Winterizing your Home

Winterizing Your Home

 Just a few useful tips from your friends at All Season Home Inspections

Inside Your Home

• Have your furnace or boiler system serviced to ensure it's working efficiently and not emitting carbon monoxide.
• Clean permanent furnace filters and replace paper or disposable filters every four to six weeks.
• Replace the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
• If you have a wood stove or fireplace, have your chimney swept thoroughly. It should be cleaned before the soot build up reaches one-quarter inch thickness inside the chimney flue. If you use your fireplace often we recommend annual cleaning. 
• Check your water heater for leaks and maintain proper temperature setting (120 degrees recommended by Department of Energy). On older water heaters with less insulation, for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit you lower the temperature, you save 6 percent of your water heating energy.
• Check the attic to see if insulation needs to be added or replaced. This is the most significant area of heat loss in many homes, so it is also important to see that it has proper ventilation. Inadequate ventilation could lead to premature deterioration of the insulation materials. 
• Check all windows and doors for air leaks. Install storm windows and putty, caulk or add weather stripping as needed.
• Check basement and cellars for seal cracks or leaks in walls and floor.
• Make sure all vents are clean and operating properly.
• Clean and vacuum baseboard heaters, heating ducts and vents.
• Remove or winterize air conditioning units.

Outside Your Home

• Store or cover outdoor furniture, toys and grill.
• Prepare for snowfall. Purchase rock salt or calcium chloride for melting snow and a shovel or snow blower if you don't already have one. Make sure you have the right kind of gas and oil on hand for your snow blower in the case of an unexpected snowstorm.
• Caulk joints and minor cracks on exterior walls and siding.
• Look for deteriorating finishes. Minor problems can be patched to preserve the wood. Put bigger jobs, such as scraping and refinishing painted or stained areas, on the calendar for next spring or early summer.
• Drain and shut off sprinkler systems and other exterior water lines to avoid frozen and broken pipes.
• Insulate exterior spigots and other pipes that are subject to freezing but can't be drained or shut off.
• Rake and compost leaves and garden debris, or put out for yard-waste pickup.
• Clean storm drains, gutters and other drain pipes.
• Check the foundation for proper drainage. To do this, spray yard with a hose to see if water runs away from the house. A little bit of regrading to reshape the earth next to the house may help the water run away from the foundation.
• Make sure piles of wood don't come into contact with or touch siding, inviting termites and carpenter ants into the house. Bring into the house only as much wood as you will burn that day.
• Inspect the roof for loose, damaged or missing pieces.
• Check attic vent openings for nests or other blockages.