Take Care Of Your House Before Winter Hits
Preparing your home for winter is an easy thing to forget. Everyone is excited for the holidays, the chance of snow and a free day off school and work. Just the excitement of the temperature not being 100 degrees, like it was all summer, is a wonderful thing.
Winterizing your house before the weather gets cold will save you money on your energy bill and keep you and your family warm and cozy all winter long. This also prevents damage to your house when snow and ice hit the area.
Below are 10 things we recommend to all of our friends and family to keep their homes warm and energy bills low:
1. Have a pro come out and inspect your furnace before the big chill hits. Old man winter doesn’t give much notice of his arrival, so when he comes, your furnace that has been relaxing all summer now has to wake up. An annual furnace check-up will make sure all parts are running well and expose any potential problems so your furnace doesn’t go out in the dead of winter.
2. Winterize your air conditioner. Drain all the pipes and hoses coming from your AC unit and clean up any pools of water that have collected in the drain pan. After that’s done, cover your unit to keep water and snow out and rust off, and you’re set.
3. Add insulation to your attic floors and between walls. You need at least 12 inches of insulation in your attic. Doing this can drop energy bills and boost the efficiency of your furnace.
4. Clean your gutters. If leaves are piled up, the gutters will obviously clog, then freeze, causing the ice to dam up the gutters. If this happens, water will pool on your roof and find its way into your house.
5. Have your ducts inspected. On average, 10 to 30 percent of heated air escapes from ducts before it gets to your vents. Call an HVAC pro to find leaks in the system and stop all that money from leaking from your pocket.
6. Remember to change your furnace filters once a month during wintertime. Depending on the quality of the filter, you might be able to wait longer between changes. Electrostatic filters trap more debris and are better at stopping bacteria. A genuine HEPA filter is a great choice, too.
7. Run your fan in reverse. There is a switch on the side that reverses the direction of your fan; pushing hot air down and circulating it back into your home. This cuts your heating costs by nearly 10 percent, too!
8. Eliminate drafts by putting draft snakes under drafty doors (or a rolled up towel). Just having this extra coverage will cut nearly 30 percent off your energy usage.
9. Install storm doors and storm windows. Doors and windows are one of the main points of entry for the cold to come in during winter months. Installing this extra layer of insulation for your home will block outside weather from getting inside.
10. Have your chimney inspected. It is important to do this or have it done before it gets cold since the elements can interfere with work that may need to be done. Other than the obvious safety issues of not having a clean chimney, an inspection will ensure that your fireplace is working efficiently and keeping your house warm like it should.
We hope this information keeps you and your home warm and cozy this winter!
If you’re in need of any indoor home restoration services to keep your home warm this winter, schedule a service with us!
