Home Improvement
5 Tips to Winterize Your Home
Winter is coming.
That means snow will be on its way soon enough (if it hasn’t already come!). That also means that a lot of things could go wrong in your home if you don’t prepare properly.
If you have lived in a cold climate for a while, you probably know how to winterize your home. But if you’re new to living in cold climates or this is your first home, you probably need a few tips to winterize your home.
Either way, use these tips as a checklist to ensure you are ready for winter!
1. Protect the Pipes
Pipes are notorious for freezing during the winter months, especially when the temperatures drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
To make sure this doesn’t happen, you should always have a slight stream of water running through the faucets to protect it from freezing. In bathrooms and the kitchen, you can also open the cabinets to allow warmer air from the room to surround the pipes.
If your pipes do freeze, you have a bigger problem on your hands because the pipes could burst.
2. Check Your Heat
One of the most important things you will need during winter is heat. Before the cold weather approaches, you want to check your heat to make sure all is working.
There are many ways to go about heating your home; you just want to ensure it is working!
3. Seal Cracks
If you’ve been putting off sealing cracks that you have seen throughout the year, it’s time to add that to the top of your to-do list. If you avoid it, you’ll have an uncomfortable draft coming into the home and warm air leaving the home.
When warm air leaves and cold air comes in, you are going to have a higher heating bill, which is something you can avoid.
Be sure to check around doors and windows for cracks.
4. Check the Gutters
There’s more to check than just the inside of your home. You should also check the gutters.
You want to prevent ice dams from occurring by making sure the gutters are clean and free of any and all debris. It’s a good habit to get into to check the gutters throughout the winter as well to keep them clear.
5. Clear the Yard
While you want to winterize your home, you also want to winterize the surrounding area like your yard.
Make sure you trim your trees and remove dead branches. Snow and ice can weaken branches. If they fall, they could land on your house and damage your home, or worse, hurt someone.
Tips to Winterize Your Home
Now that you know these tips to winterize your home, it’s time to get started! The countdown to winter is on, and you want to beat it!
If you enjoyed reading these helpful tips, be sure to look at our site for other articles like this one with more great tips!
Kenneth is a proud native of sydney, born and raised there. However, he pursued his education abroad and studied in Australia. Kenneth has worked as a journalist for almost a decade, making valuable contributions to prominent publications such as Yahoo News and The Verge. Currently, he serves as a journalist for The Hear Up, where he focuses on covering climate and science news. You can reach Kenneth at [email protected].