Prepping Your House For Winter

Nobody is looking forward to the months when a bone-chilling cold settles everywhere, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to prepare for it. One of the most important things you can do is make sure you home is sealed against extra costs that rear their heads during winter, when it’s easy to leak money. Here are some low-cost ways to save in the long run and be protected against winter’s brutality.

Insulate, Insulate, Insulate!

You need to insulate more than you think if you want to be fully prepared for the winter months. This includes your attic, your hot water heater, and your hot water pipes. If your attic has any air leaks, this can lead to a much large electricity bill due to lost heating. If you properly prepare your top floor, you can save tons of cash. You can also save fuel by insulating your hot water heater, unless it is already insulated or specifically prohibits insulation. And lastly, your hot water pipes need protection, too. Pipes get cold externally and cool down hot water as it runs through them, which means you’ll be spending more than you need to to heat up your shower. Insulation, although sometimes complicated, can be a huge money-saver in the winter months.

Change your ceiling fans for winter

By switching the direction that you fan blows from counterclockwise in the summer to clockwise in the winter, you’ll have better warm air circulation, since your fan will now suck cold air up and push warmer air down. This is an easy fix that will help you save on your electricity bill, just like it does in the summer months as well.

Lower your water temperature

There’s no reason to have your water heater set at 140˚. Lower it by 20˚-25˚, and you’ll still have water that plenty hot enough to use for showers and dish washing, but you won’t scald yourself accidentally.

Fix leaks

Go into your basement and all around the inside of your house with a tube of caulk and seal up any cracks you find. These could be indications of potential heat-wasting areas, so it’s important to seal them off before the get too dangerous or expensive. Make sure you check the edges of windows as well. You want your house as airtight as possible before the intense and bitter cold sets in and you’re left wondering why your house won’t heat properly.

Change your furnace filters

Forgetting to change your furnace filters can be a dangerous mistake. Not only do dirty filters make your furnace less effective, but they can also potentially pose a fire hazard to your home. Make sure you let your heating system stay as effective as possible without putting your home in danger.

Extend gutters

Add extensions to your drain pipes that diverts water as far as 20-30 feet away from your house. Because there is excessive water in the summer due to snowfall and melting ice, it is important to protect your house’s foundation. If you let the water drip down right at the base of your house, you risk not only leakage into your home but also serious damage to your foundation that could be expensive and detrimental to your home. Buying water diverters is a cost-efficient way to protect your foundation from the excess of water drainage that occurs during the winter and early spring months.

Tree safety!

Check around your home to see if there are any large trees that have branches hanging over your roof. This can pose a potential threat to your roof in the winter, since ice and snow can weight it down and cause it to snap and damage your roof. Make sure you take the precautions you need to remove any such branches so your newly weather-proofed roof won’t collapse.