Stay snug: your guide to a cosy home

Heating options to beat the chill

Use your central heating wisely

With cooler weather outside, it’s time for our central heating to kick back into gear. However, using it too much can be expensive – here are our top tips on saving the pennies:

1. Set the temperature: studies show that anywhere between 18-21 degrees Celsius is a comfortable temperature for your home. Setting it too high will make the boiler work harder and cost more money, so find a happy medium!
2. Make use of the timer: Set your timer to come on during times of the day when people need it, instead of going back and forth
3. Check your radiators: your radiators may have excess air in them which means they won’t run as efficiently. Carefully place your hand on the front of your radiator – is it hot at the bottom, but cold at the top? If so, you’ll need to bleed the radiator to get rid of the excess air so it can heat your room faster.

Electric heaters

Electric heaters are handy portable pieces which are pretty inexpensive to run, and can give a welcome boost to any rooms which need a helping hand such as north-facing rooms, or those with more than 1 outside wall.

It may not be necessary to heat up the whole home if you’re the only one in, and running around the house to turn off the radiators can be a pain!

Smart heating can help you stay snug & pay less

Having a cosy home is great, but if no one’s in to appreciate it, it can feel like money going down the drain. By upgrading your heater to a smart heater, you have full control of your appliance from anywhere!

You can also use smart heating to warm up your home ahead of time, by popping it on at the push of a button when you’re on the way home. That’s something to look forward to!

How to keep the heat in

It’s no good spending all the time, effort, and money on heating your home if it disappears through draughty doors and windows.

Aside from replacing the whole thing, which is time-consuming and expensive, using some inexpensive insulation to seal any gaps is the first step you can take to keeping the heat in.

Windows are a big culprit for losing heat, especially if your home has single glazing. Treating yourself to a lovely thick pair of curtains has benefits that extend beyond keeping the warmth in: they’re stylish, add privacy, and can even keep your home cooler in the summer months. Talk about versatility!

You can also stop heat escaping from underneath your doors with a good old draught excluder. There are so many styles available that you can treat these as another way to add some style to your space – as well as keeping it cosy.

Sleep snugly with winter bedding

Choose the right tog

Is there anything better than getting into a nice, cosy bed after a chilly day?

Make sure your bed is as snug as possible by using a duvet with a higher tog. A ‘tog’ is a unit of measurement that shows how good a duvet is at retaining heat. The higher the tog, the warmer the duvet.

Though any duvet around 10 tog is a good all-rounder, once you’ve experienced a heavier tog duvet like a 13.5, it’s hard to accept anything less in winter!

For a whistle-stop tour of all things bedding, check out our guide to duvets & pillows.

Top tip: Use vacuum bags and underbed storage to keep your out-of-season bedding stored away until next year.

Layer up with throws & electric blankets

After a long year, you deserve a little luxury. This is where wonderfully warming electric blankets come in!

Pop one of these beauties on your or your kids’ bed for some primetime winter cosiness. With variable heat settings and modern designs, they’re good value to run too.

Having a bunch of plush throws knocking around is a welcome addition to any winter home, whether you’re curling up on the sofa for movie night, or feeling the chill when you’re working from home!

If all else fails, you can’t go wrong with a good old fashioned hot water bottle

Heartwarming meals

Winter is a time for steaming bowls of home-cooked loveliness.

Thankfully, cooking delicious meals in winter doesn’t have to be time-consuming. With the nights getting darker much earlier, every second of daylight counts, so take the stress out of preparing dinner by using a slow cooker.

Simply prep everything ahead of time and pop it on during the day, leaving you with more time to enjoy that winter sunlight and go on walks with the family.

Our soup makers can also help you make the most out of leftovers and stock up the freezer with speedy lunches on the go. A thermos of hot soup on a cold day is sure to make you feel all cosy inside!