Winterizing your home is not something you should be starting in the freeze of winter; it should start with a plan in the fall. Seasons can be so uncertain; therefore, you don’t want to start preparing when the temperature suddenly drops. To get your home winter ready, checks with your HVAC systems, as well as structures, pipes, and electrical or mechanical systems may be necessary to avoid an outage or distress in the dead of winter.
A few tips for in and outside of your home may give you some relief before heading into the season.
Indoor Prep
Is Your Attic Insulated?
Since heat rises, checking your attics insulation is vital to keeping your house warm. If all of your warmest air is going up and out of the attic, your heat bills will keep rising as your heater tries to maintain bearable temperatures.
Drafty doors and leaky windows, oh my!
Windows and doors should be checked for caulk or weather-stripping replacement; these are very necessary for keeping the cold air out of your home.
Check detectors
This is a good time of year to change the batteries in your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector to ensure they work properly when needed.
Change your thermostat
A programmable thermostat can help you save money in the winter by setting a customized schedule for heating and cooling, instead of letting it run the same – day in and day out.
Winterize, winterize, winterize your pipes!
Insulation of your pipes on outside walls is great protection from plummeting temperatures. Check crawl spaces and attics for foam insulation or other pipe insulation, because protecting pipes is a lot less money and a lot less of a hassle than replacing frozen pipes.
Outdoor Prep
Stock up on winter weather supplies!
When the snow and ice come, be prepared. Don’t wait until the stores run out to buy gloves, salt, shovels, ice melt, and extra bottles water for emergencies.
Clean Gutters!
Keep your gutters free of debris and anything that can accumulate and cause ice clogs. These can weigh down the gutters and cause damage to the roof and shingles, as well as a potential threat to people walking by.
Storage for outdoor décor and furniture
Bring in or store your pots, grills, outdoor furniture, or anything that could potentially be damaged by the environmental elements.
Drain the faucets, sprinkler system and spigots
All water supply to the outside should be shut off for the winter after the pipes are properly drained of water. Leaving water sitting or running in the winter can most definitely lead to frozen pipes; and if there is enough water in the pipe is can crack or even burst, which is quite a costly repair.