Christmas is the time for spending time with family and friends, going out christmas shopping and celebrating. But it’s also the season for spending time under your duvet in the warm. The amount of time spend inside goes up drastically over the winter period, so we find out from an expert how best to look after your home this time of year, with all the extra hours spent in the warm.
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00:00 People go into hibernation due to the cold weather and I do, my family does.
00:07 It's so tempting to stay out of the cold this time of year and statistics show that
00:10 Cardiff is no different to anywhere else. In fact, we might be some of the worst. We
00:14 spend hours of time inside under the duvet and the weather this year could drive us inside
00:18 to hibernate like never before.
00:20 I've got the stats here actually. So 104 cups of coffee, they're talking about, 13
00:26 duvet days, watching 39 movies and then we go into the illnesses. 84% said they felt
00:32 run down over the winter period, 60% said they suffered from sore throats, 56% of people
00:38 in Cardiff feel tired, over half actually cancel social arrangements in winter because
00:44 they feel more comfortable staying inside because it's too cold outside and 76% actually
00:50 said they avoid going outside at all costs. So they try and stay in as much as they can
00:54 over the winter and we're seeing a lot more of that with the rise of internet shopping
00:58 now and people not going down the high streets to do their Christmas shopping. People are
01:02 spending so much more time indoors.
01:04 It might not seem like a big deal, we spend time inside all through the year. But some
01:09 of the problems this time of year, so the sheer amount of time we spend inside with
01:12 plenty of family inside and we keep all the windows and doors shut. So Stuart explains
01:17 the risks of spending all this time inside.
01:19 If you don't take control of the air in your home or in your property, what we've seen
01:24 is that a typical family of four can produce anything from 16 to 24 pints of moisture in
01:28 a day just from general activity. So cooking, bathing, making cups of tea. So if you can
01:33 imagine 24 pints of moisture, if you just sprinkled around the house, where would that
01:38 moisture go and what would happen to it? So it's quite alarming when you think of it in
01:42 that way and then we have to think, if there's condensation, there's moisture sits on windows
01:48 seals, it sits on walls, that can lead to mould. And then we know what mould can do,
01:53 mould can be particularly dangerous for our house.
01:56 It's easy to forget about the things that can happen spending too much time indoors.
01:59 But the reality is we're not going to change, are we? So the best we can do is look at the
02:03 ways to look after our house and the small changes we can do to keep it safe and clean.
02:08 Well, I always like to think if you think of the air, you know, if you could see what
02:12 was in the air, you'd get rid of it, wouldn't you? You'd try and clean it. So opening windows
02:15 as much as possible to get the air through the house, to get rid of that moisture laid
02:19 in there and get it outside and replaced with fresh air. If you've got extra extract fans,
02:24 make sure they're clean, take the cover off, hoover them, make sure they're switched on.
02:29 A simple test is what I call a tissue test. If you put a piece of tissue next to your
02:33 extractor fan or your grill and it stays there, then obviously it's working, it's drawing
02:37 air through. So just make sure that's clean. Simple things like keeping lids on cooking
02:43 pots when you're cooking to keep the steam inside. If it's humble dry, make sure it's
02:47 vented outside. All these things create moisture in the home, so you need to get that moisture
02:51 out. So are you going to be hibernating this winter? If you are, you've got to remember
02:55 the impact it might have on your home. So enjoy your duvet and keep yourself safe this
02:59 winter. James P. Watkins, Local TV.
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