How to keep your home warm this winter

With the shorter and colder days, our energy use increases in winter. But you shouldn’t have to use more energy than you need to when heating your home. Here are some quick and easy steps you can take to help make sure your home is at the right temperature for you, while still being energy efficient.

• Draught-proof your doors and windows
• Make sure your home is properly insulated
• Upgrade to a new boiler or heat pump
• Use your curtains to help keep the heat in
• Programme timers for your heating
• Make the most of your radiators
• Only heat the rooms you’re using
• Get your boiler serviced to maintain its safety and efficiency
• Check if you’re eligible for extra support such as the Warm Home Discount

Insulation is not something many of us think about regularly, but it plays a vital role in making sure our homes stay warm.

Insulation helps prevent heat loss in your home by keeping warm air inside and stopping cold air from entering. It’s a good idea to check the insulation in your loft, walls and pipes as these are the main areas where heat can escape.

Having the correct insulation in your home will mean that you need to use less energy to heat your home. In fact, by installing cavity wall insulation you could save up to £300 a year on your heating bills¹. And check if you’re eligible for free or part-funded cavity wall insulation as part of our support for the Great British Insulation Scheme. 

Curtains and thermal blinds can be a great way to help keep your home warm. During the day, keeping them open will let the sun light flood in and heat up your home and in the evenings, closing them will help to keep the cooler outside air from circulating around your room, and will also help keep the warm air inside your home.

You could even opt for thermal curtains to help minimise the cold – these curtains have thicker lining than standard curtains and can help stop window draughts from cooling down the rest of your room. 

Check that your radiators are heating up properly – if they feel cold to the touch at the top but warm at the bottom, they could need bleeding. But don’t worry, this is an easy task that you can do yourself at home. We even have a guide on how to bleed your radiators if you’re not sure what to do.

Have a look at the furniture in your home and if it’s blocking any of your radiators, try to move your furniture out the way. By keeping your radiators clear of furniture, the heat can easily move around your room and help keep you warm. 

You don’t need to heat your entire home to feel warm, you only need to heat the rooms you’re using. Not only will you still feel warm at home, but you could also save money on your energy bills.

Don’t forget to close the doors to unused rooms – you don’t want cold air from these rooms to cool down the rest of your home. You could even consider placing a draught excluder at the bottom of the closed doors to make sure no cold air makes its way into your heated rooms. 

It’s worth being aware that you might be eligible for extra support to help with your energy bills. If you’re an E.ON Next customer and are struggling to pay your energy bills, get in touch to find out what help is available. For example, our E.ON Next Energy Fund provides direct financial support, replacement of inefficient white goods and debt write-off for eligible customers struggling to pay their bills.

We’re also contacting eligible customers about our ‘Winter Support’ scheme which offers up to 50% off energy bills, a cheaper tariff over winter months and writing off any debt an existing customer has on joining the scheme at the end of March 2024.

And there’s also the Warm Home Discount scheme where you could qualify for £150 towards the cost of your electricity each year. Or if you claim certain benefits, you could receive Cold Weather Payments for each period of seven consecutive days between 1 November and 31 March when the temperature where you live drops to 0⁰C or below.

Plus there’s additional government support to help with the cost of living if you’re eligible for certain benefits, such as the Cost of Living Payment or a reduction on your Council Tax.