Preparing Your Home for Winter

Cold weather is on the way. With it comes many exciting things. Halloween, Christmas, decorations, and gorgeous colors. But it also brings some negatives. It is cold and can be uncomfortable, you might suffer from coughs and colds, and your home may feel cold. But, your home doesn’t have to be cold, and your energy bills don’t have to be extortionate. Prepare your home now, and you’ll have a comfortable winter.

Check the Windows

You might not notice damaged or poor windows and damaged seals in the summer months when the air is warm. But soon, you’ll start to feel the cool air drifting in. Go around and check your windows now, feel for cold air, and look for signs of damage. If you need to look for Windows Replacement before it gets too cold.

Prepare the Pipes

Frozen pipes are one of the biggest problems that we face in bad weather. A sudden cold snap leaves our pipes frozen, leaving us without water or heating, and with the risk of more harmful burst pipes. Add insulation now, to insulate them later, and go around and repair any dripping taps.

Get into Good Habits

Over the summer we’re all a little lax with our home efficiency. We don’t need the heating, we use the lights less, and it’s more comfortable if we leave the doors open. It’s easy to slip into bad habits. But, if you want a cozy and warm home this winter, it’s time to get into better habits.

Start closing doors. External, yes, but also internal. If you aren’t using a room, keeps its doors closed. Close the doors of the rooms that you are in to keep heat in. Close windows and start closing the curtains as soon as the sun starts to go down. Buy, or make, some cushions for your doors, and get into the habit of putting a robe on before you turn the heating on.

Look into Insulation

If you live in a modern house, it might already have loft and cavity wall insulation, which can keep warm air in, and cold air out. But, in an older home, this may not be the case. Even if it has insulation, it might not be as effective as modern methods and may need updating.

Test the Heating

If you haven’t had your heating on for months, this is the best time to test it. Start running it for a few minutes every day to get the water moving around the system, and feel any vents that you have. They should be warm all over and heat up quickly. If there are cold spots, they made need cleaning.

Service the Furnace

Even if your furnace feels fine, and the heating seems to be working, the last thing that you want is for it to fail on the coldest week of the year, when you need it most. So, book a furnace service now.

Clean the Gutters

Cleaning your gutters might not seem necessary. But in autumn they get full of leaves and mulch. Left like this and they will become blocked. The water will overflow when it rains, trickling down your walls, getting in-between the brickwork. This will expand if it freezes, causing damage to the structure of your home. Keep your gutters clean, or hire someone to help.

This is a good preventative activity for your pre-winter home. Plug these into your calendar to be sure to get done before the cold weather hits.