How to keep your home warm if you're renting or on a budget

How to keep your home warm if you're renting or on a budget Fri 3 Jul 2026 at 3:00pm Shivering through winter and searching for ways to make your space warmer? If you're strapped for cash or renting a home, installing an expensive heater or renovating for improved thermal efficiency may not be an option. But these cheap and innovative tricks can make a big difference. Hunt down and block draughts Heating expert Chris Barnes, from consumer group Choice, says air leakage from under doors and around windows is a big problem in many Australian homes. Based on Gadigal land in Sydney, Mr Barnes says a simple way to find the source of draughts is to walk around your home with a lit incense stick. "Put it around the doors and the windows and just see where that smoke flutters. Where's the air actually coming in and going out? And then you know where to target with door snakes," he says. Door snakes are long fabric tubes, often filled with sand, that sit along the base of a door to block cold air, and prices range from $4–20. Jenny Edwards is a scientist working to create energy-efficient and cost-effective homes in Canberra/Ngunnawal country. Sign up to the ABC Lifestyle newsletter Ms Edwards says door snakes are easy to pick up from the op shop and instantly solve "obvious leaks under your doors". For drafts around windows, Mr Barnes says weather strips, "which are just sort of rubber seals", are extremely effective for window gaps. They can be bought at hardware stores and typically cost $6–20. Hire or borrow a thermal camera If you're still feeling chilly after trying the incense trick, it's worth investigating where the cold spots are in your home, as they may be where you're losing heat. "A lot of councils, through their local library networks, offer thermal cameras as a rental, or maybe just as a free service to ratepayers," Mr Barnes says. "A thermal camera can really help you sort out where the issues are in your house … looking for the hot spots or the cold spots." Like gaps in your ceiling insulation, he says, as an example. "But you can use them all over the place, obviously." Place rugs on floorboards One place a thermal camera may find cold spots is the floor. "If you've got bare floors, rolling out rugs in winter does make a difference," Mr Barnes says. And it's not just about making your floors cosier and comfier on your feet. "There can be gaps between floorboards that are letting in cold air, and just the floor itself will get cold," he says. "So, insulating it a little bit, with some carpet that you can then roll up and put away in summer, will definitely help." Make a DIY pelmet Windows, even ones that are well-sealed and have curtains, can also be a major source of heat loss in homes. Ms Edwards says most homes have curtains or roller blinds, but many don't have pelmets, which are frameworks placed above a window (often associated with traditional-looking curtains) that can help prevent heat loss. Warm air naturally rises, but when it "cools down, it drops across the face of the window creating a nasty draught", which the pelmet stops, she says. Ms Edwards says you can use a scarf or a piece of fabric to do the same job. "After you close your curtains at night, lay that across the top of the curtain to create your own pelmet," she says. "You can also often create a pelmet out of cardboard, depending on the type of curtain rail." Bubble wrap 'double glazing' Mr Barnes says while it can be unsightly, bubble wrap is another way to prevent heat loss and insulate your home. "Anecdotally, people do swear by it. They do say it works," he says. "It's adding a three-dimensional air layer on top of the glass, which will provide some insulation." If you have a little more cash to spend, magnetic window insulation is another option. "You can get custom-made, magnetically held on layers, for example, which will provide summer and winter protection," Mr Barnes says. "I believe there are some DIY ones out there … or you can get a tradie to come in and do it. "There'll be a magnetic strip frame around the window itself, and then there'll be one of these [plastic] sheets that you can … lock into place on a magnetic frame. "It provides a sort of double-glazing effect." Turn on the fan — in reverse It might sound counterintuitive, but some ceiling fans can also help warm your home. "A lot of ceiling fans these days have a reverse mode, sometimes called the winter mode," Mr Barnes says. Instead of blowing air down as your fan does in summer, reverse mode draws air up, mixes it with the warmer air that gathers at the top of the room. "It will help mix that … from the ceiling back down around the room without actually blowing a draught down on you," Mr Barnes says. If you're desperate for a heater If you feel a heater is the only solution to ease the chill in your home, Mr Barnes says the running costs of reverse-cycle air conditioners are "always going to be cheaper in the long run than a portable electric heater or a gas heater". But if the outlay is too much, or your landlord won't install one, running a portable heater in the rooms you use is an option. "If you're looking at a portable electric heater … an oil column heater, typically, might be the go for a bedroom," Mr Barnes says. "They tend to be a bit cheaper to run. They also tend to not get quite as hot on the surface. which makes them a bit safer for kids."