Ready, Set, Winterize!

You should start getting your home and family ready for the winter during the fall. It's much harder to do the simple tasks you need to do when it's freezing outside. Here are some things it's important to do to ensure your comfort and safety during the cold winter months.

Insulate

To keep your home warm and keep your energy bills down, seal and insulate your home as effectively as possible. If there are cracks in the walls of your home, heat will be lost through them which reduces the efficiency of your heating system and raises your energy bills. Seal the interior and exterior of your home to reduce the risk of drafts, leaks, dry rot and mold. The hot water tank in your home should also be insulated with an insulating blanket that can be purchased at a hardware store.

Check Your Furnace

Every fall, an HVAC professional should inspect your furnace and clean the ducts. This is important to keep your furnace, heat pump and other heating equipment in top operating condition. It is also important to purchase furnace filters and change them monthly. Dirty filters reduce the efficiency of your furnace or heat pump and poorly tuned units are inefficient and use more fuel.

Reverse You Ceiling Fan During the Winter

Most ceiling fans come with a switch that reverses the rotation of the fan. When the fan is reversed, it creates an updraft instead of cooling you by pushing the air down. The warm air gathered at the top of your living room is displaced and pushed back out into the living space. This cuts heating costs by as much as 10 percent. When fan is reversed, turn fan on at low speed so air moves slowly for the best warming results.

Check Your Heating System

To make sure you have heat where and when you need it, give your system a test run. First, turn your thermostat to heat mode and set it to 80. The furnace should turn on and warm air should blow within a few minutes. If it's running fine, then turn the thermostat back to normal setting. If it isn't running properly, try to diagnose the problem to see if it is something you can fix yourself or if you need to contact a qualified service technician. Also, you should replace the air filter. If you have a propane or oil furnace, have the fuel storage tank topped off. Clear obstacles to heating vents so the air can freely flow.

Check Alarms

The fall is a good time to check the operation and change the batteries of your home smoke detectors. Test the alarm not just by pressing the test button, but actually use a bit of smoke. They should be replaced every ten years. The fire extinguisher should be tested as well. A good investment is a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless compound produced by incomplete combustion that is lethal at high levels, can be emitted by open flames, space heaters, water heaters, blocked chimneys or running a car inside a garage. A carbon monoxide detector sounds an alarm is a high level of carbon monoxide is detected, which gives people a chance to ventilate the area or safely leave the building.

Take Care of Your Air Conditioner

It may seem weird, but your air conditioner also needs care in preparation for the winter. Make sure the fan blades are clean and the condensing coils are clear of debris with a hose set to jet/highest pressure you have. The condensing unit should be covered during the winter so that wet leaves and debris can’t damage it by contributing to the rusting and freezing of internal components. They should be covered with a breathable waterproof cover so that the lifespan of the machine is extended and the performance remains efficient. Window and portable air conditioners should be removed and stored safely during the winter.