Keeping Your Student Room Warm Without Wasting Energy

It can be tempting to turn the heating up to 22 degrees when you come home after a cold bike ride through Groningen. However, you probably don’t need to keep your room that warm all day.

The Dutch sustainability organisation Milieu Centraal recommends setting your thermostat to around 19 degrees when you’re at home. You can turn it down when you’re going to bed or leaving for university. In homes with conventional central heating, a nighttime temperature of around 15 degrees is usually recommended. Buildings with underfloor heating or heat pumps generally benefit from a smaller temperature reduction, such as 1 degree.

Many students in Groningen live in older buildings. These houses often have plenty of character, but unfortunately, they aren’t always particularly good at keeping the cold outside.

If you feel a draught coming through your windows or underneath your door, consider using draught strips. They’re inexpensive, easy to install and available at stores such as GAMMA, Praxis and Hornbach.

Your curtains can also make a difference. Open them during sunny afternoons to let some natural warmth into your room, and close them when it gets dark to reduce heat loss through the windows.

Just make sure your curtains aren’t hanging directly over your radiator. Otherwise, you’ll end up heating the space behind the curtains instead of your room.

Speaking of radiators, make sure to take a look at where yours is positioned. Is there a sofa, desk or wardrobe directly in front of it?

Radiators need space to circulate warm air. Moving furniture away from them can help distribute heat more effectively throughout your room.

If your radiator is attached to a poorly insulated outside wall, radiator foil might also be worth considering. This reflective material reduces the amount of heat escaping through the wall behind the radiator.

You can buy radiator foil at most Dutch DIY stores. Just remember to check with your landlord before attaching anything permanently to the walls.

When it’s cold outside, opening a window might seem like the last thing you want to do. However, good ventilation is important, even during autumn and winter.

Moisture builds up quickly in student accommodation, particularly when several people share a kitchen or bathroom. Cooking, showering and drying laundry indoors all contribute to humidity. Without enough ventilation, condensation can appear on windows and walls, potentially leading to mould.

Keep ventilation grilles open and make sure fresh air can circulate through your room. Opening your windows for a short period after showering or cooking can also help remove excess moisture.

If your room regularly develops mould or suffers from persistent dampness, don’t simply ignore it. Talk to your landlord, as there may be a problem with the building’s ventilation, insulation or maintenance.

Sometimes, wearing an extra sweater simply isn’t enough. If your windows let in large amounts of cold air, your heating doesn’t work properly or your room becomes unreasonably cold, it’s worth discussing the situation with your landlord.

Certain problems may be considered maintenance defects that your landlord is responsible for resolving. Larger energy-saving improvements, such as installing double glazing or additional insulation, may also be worth discussing.

If you’re unsure about your rights or your landlord refuses to address serious problems, you can contact the Rent Support Center Groningen for free advice.

There’s something quite nice about coming home after cycling through Groningen’s autumn rain, making yourself a cup of tea and settling in for the evening.

And the good news is that creating a comfortable room doesn’t have to come with a high energy bill. A little attention to your heating, some inexpensive improvements and a few warmer clothes can go a long way.

So before turning up the thermostat, see what you can do to make your room a little more energy-efficient. It’s better for your wallet, better for the environment and might make those chilly evenings a little more ‘gezellig’.