There are five easy steps you can take to winterize your home. They will help you avoid headaches down the road this winter and keep your home warm and running efficiently.
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What are the best ways to prepare your home for the winter? These five tips will help you avoid major headaches during the colder months.
- Winterize your hose bibs around Thanksgiving. It's easy to do, but if you don't know how, you can find instructional videos on YouTube, or we can recommend a contractor to you to help out. It will help prevent frozen pipes and water issues in the winter. Additionally, don't forget to remove the hose to prevent ice from making its way into your house.
- Clear your gutters and downspouts, especially if you live in a wooded area. Clogged gutters hold excess water and can cause 'ice damming,' which can cause ice to get into your house through the eaves and cause all kinds of issues.
- Service your HVAC. This will help the system run efficiently and put less stress on it. If there is an issue, it's better to find out now when it's nice out than when it's below freezing. You should service the unit yearly or twice a year, once during the fall.
- Check all insulation points, especially as it starts to get cold. There can be a ton of heat lost at your attic hatch, no matter the type. Check around your exterior doors as well, which can be a huge heat loss point.
- Make sure windows are completely closed and locked. This may sound silly, but I hear plenty of stories from contractors going to a cold house only to find a window that's open by a half inch in the dead of winter, killing the house's ability to stay efficient and warm.
