This post is in partnership with Responsival, but all thoughts and options are 100% my own.
No matter where you live I’m sure you have Winterizing Your Home Checklist! Nothing quite ruins your day like waking to a cold furnace or burst water pipes in the dead of winter. The last couple of Cleveland winters haven’t been that bad, honestly, there have been places in the south that have gotten hit harder than we have by snow! I’m not sure but I definitely feel like this winter is going to be bad! And by following these quick tips to winterize your home, you’ll stand a better chance of avoiding these mishaps as Old Man Winter howls outside.
Winterizing Your Home Checklist
Outdoor Faucets And Pipes
Cover pipes with pre-slit foam insulation and place a bucket filled with insulation over any outdoor faucets. You can use strips of old blankets or any rag to wrap pipes exposed to the elements to prevent freezing. Should you need to use the faucet again the bucket can be removed and then replaced.
Doors And Windows
Remove and store your window screens and screen doors and replace them with storm doors.
Keep your heat in and the cold air out by using caulking and weather striping around doors and windows and save money too. Even a small draft will noticeably raise your heating bill. Replace any cracked or broken windowpanes now and re-caulk old windows that have dried or missing caulking.
Attach a piece of weather striping, called a door sweep, to the bottom of doors that lead outside to stop drafts. You can also purchase draft stoppers for doors filled with sand or sawdust.
Roofing, Gutters And Drainpipes
Once temperatures have dropped low enough for pruning, prune any tree limbs that touch your roof. Removing leaves, branches and any other debris from the roof and check that all shingles are flat should be at the top of your winterizing your home checklist . Check, your chimney and cap to be sure it is keeping birds from nesting there.
Clean leaves, acorns and other debris from your gutter, spray them out with a water hose and make sure the downspouts are also clear of debris. Place rocks or downspout extenders so the rainwater doesn’t flow near your foundation. As you hose out the gutters, check that you have no leaks and that the gutter is attached to the house properly.
Heat Sources And Ceiling Fans
Service and clean the heating unit at least once a year and change filters every month when it is in use. Check that duct-work is in good shape and insulated well with no tears or missing insulation.
Have a propane tank filled before cold weather arrives and check the lines, connections and gauges to be sure they are in good working order. Check the firebricks in wood burners and fireplaces and have the chimney cleaned of any built-up of soot or creosote. Clear out any ashes left from last year and check the firewall behind wood heaters. Make sure the damper is working correctly.
Check the elements of all space or wall heaters and the wiring of space heathers. Vacuum dust from around the elements and replace any worn elements or wiring. Space heaters cause more deaths from fire than anything else in the winter. Now, reverse your ceiling fans so they blow the warm air, which rises, down into the room.
If you’re located in the Pittsburgh area, Restano Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing, a proud local Pittsburgh HVAC company that has served the Pittsburgh area for over 30 years can definitely help with any Heating, Cooling and Plumbing needs on your checklist. Restano is an award winning company in their industry with a history of community and charity, as well.
Smoke And Carbon Monoxide Detectors And Fire Extinguishers
Change the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and run a check to make sure they are working properly. If, these alarms are old, it might be smart to replace them with a more modern one to be on the safe side.
None of these quick tips to winterize your home takes long and can easily be preformed in a single weekend unless you run into a problem that requires a repair. Better to find the problem now than in the middle of a cold winter’s night.
I know a lot of these items are items that my parents usually request the help of my husband and brother-in-law to help them with because they’re older. As a suggestion, once you complete the items on your Winterizing Your Home Checklist, I recommend reaching out to some of the elderly adults you know to see if they need assistance with some of these items!
