Winter Energy Saving Tips to Keep Your Home Warm
This guide brings together practical winter energy saving tips for Irish homes, with clear actions you can take now and a plan for longer-term upgrades. You will find advice on setting energy-efficient temperatures, reducing heat loss, using thermal curtains, insulating pipes, lighting efficiently, running appliances wisely, mapping your upgrade path and using Energia tools to track progress.
One of the most effective ways to keep your house warm in winter is to reduce heat loss first, so you need less heat to stay comfortable.
Quick winter energy saving checklist
- Set comfortable heating temperatures and schedules
- Draw thermal or lined curtains at dusk to help retain heat
- Check windows and doors for uncontrolled heat loss
- Keep radiators clear and use radiator reflector foil where suitable
- Insulate exposed pipes, particularly in colder areas
- Check that your hot water cylinder is properly insulated
- Make the most of natural winter daylight and warmth
- Use eco settings and off-peak appliance times where suitable
- Monitor your winter energy usage for unusual increases
Winter energy saving tips to keep your home warm
Set your heating for winter
Thermostat tips
Modest thermostat adjustments have a big impact. In most homes, a daytime setpoint of 18–20°C in living areas balances comfort and cost. Reduce the temperature overnight or when you are out to avoid wasting heat. Bedrooms are often comfortable at 16–18°C if you use warmer duvets. Aim for steady, comfortable settings rather than frequent manual boosts.
Heating management
Heat only where and when you need it. If your system allows, programme separate schedules for living spaces in the morning and evening while keeping little-used rooms cooler. Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) let you tune radiators room by room—keep halls lower and prioritise the rooms you use most. Close internal doors to contain heat and avoid a warm zone tricking the main thermostat into running the boiler longer than necessary.
Pairing effective heating controls with good insulation can help you stay comfortable at comfortable setpoints while reducing unnecessary heat loss.
Smart settings
Smart controls can optimise comfort and cut waste. Programmable thermostats and smart TRVs allow different temperatures by time and zone. Geofencing can lower heat when the last person leaves and pre-warm before you return. Weather compensation adjusts boiler output to outdoor conditions for smoother, more efficient operation. Use your app to create clear schedules, limit manual overrides and review weekly reports to spot and trim excess run times. These measures can help you manage your heating more efficiently throughout winter.
Keep heat in and reduce heat loss
Insulation upgrades
Insulation keeps warmth inside so your heating doesn’t need to work as hard. Topping up attic insulation where needed can help reduce heat loss—ensure even coverage, avoid compressing the material and maintain appropriate ventilation. Fit an insulated, well-sealed attic hatch.
Insulate accessible hot water and heating pipes, especially in the hot press and unheated areas, to retain heat and shorten reheat times.
Pipe insulation is particularly useful for exposed pipework in colder areas such as attics, garages or utility spaces. As well as reducing heat loss from hot pipes, suitable insulation can help protect vulnerable pipework during freezing weather.
Draught management
Draughts can undo your heating efforts. Fit brush or rubber seals on external doors, including the threshold, and add keyhole and letterbox covers that close securely. Use self-adhesive strips around window frames—older single-glazed units benefit in particular. Seal gaps around service penetrations and along floorboards where safe to do so. Maintain trickle ventilation for healthy air; the aim is to prevent uncontrolled leaks, not to remove necessary fresh air supply.
Where replacing windows is not an option, temporary secondary glazing or suitable window insulation film can provide an additional layer during winter. Draught excluders can also be a simple option around external doors.
Thermal curtains and keeping heat in
Simple furnishings help keep rooms cosy after dark. Drawcurtains and blinds at dusk to reduce heat loss through glazing. Thermal curtains or heavy, lined curtains can provide an additional barrier at windows during colder winter evenings. Make sure curtains do not cover radiators so heat can circulate into the room.
During sunny winter days, open curtains and blinds to make the most of natural light and warmth, then close them again around dusk to help retain heat.
Add rugs to bare floors over unheated spaces to cut draughts and improve comfort underfoot.
Get more heat from your radiators
Check your radiators are heating evenly
Make sure furniture, curtains and other objects are not blocking radiators so heat can circulate effectively.
If a radiator feels cold at the top or is not heating evenly, it may need bleeding or balancing. Rather than repeating the full process here, you can refer to our autumn energy saving tips for more detailed radiator checks.
Use radiator reflector foil
Radiator reflector foil or purpose-made reflector panels can be fitted behind radiators on suitable external walls to help direct more warmth back towards the room rather than the wall.
Hot water and everyday energy use
Hot water settings
Optimise hot water for winter. Set the cylinder thermostat to around 60°C for safety and efficiency, and use timers to heat water ahead of morning and evening use rather than continuously. Short, efficient showers typically use less energy than baths. Fit a water-efficient showerhead if you have an electric or mixer shower, and fix dripping taps promptly to prevent constant hot water loss.
Hot water cylinder insulation
Lag the hot water cylinder with a dedicated jacket to retain heat and shorten reheat times.
Make the most of winter daylight and efficient lighting
Modern lighting can be bright, comfortable and efficient. Replace remaining halogen or CFL bulbs with LEDs. Choose brightness by lumens rather than watts: about 400–500 lm for table lamps, 700–1,000 lm for ceiling fittings, and more for task areas. Select colour temperature to suit the space—2,700–3,000 K for warm living rooms and bedrooms, 3,000–4,000 K for kitchens, halls and home offices. Look for a colour rendering index (CRI) of 80+ for natural tones.
Use daylight wherever possible. Open curtains and blinds fully to let in low winter sun and increase natural warmth and light. Keep windows clean and keep sills clear. Close curtains promptly at dusk to keep heat in. Position desks near windows to reduce hours of artificial lighting.
Control when lights operate. Fit timers or smart schedules for outdoor and decorative lighting. Use occupancy sensors in porches, utility rooms and garages so lights only come on when needed. Group light circuits by zone and switch off as you leave a room. If you use dimmers, ensure bulbs and switches are compatible to prevent flicker.
Use appliances efficiently during winter
Devices and appliances
Kitchen and laundry routines offer dependable savings. Run dishwashers and washing machines with full loads and select eco or lower-temperature cycles—modern detergents clean well at 30°C. If you are on a time-of-use tariff with cheaper off-peak rates, schedule appliances accordingly using delay starts or smart plugs, observing safety guidance. Air-dry clothes when possible; if you need a tumble dryer, clean the lint filter every cycle. Heat pump dryers are far more efficient—use lower heat settings as recommended.
The power of standby
Standby power adds up over long nights. Identify devices with indicator LEDs or always-on adapters—televisions, games consoles, speakers, printers and chargers—and switch them off at the plug when not in use. Smart plugs make it easy to schedule overnight power-downs. Enable energy-saving modes on computers and set shorter screen sleep times. Unplug rarely used gadgets entirely.
What is the cheapest way to heat a house?
There is no single cheapest way to heat every home, as the most cost-effective approach depends on factors such as insulation, BER, the heating system, energy tariff and how the home is used.
Reducing heat loss is a good place to start. Insulation, thermal curtains and appropriate draught reduction can help retain warmth, while heating controls can help match heating to the rooms and times when it is actually needed.
Heating the rooms you use most rather than maintaining the same temperature throughout the entire home can also help manage winter heating demand.
Check your home’s energy performance and upgrade path
Understand your BER
Your Building Energy Rating (BER) shows how efficient your home is, from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). In winter, fabric-first improvements can deliver significant comfort gains: attic insulation, cavity wall insulation where suitable, and airtightness measures paired with appropriate ventilation.
If windows are due for replacement, choose high-performance double or triple glazing with low-emissivity coatings and warm-edge spacers. Reduce heat loss before altering heating systems—an efficient envelope allows a smaller, cheaper-to-run system.
Heating and home energy upgrades
Heating controls are a cost-effective upgrade. Zoned heating, room thermostats, TRVs and smart programmers help match heat to occupancy. Book an annual boiler service for safe, efficient operation.
If your boiler is older or unreliable, a high-efficiency condensing model with weather and load compensation can reduce fuel use. In suitably upgraded homes, a heat pump sized by a qualified installer can deliver low-cost heat; it performs best with good insulation, airtightness and larger, low-temperature radiators or underfloor heating.
Plan your upgrade path
Plan a staged roadmap that fits your budget and avoids rework. Check current supports from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for insulation, heating controls, heat pumps and renewable technologies. Start with a home energy assessment to identify priorities, expected savings and payback. Sequence works sensibly—for example, improve insulation and airtightness before specifying a new heating system.
Monitor your winter energy usage with Energia
Track your winter energy usage
Tracking your usage helps you spot seasonal patterns and act quickly. Use your Energia online account to compare winter consumption with other periods, view daily or monthly patterns where smart meter data is available, and set savings goals. Identifying peaks during cold snaps can guide adjustments to schedules and setpoints.
Usage graphs can also highlight unusual winter consumption caused by a faulty appliance, extended boost times or thermostat overrides, helping you investigate unexpected increases early.
Smart meter and time-of-use plans
Explore our smart meter and Time of Use plans and pick the one that best suits your needs.
Choose a tariff that suits your winter routine. If you use more energy in the evenings or overnight, consider a time-of-use plan aligned with your pattern.
Reviewing your energy data alongside your tariff can help you understand when you use the most energy and whether shifting suitable usage to different times could work for your household.
Looking for extra support? Check out our Energy Wise hub for more information and tips on making your home more energy efficient throughout the seasons.
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