If you haven’t winterized your home yet, better late than never. Here are a few tips on how to winterize your home to protect it from damage and help you stay cozy all winter.
Winterize Your Home by Checking for Drafts
Have you ever been sitting by a window in the winter and felt a draft? Having that cold air hit you while you’re sitting in a warm, comfy room is not fun. Whether it’s you or the individuals renting your home, winterizing will save money by keeping the home at a comfortable temperature.
It’s also not good for your wallet! That cold air coming in means your HVAC system has to work harder to keep the house warm. And the more your HVAC system runs, the higher your electric and gas bills.
Weatherproof your home by walking around and checking for drafts around windows and doors. If you feel one coming through, seal it. Use weatherstripping to seal the bottoms of windows or doors that are drafty. If a window’s caulking is giving out, apply a new layer to seal it.
Insulate Your Attic with an Attic Tent
Heat rises. This means the warmest air in your home is constantly rising to the ceiling and ultimately, the attic.
Your attic likely has some insulation above the drywall to help prevent the warm air in the rest of your house from seeping in. However, attics with pull down ladders tend not to have any insulation at all around the ladder. This means that in most homes, the ladder to the attic is one big empty space that’s allowing warm air to pass easily.
Introducing the attic tent. This is something that goes at the top of the ladder to help insulate the area of access to the attic. Much like the insulation between rafters, an attic tent keeps warm air on lower levels of your house. This means you stay more comfortable and your HVAC system doesn’t have to kick on as often. It’s a win-win.
Clean Your Gutters
If you live in southern California, this isn’t as important as other parts of the country, such as the northeast. But it’s still a good idea to make sure your gutters are clean. Dirty gutters filled with pine needles or leaves will prevent the water from draining correctly. If you get a bunch of snow, an ice dam can form, causing damage to your home.
There are a lot of ways to do this:
- Hire someone
- Get a hose attachment and spray it
- Get on a tall ladder and manually pull the debris out
Get the Chimney Checked Out
If you plan on using your chimney this winter, make sure it gets inspected first. Many animals, such as birds and squirrels will build nests in dormant chimneys, and creosote can build up over time and use. By keeping your chimney clean, you’ll prevent a house fire and be able to enjoy your fire better, knowing your home is safe.
Insulate Outdoor Water Pipes and Put Away the Water Hose
Make sure any exposed outdoor pipes are insulated to prevent the water inside from freezing. Likewise, you should detach the hose from your spigot and coil it up until the spring.
Conclusion
It’s important to winterize your home, but fortunately, it doesn’t have to take too much time. Kind of like getting a mortgage with us! We’ll work hard to make sure the process goes smoothly for you and takes as little of your time as possible. Just send us an email at Team@RyanGrantTeam.com and we’ll make it happen.