Year-Round Comfort: Essential Tips for Homeowners

If you own your home it is important to make it as comfortable as possible, even more so if you live in parts of the country more susceptible to extreme temperatures and inclement weather. 

Heavy rain, howling wind, large snowfall and scorching heat can all affect your mood, ability to relax and the general level of enjoyment you have about living there. So it is important to ensure your property is up to the task of handling these varying weather conditions. 

Moreover, renovating your home in this way can also make it more energy efficient, which in turn can save you money on utility and household bills in the long run. 

With this in mind, here are ten essential tips to provide homeowners with comfort all year round. (Don’t worry, you can thank us next time there is a cyclone or heatwave!) 

Determine What You Need 

Mother Nature can be unpredictable. So to ensure that your property is fully capable of handling whatever is thrown at it, the first thing you should do is take steps to ascertain its current ability to cope with adverse weather conditions. 

A good starting point is to check for leaks, drafts, insulation and anything that might affect your home’s ability to keep you warm in the winter or cool in the summer. Making a list of everything that needs improving in your home, will enable you to determine and prioritise what needs fixing or upgrading in time for the relevant season. 

Hire Reliable Companies

Identifying what needs to be done to improve your home is one thing. However, finding trustworthy and reliable companies or contractors to carry out the work is another thing entirely. 

You should find plenty of candidates to shortlist on a Google search. However, make sure you do your due diligence about them. Check out online reviews other customers have left and do a web search to find out if they have received positive or negative coverage in the press. It is always a good idea to ask your friends or work colleagues for recommendations based on work they have done as well. 

Before agreeing to any repairs or renovations, it is also worth getting quotes from three different companies. This will give you a good indication of whether you are getting above or below market price – which although is important, should not be the sole criteria on which you choose to engage a company’s services. 

Lastly, make sure whoever you pick has the correct industry accreditations. 

Weather-proof Your Doors And Windows 

One of the first jobs you should arrange to have done is to weatherproof your doors and windows as this will go a long way towards maintaining a comfortable temperature inside your home. 

Upgrading your windows to double or triple glazing is a good way to retain heat in the winter months and keep it out in the summer months. At the same time, you should add weather stripping to them and your doors to prevent drafts.  

Doing this will make your home more energy efficient and also reduce outside noise from disturbing your peace. 

For your front door, it is also a good idea to put an overhang above it as this can protect it from extreme heat and heavy storms. 

Insulate Your Walls

If your home is an older property, there is a good chance it has not been insulated. Even if it has, you should consider replacing and upgrading the materials that were originally used. 

Proper insulation of walls, floors and ceiling is important in a home because it acts like a barrier that keeps heat out during the summer and in during the winter. There are several different types of materials that can be used including spray foam, cellulose and fibreglass, each of which provides unique benefits and can be used in different areas of your property. 

For example, fibreglass is routinely used in walls and attics, while spray foam is often employed to seal cracks and gaps. Whoever you have chosen to carry out the work will be able to advise you about the most appropriate use of each material. 

Create More Ventilation and Natural Light  

Another relatively easy way to enhance the overall level of comfort in your home is to increase the levels of ventilation and natural light that can flow into it. 

During the warmer months, rooms with good cross-ventilation will keep your home much cooler than it otherwise would be, thus reducing your need to put on your air conditioning system. 

Additionally, adding more, or larger windows into a room can result in the space being flooded with more daylight. Which, in turn, provide more natural warmth during the winter months. 

If you aren’t able to add more windows to your walls due to lack of space, skylights can be a terrific alternative for bringing more natural light into the darker parts of your home. 

Repair or Replace Heating/Cooling Systems

In a country like Australia,  having a good heating and cooling system is an essential way to maintain the levels of comfort within your home. Without one, you could find it not being capable of efficiently warming up or cooling down your rooms. They may also take up lots of space and be very noisy as well. For this reason, if your system is old or has not been maintained properly it is a good idea to get it replaced or upgraded. 

Technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last decade, to the point where modern systems have become more effective in regulating the temperature of a room in an extremely energy-efficient way.

Whether you’re looking for air conditioner repair in Canberra, Australia or here at home in the UK, you’ll want the best expert you can find to help check and repair your air conditioning system, ensuring that it is up to scratch all year round. With an efficiently functioning AC system, your home is guaranteed to have the optimal temperatures set for the colder and warmer months throughout the year. 

Incorporate Smart Technology Into Your Home 

For many homeowners, smart technology has revolutionised how they live and in particular made their homes more comfortable. 

Through devices like a smart thermostat, it is possible to control temperatures in specific rooms. So, you can set the temperature to specific levels in rooms that you use regularly and turn it off completely in ones – like guest bedrooms – that are rarely used. 

They also allow you to reduce or increase temperatures through the night as you sleep and can even be activated via smartphone, which means you can turn them on remotely, so your home is nice and warm or cool by the time you get back. 

Declutter Your Rooms

Rooms where there is too much furniture not only make it hard to relax but can also result in a greater chance of home accidents occurring. At the same time, as heat is absorbed into furniture it can also make rooms hotter and more uncomfortable to be in as they transfer heat. 

As a result, it might be a good idea to declutter your rooms to create more space and let air more freely circulate throughout them. Doing this can also create a more tranquil ambience for you to relax in. 

Introduce Seasonal Decor 

When you live in a country where summers can be extremely hot and winters can be freezing, the temperature of your rooms can differ markedly at various points throughout the year. 

However, a good tactic to counter this is to change the furnishings of your home to match the season. For instance, in the winter months, replace your curtains and the duvet on your bed to ones made with darker and warmer materials. Additionally, lay down rugs on the floor and blankets on the couches. 

Conversely, in summer, switch them back to items made from light-coloured fabrics that do not retain as much heat. It is amazing the difference this simple tactic of changing your furnishings with the seasons can make. 

Landscape Your Garden 

Whilst it is only natural that your thoughts might be on upgrades and repairs in your home, it is easy to forget about your garden.

However, by also focusing on the outside of your property as well, you can go a long way towards making your home even more comfortable to live in. Trees, for example, can not only provide welcome shade during the hottest parts of the year, but also acts as a buffer against the winds in winter. In turn, they can save a decent amount of money on cooling and heating costs.

If you don’t have them already, it is a good idea to plant mature trees at strategic places around your property – which can also add to its curb appeal. Your local garden centre should be able to help.

One Last Thing

It is within all our interests to live in a home that is as comfortable as it can be, which is why it is a good idea to take steps to improve its overall structure and design.

While it might take a bit of forward planning, time and money, you’ll be thankful you made the effort, when you are at home relaxing on a scorching hot or freezing cold day, without feeling the effects of either.