I tried 5 viral cheap heating hacks at home – a £2 supermarket buy warmed my freezing bedroom & I found a cold feet cure
JUST like millions of cash-strapped Britons, I, too, struggle with the ever-rising costs – which often means I’m shivering at home.
The recent 10% hike in energy bills, which sees Ofgem‘s customers pay almost £150/year more, has led thousands searching for cost-effective ways to stay warm without relying on heating.
As a 28-year-old living in London who’s just started her career, an unfairly huge lump of my paycheck goes towards rent, bills, buying groceries, gym membership, as well as going to the pub for a cheeky Aperol Spritz more than I probably should.
This means that by the end of the month, there’s not enough funds left to blast the central heating on all day and night – as much as my two flatmates and I would like to.
But with the temperatures now slowly but surely dropping, as we approach the harsh winter season, I wanted to see if any of the viral hacks I cover on a daily basis actually work – or a myth you shouldn’t bother with.
From using a crisp packet to a special water bottle hack, here’s how it went…
Time to stock up on nuts
I’m a health fanatic who spends most of her free time at the gym – so seeing packets of crisps is not something my guests would often come across when visiting me.
However, there might be a good reason why I should start adding one of the nation’s favourite snacks to my diet every now and then – and it’s not to grow a layer of fat to stay warm.
According to Mark McShane, heating guru at Boiler Cover UK, an empty crisp packet can actually improve the radiator’s performance.
Mark explained: “By placing a reflective material, such as an empty crisp packet, behind your radiators, you can bounce the heat back into your room instead of letting it escape through the walls.
”It’s an easy, cost-effective way to make the most of your heating.”
To boost the heating, I first cleaned an empty packet of nuts and secured it with double-sided tape, before positioning it behind the radiator with the shiny side outwards.
My room, one of the three bedrooms in our two-floor flat, is notoriously the coldest – however, this trick, which can also be done using kitchen foil, worked… kind of.
Maybe because the nut packet, naturally, didn’t cover the full size of the radiator, I should’ve opted for kitchen foil – which I’ve also seen cash-savvy people raving about.
That’s hot rating: 6/10
Leave The Door Open
It’s one of Bruno Mars‘ and Anderson .Paak‘s most catchy tunes – but the two music gurus may have also dropped some knowledge bombs with their Grammy-winning hit Leave The Door Open.
This is because plenty of thrifty experts have advised leaving the oven door open once you’re done whipping up a delicious dinner.
The logic here is pretty straightforward and simple – opening the oven door after cooking will allow the hot air to escape and heat up your home for no extra cost.
Although this certainly did not heat up the full property, the hot air flow made the old kitchen feel more cosy in practically no time – however, make sure the oven is switched off, so you’re not wasting money.
That’s hot rating: 7/10
Should you clean the inside of your radiators?
Apparently, homeowners should clean the inside of radiators once a year.
Fabulous’ Associate Editor, Rebecca Miller, is cleaning-obsessed. She shares her thoughts on this cleaning hack.
“My standards of cleanliness, and tidiness are impeccably high. People have walked into my flat and told me it looks like a show home. I am so determined to keep it looking brand new, that I am constantly cleaning.
But one thing I have never cleaned is the inside of my radiators.
I’ve lived at my flat for nearly 5 years, and not once have I thought about blowing hot air down the vents, or getting wire cleaners to fiddle about and disrupt the dust, never mind, throwing a Zoflora solution down the inside.
However, whilst it might seem like the last cleaning chore to do in the summer, it is important to get it done before you start using your radiators.
Heating expert, Nicholas Auckland previously told The Sun that if you have clogged up radiators, you could end up paying £65-£119 extra a year on heating bills, because they have to work twice as hard to pump heat into your home.
With this in mind, I’m off to clean the inside of my radiators – brb…”
Hot water bottle just got even hotter
Using a hot water bottle throughout the colder months – or around your period – is a must when lounging on the sofa and catching up on your favourite reality TV series.
But what if you could make this winter essential even hotter?
Well, according to savvy Redditors, aluminium foil can be used to make a hot water bottle stay warm for longer.
Similarly to the empty crisp packet, the ”metal foil reflects thermal radiation, so to make the heat last longer you can tape a piece of foil on the opposite side of the bottle to the one in contact with your body”, explained one thrifty social media user.
Although this trick didn’t seem convincing at first, it worked – but it’s worth noting that the bottle became a little Too Hot to Handle, so I just used it as an easy way to keep my bed warms before going to sleep.
That’s hot rating: 8/10
Get your footwear winter-ready
Unless you’re a die-hard fashionista who loves sporting teeny skirt and a thin jacket no matter the weather, most of us have already ditched flimsy cardigans for proper winter coats.
But according to one hack whizz, DaveHax on YouTube, there’s a foolproof way to make your footwear – and toes – even cosier before bracing the cold outside.
“Before you go out, you can warm your shoes up with a hairdryer”, he explained in a video, advising to also snap up thermal socks.
As someone who grew up in Latvia where the temperatures can plummet to as low as -30, thermal gear is nothing novel to me – however, I was shocked I had never thought of blasting the hairdryer into my winter boots.
It may sound bizarre – but this trick was amongst the winners for me and my usually-frozen feet.
That’s hot rating: 10/10
Get moving
Being active has numerous benefits for both your physical and mental health – but here, I am not talking about moving your body.
As the colder months roll in, Brits have been advised to do a little revamp and move their furniture away from the heat source – as any bulky sofas and other decor will block the hot air from flowing around freely.
Seeing as my bedroom is not the most spacious and my bed doesn’t fit anywhere else but right in front of the radiator, I decided to put the easy trick to test downstairs in the hallway.
With the decorative wooden table and plants now out of the way, the radiator was finally working properly – which means my flatmates and I weren’t pouring money down the drain.
That’s hot rating: 10/10