Winter Wellbeing – stay warm this winter

10 January 2019

Cheshire East Council and its partners are offering a range of advice and support to residents on how to keep warm, well and safe as temperatures fall across the borough.

This week, we are reminding people of the importance of staying warm this winter. Staying warm can help prevent you from becoming ill, especially if you are already vulnerable due to your age, poor health or disability.

That is why it is important to ensure you keep up to date with the weather and the forecast temperatures, as well as keep your home at the correct temperature and wear enough clothes to stay warm.

If you can’t heat all the rooms you use at home, try and heat your living room during the day and your bedroom just before you go to sleep. If it is very cold, set your heating to come on earlier and turn it off later rather than turning the thermostat up.

If you have reduced mobility, are aged 65 or over, or have a health condition, such as heart or lung disease, the advice from Public Health England is that you should heat your home to at least 18C. It is a good idea to keep your living room at 21C and your bedroom at 18C temperature all night, if you can.

If you are not sure how your heating controls work, ask a friend, family member or neighbour for help. To keep warm while you are in bed, you can also use a hot water bottle or electric blanket – but not both at the same time.

Other advice includes wearing lots of thin layers – clothes made from cotton, wool or fleecy fibres are particularly good and help to maintain body heat – and wearing shoes with a good grip to help prevent slips and falls when outside. It is also important to think about how you can cut down on your energy costs.

Here are some easy, quick fixes:   

• Fitting cavity wall insulation can cut around £135 off your heating bill each year and loft insulation can save you up to £175 per year;
• Get draught excluders for external doors, windows and letterboxes. It is also worth tackling gaps between skirting boards and floorboards;
• Double-glazing keeps the heat in and also reduces noise and condensation; and  
• Close your curtains as soon as it starts to get dark, to lock in the heat.  

The council’s care and repair service provides support to older, disabled and vulnerable people to improve their homes. The service includes accessing urgent works grants for home repairs, such as heating and insulation, and helping to organise the work. For more information, phone 0300 123 5017 (select option four).

To keep up to date with the weather, tune in to the Met Office’s weather forecasts on radio and TV. Severe weather warnings are also issued on the Met Office website, through their Twitter feed or you can ring their 24-hour weather desk on 0370 900 0100. Further help and advice on heating your home efficiently and effectively, can be found on our website. For further winter-related advice, visit Live Well and scroll down to the winter wellbeing section. Advice can also be found on the council’s Facebook page and on Twitter.

Residents can help friends and neighbours, who do not have internet access, by downloading and printing off information from our website and giving it to them.