Cold Weather Defense How to Winterize Your Home Effectively
“Game of Thrones” may have ended over four years ago, but here in the real world, we can still expect winter to come every single year. But the weather can be rather unpredictable across the country during this time of year. Winter weather can vary across the country — some years, we may get incredibly mild winters, and during others, we’ll experience multiple feet of snow or ice storms. So, it’s safe to say we should never take winter weather lightly. If you want to stay comfortable and safe in your home this season, you must take the proper precautions right now to winterize your home. You likely already have some strategies in place, but here are a few others to implement you might be missing. Cover your outdoor faucets. Throughout the spring, summer, and early fall, many of us are outside daily, watering the garden with our sprinklers and hoses. As we approach the end of fall, we don’t need to water as often, causing us to forget about our outdoor faucets. Unfortunately, those faucets are not insulated, which means leaving them uncovered could lead to frozen or burst pipes in your home. Don’t let this happen to you! You can go to your local hardware or home improvement store and pick up hard or soft faucet covers for an affordable price. They’re easy to install and offer great protection for your outdoor faucets!
“If you want to stay comfortable and safe in your home this season, you must take the proper precautions right now to winterize your home.”
Keep cold air out. When the temperature reaches freezing, all we want to do is cuddle up in our homes and embrace the warmth. This isn’t easy to do when cold outside air sneaks into your home. Walk through your house and determine the origin of the cold air, as it could be coming from any of your windows or doors. If it’s your windows, you will need to cover them with a window insulator kit from the local store. If the draft comes from a door, you may need to replace the door sweep. Pry the old one off with a flathead screwdriver before cutting a new door sweep to size and sliding it into place on your door. Not only will the new door sweep help you in the winter, but it will also keep pests out once the weather warms up. If you’d rather purchase a door sweep from a hardware store or online, there are many options to pick from that will fit all types of doors! Replace the furnace filter. Your HVAC system is going to put in some extra work during the colder months. It will constantly recirculate the air in your home, and your furnace filter will be hard at work removing dust, pollen, and other contaminants. Over time, your furnace filter will become dirty, and you’ll need to replace it. Do so before winter begins — if you don’t, you could experience higher energy bills, low air quality inside your home, and a damaged HVAC system. Winter weather can be unpleasant and frustrating, especially when it affects your living conditions and the interior of your home. Don’t let winter weather become the villain in your story. Take action to winterize your home now so you can rest easy throughout winter.
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