Getting Your Home Ready For Winter

Winter is coming and is your home prepared for the cold months? These tips will make sure your space is clean and keeps your family safe . By being proactive, you’ll lower your energy bills, increase the efficiency and lifespan of your home’s components, and make your property safer.

Windows and Doors

• Check all the weather stripping around windows and door frames for leaks to prevent heat loss. Replace weather stripping, if necessary.
• Check for drafts around windows and doors. Caulk inside and out, where necessary, to keep heat from escaping.
• Inspect windows for cracks, broken glass, or gaps. Repair or replace, if needed.

Lawn, Garden, and Deck

• Trim overgrown branches back from the house and electrical wires to prevent iced-over or wind-swept branches from causing property damage or a power problem.
• Aerate the lawn, reseed, and apply a winterizing fertilizer to promote deep-root growth come spring.
• Ensure rain or snow drains away from the house to avoid foundation problems. The dirt grade — around the exterior of your home — should slope away from the house. Add extra dirt to low areas, as necessary.
• Clean and dry patio furniture. Cover with a heavy tarp or store inside a shed or garage to protect it from the elements.
• Clean soil from planters. Bring pots made of clay or other fragile materials indoors. Because terra cotta pots can swell and crack, lay them on their sides in a wood carton.
• Dig up flower bulbs, brush off soil, and label. Store bulbs in a bag or box with peat moss in a cool, dry place for spring replanting.
• Shut off exterior faucets. Drain water from outdoor pipes, valves, and sprinkler heads to protect against pipe bursts.
• Clean leaves, dirt, and pine needles between the boards of wooden decks to thwart mold and mildew growth.
• Inspect outdoor lighting around the property. Good illumination will help minimize the chance of accidents on icy walkways at night.
• Check snow shovels and prepare the snow blower for the first snowfall by changing the oil and replacing the spark plug.
• Make sure you have an ample supply of ice melt or sand on hand for steps, walkways, and the driveway.

Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning

• Check fireplace for drafts. If it’s cold despite the damper being closed, the damper itself may be warped, worn, or rusted. Consider installing a Chimney Balloon into the flue to air seal the area tightly.
• Clean or replace the air filter in your furnace for maximum efficiency and improved indoor air quality.
• Clean your whole house humidifier and replace the evaporator pad.
• Bleed valves on any hot-water radiators to increase heating efficiency by releasing air that may be trapped inside.
• Check that smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order.
• Make sure fans are switched to the reverse or clockwise position, which will blow warm air down to the floor for enhanced energy efficiency and comfort.
• Clean gutters of any debris. Make sure downspouts extend away from the house by at least 5 feet to prevent flooding of the foundation and water damage from snow melt. You’re officially ready for winter.

Written by Iyna Bort Caruso for bobvila.com