RADIANT FLOOR HEAT

Radiant floor heating maintains unobtrusive constant warmth throughout your house. When you retrofit radiant floor heating beneath the floors, you actually warm up the structure of your home. This is energy-efficient as it maintains a pleasant temperature by transferring heat quickly from the water in the system’s tubing to the inside of your home, without spiking it the way electric units do. There are now products that allow for old houses to be retrofitted with radiant floor systems. These are specifically designed for remodelling and actually increase the rigidity of existing subfloor panels in old homes.