With autumn fast approaching, the days growing shorter, and the air turning crisp, we’re set to start spending less time out in the garden and more time spent cosying up indoors. With this in mind, you’ll want to make sure your home is as warm and inviting as possible for the season ahead, and with various different ways to heat it to ensure it’s toasty whatever the weather is doing outside, you can use them to your advantage to create a luxurious hideaway that’s perfect for hibernation until spring.
While the chill of autumn can be refreshing, no one wants to feel it inside their home. Here, we look at the top ways you can heat your home this autumn, from traditional central heating to cosy log burners and fireplaces.
Smart central heating
Central heating remains the most common method of heating homes in the UK, and is the easiest way to ensure that all of your rooms are suitably warm at once. But over recent years, they’ve undergone a major makeover, with integration into smart home systems making them more intelligent and efficient than ever before. Through machine learning, your smart system will get to grips with your lifestyle and habits and help you to tweak your usage accordingly to ensure your house is always warm when you get up in the morning or return home from work, but that you’re not wasting energy unnecessarily throughout the day by heating rooms you’re not using. Best of all, you can control your smart home thermostat remotely through a smartphone app, whether you’re at home or elsewhere – so if you haven’t upgraded yours yet, then now is the time to do so.
Typically powered by gas, oil, or electricity, central heating systems distribute heat through radiators or underfloor heating systems. To ensure your central heating system is ready for autumn, there are a few things to add to (and tick off) your to-do list. First, you’ll want to have your boiler serviced to ensure it’s running efficiently and is ready for the colder months to come, and then you’ll want to bleed your radiators to release any trapped air so that you can be sure that they are providing optimal warmth throughout your home.
Underfloor heating
To add a real sense of luxury to your home, you might like to consider underfloor heating. Getting out of bed when you wake up in the morning and padding bare-foot to the bathroom might be fine during the spring and summer, but from autumn onwards, there is nothing pleasant about having to step on cold floor tiles before you’ve even had your first cup of tea.
With underfloor heating, you won’t have to, and while you won’t necessarily need it in every room, those with hard flooring, like bathrooms and kitchens, are excellent candidates. There are two main types of underfloor heating systems; electric underfloor heating uses cables or mats installed beneath the floor and is relatively easy to install, whole water-based underfloor heating relies on a network of pipes laid under your floor which provides consistent, gentle heat as warm water circulates through them. The latter is the more energy efficient of the two, and particularly when paired with a heat pump.
Log burners and wood-burning stoves
If you love nothing more than cosying up next to a roaring fire in the winter months – glass of red wine optional – then log burners and wood-burning stoves are great options that offer both aesthetic appeal and efficient heating. Having experienced a dramatic surge in popularity in recent years, as well as creating an aesthetically pleasing focal point and inviting ambiance, they are considered a sustainable choice because burning seasoned wood is considered a carbon neutral process.
One downside of log burners and wood burning stones is the need to constantly feed them to keep them going, but log-burning night briquettes offer a handy alternative. Made from 100 per cent sustainably-sourced softwood bark, they’re compatible with all stoves and can burn four times as long as other wood fuels can keep rooms warm for up to eight hours with next to no tending.
If you don’t already have a log burner or wood burning stove but would like to have one installed, your home will need to have a flue or chimney – and professional installation is recommended to comply with building regulations and to ensure the stove operates safely and efficiently.
Fireplaces
The most traditional heating method is, of course, the humble fireplace. But gone are the days where open, wood burning fireplaces were the only option and you can now choose from a variety of different types.
While there’s no denying that wood burning varieties exude a certain sense of rustic charm, gas fireplaces are cleaner, require minimal maintenance and can be operated by the flick of a switch. Electric fireplaces are also gaining popularity as designs become more sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing, with those offering the visual appeal of simulated flames preferred choices seen in many luxury homes.
The bottom line
Heating your home effectively for autumn requires a combination of preparation, maintenance, and choosing the right heating methods for your lifestyle and home. Take your pick from these varied options, and you can easily create a cosy haven that you’ll love spending time in over the months ahead.
