Warm Up Your Winter Essential Tips for Winterizing Your Home Like a Pro
With winter comes the onslaught of cold temperatures and snowy conditions. Thankfully, we can escape the frigid temperatures in the comfort of our warm and insulated homes. However, not all homes have the proper protections to keep occupants warm once temperatures drop. Maybe you’ve experienced this before: You crank your thermostat and light a fire in the fireplace, only for the cold to seep through your home’s cracks. Nobody wants to feel uncomfortable in their homes, but it’s not always obvious how to offset winter weather. Here are four ways to winterize your home and keep the cold at bay. Seal drafty windows and exterior doors. Have you ever walked through your home and noticed a cold spot? It’s likely coming from one of your windows or doors. As the weather cools down, walk around your house looking for visible gaps around your windows and doors. If it’s windy, you may even feel the cold air rushing into your home. A U.S. Department of Energy study found that windows are responsible for 30% of heating and cooling energy losses, so this is probably the best place to start when winterizing your home. If you find a drafty door or window, you need to seal the gaps. There are a few different ways to do this, and you can pick up the items you need from any home improvement store. You could apply weatherstripping, an adhesive-backed foam strip that blocks gaps around your windows and doors. Weatherstripping is also great for keeping out bugs and moisture once the weather starts to warm up. Another option is to install door sweeps at the bottom of any exterior doors in your home, as they will also help keep cold air out and warm air in. If your windows are really drafty, apply a window film or insulation kit to keep the cold air out.
“By taking the proper precautions, you can make sure your home stays at a comfortable temperature all year long!”
Switch the flow of your ceiling fan. You might think your ceiling fan’s primary purpose is to provide airflow and keep the house cooler in the summer, but it can be useful in the winter, too. Most ceiling fans have a reverse switch that allows you to change the direction the blades rotate. By switching to the clockwise setting, you’ll create an updraft, pushing warm air down from the ceiling to the floor. While this won’t be a groundbreaking change, it should keep the room a couple of degrees warmer. Consider updating your insulation. When was the insulation installed in your home? Depending on the type of insulation used, you may be due for an upgrade. Fiberglass insulation lasts around 15 years on average but can have a 20–30 year lifespan. Cellulose materials can start degrading after 15 years, but if installed properly, they can last up to 30. Spray foam, wool insulation, and foam board insulation can all last up to a century, but you might not know when the insulation was installed. If this is your situation, consider replacing your insulation if your top floor is freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer, your energy bills keep increasing, or you have unwanted “house guests.” While you can complete some insulation projects on your own, anything significant should be left to the professionals. Be smart about your heating efforts. Many things are in your control to keep your house warm. You can open the windows when the sun is shining, close off rooms your family isn’t actively using, and keep up with regular HVAC maintenance by changing furnace filters when necessary and cleaning vents and registers. If you’re having issues with your HVAC unit, don’t try to fix it yourself; call an expert to get the full scope of what needs to be done. Don’t let cold temperatures bring you down this winter. By taking the proper precautions, you can make sure your home stays at a comfortable temperature all year long!
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