Door snakes, often filled with sand or rice, are cheap to buy or easy to make and help insulate a home. Photograph: Daisy-Daisy/Getty Images/iStockphoto View image in fullscreen Door snakes, often filled with sand or rice, are cheap to buy or easy to make and help insulate a home. Photograph: Daisy-Daisy/Getty Images/iStockphoto Change by degrees Energy Final draught: simple ways to keep your home warm in the winter months Many Australian houses are ill-fitted for the coldest weeks of the year. But there are plenty of ways to retain warmth – and some heaters are much more efficient than others
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com
About this content Connie Cao Sat 20 Jun 2026 02.00 CEST Last modified on Sat 20 Jun 2026 06.27 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google I t’s no secret that home energy upgrades – rooftop solar, batteries, insulation and efficient appliances – can make a big difference in comfort and energy bills, while cutting emissions. But they also require a significant initial outlay, often in the thousands of dollars. While this can be paid back in future savings, that can take years, and not everyone can afford it.
So, with the winter solstice upon us, and the coldest days of the year yet to come, it is worth remembering the analog options that cost comparatively little and still help ward off the chill. They’re worth revisiting as the temperature drops.
Sometimes staying indoors can feel just as cold as being outside. Tim Forcey, a home energy adviser and author of My Efficient Electric Home Handbook, says there is a simple reason for this. “Our houses are leaky and they leak the heat away,” he says. “You can be pretty chilly at home even if you’re trying to run the heater.”
Modern homes must now meet a minimum seven-star energy efficiency rating under the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme, making double-glazed windows and insulation commonplace, but many older homes and rentals lack these features.
Read more Forcey says the average Australian home has a three-star rating, and many lose heat through windows and doors. Simple tricks can help keep the heat inside, he says, such as sticking bubble wrap to windows to create a double-glazed effect. “Bubble wrap is a really good insulator, you can still get light through it, and it’s a lot cheaper than double-glazed windows. Just spritz it with water and it’ll stick right on.”
Anna Matilda, a permaculture educator and founder of The Urban Nanna , says she chooses small and slow changes to reduce her carbon footprint.
“I put up heavy bedspreads or curtains in doorways to stop draughts and minimise heat transfer through the gaps between doors,” Matilda says. She puts nails at the top of the door jamb and uses rubber bands to secure a bedspread or curtains over the nails, for added insulation and draught-proofing.
A door snake – a long fabric tube, often filled with sand or rice – is another solution that’s cheap to buy, or easy to make. Placed at the bottom of the door, these keep the cold air out and help prevent heat from escaping.
Adding such draught-proofing measures together can save as much as 25% on home heating, according to the federal government, which recommends sealing gaps around windows and doors, and closing off rooms when they are not being used or heated.
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