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Canberra winters have a certain reputation. Bright blue skies, frosty mornings and that familiar moment where you step onto a cold floor and wonder if the heater is doing anything.

While we love the fresh crisp mornings, the reality is that most of Canberra houses often weren't built for extreme cold. That expensive warmth you’re paying for is likely escaping through the same 'weak spots'—specifically those gaps around your windows and doors.

Here are five practical tips to make your home feel warmer this winter that targets one of the biggest sources of heat loss: your windows.

If a room feels cold even when the heater is on, the problem is often not your heating system. It’s heat escaping due to inadequate insulation around your home.

And in most homes, windows are one of the biggest heat-loss points. Glass cools quickly. Small gaps around frames let in too much cold air. Cold surfaces pull warmth out of a room and make the whole space feel less comfortable.

The good news is you don’t need to renovate your entire home to feel a difference. You can improve comfort by upgrading your existing windows and doors.

This guide covers the most effective ways to thermally insulate a window, from quick fixes to longer-term upgrades, plus what to prioritise for the best return.

Sydney is leaning into alfresco dining and outdoor events in a bigger way. The NSW Government’s recent update on “vibrancy reforms” points to 580+ businesses across the state already using relaxed rules to host patrons outside, with hundreds of ongoing outdoor dining approvals across footpaths, roads and adjoining public land.

For city life, that’s a win. For people living near hospitality strips, late-night precincts and busy streets, it can come with a side effect that’s harder to celebrate at 1am.

More people outside, later into the evening, usually means more noise.

And while Sydney has always been a lively city, the direction is clear. The reforms are designed to make it easier for venues to activate outdoor spaces, with changes spanning outdoor dining approvals, standing while drinking outside licensed premises, and expanded Special Entertainment Precincts that allow councils to change rules around noise and opening hours in designated areas.

So the question for residents becomes practical.

How do you keep enjoying Sydney, while maintaining the noise that enters your home.

When people think about a quieter home or workplace, they often think about location first. The busy road. The nearby rail line. The aircraft overhead. The neighbour whose routine never seems to match yours.

But noise control is rarely just about what is happening outside. More often, it comes down to how well your building manages what it lets in.

Windows are typically the greatest source of noise penetration in a building or home. If outside noise is disrupting sleep, concentration or day-to-day comfort, the window system is often the first and most important place to assess.

If you live in Perth, chances are you have had at least one of “that noise again” moment. Maybe it is early-morning traffic building up on an arterial road. Maybe it is weekend life nearby, a neighbour’s renovation, a barking dog or the steady hum that seems to travel through the house when the wind picks up. And if you are anywhere near major transport corridors or changing flight paths, you may find the sound is not occasional. It is constant.