Tips for a Warm and Healthy Home this Winter

Keeping your home dry over the winter months will not only help keep your family healthy, it will also make your home easier to heat and reduce the cost of heating. We asked what you do to keep your home warm and there were lots of clever suggestions! The best part is that you can use your points to get what you need to warm up the home this winter.

Tips to create a warm home this winter:

Open windows on fine days for fresh air and heat with the heat pump. Use the extractor fans for steam in the bathroom and kitchen. Gary, Dunedin

To heat your home efficiently, cook a warm meal – radiating heat from the oven instantly warms your house and comforts the homebodies with scents to delight. Justine, Auckland

Make homemade soup and have the family bunched together on the sofa under a cosy blanket with the fire roaring. Charmaine, Te Awamutu

Instead of using a gas heater, which I believe creates condensation, invest in a dehumidifier. We found that swapping to a dehumidifier keeps our home dryer, warmer and has taken away the hassle of wiping down windows and dealing with mouldy curtains. It has also reduced sicknesses. Tracy, Auckland

To keep the nasty draughts out, we close the drapes before it gets dark and make our own draught stoppers and put them on window sills. This is especially good when you have an older home and the wind comes in through the gaps. Rochelle, Auckland

Always close the curtains as the sun goes down and close doors to the rooms not being used. Put something on your feet and a wear a jersey. I have been knitting hats for the Lions Cancer Centre for folks to wear and keep, as a hat certainly makes one feel warmer on a cooler day. Beth, Te Awamutu