Hi! I am David Lupberger with www.servicemagic.com. You may be living in a home that has not needed much to work but as a home you can never let your guard down. As the seasons change, you need to make sure your home is ready for anything that the cold weather may throw at it. Today we are going to be going over some of those critical things that you should be doing to get your home ready for winter.
The first thing you want to check is to make sure you are not, as your parents would say, paint heat the outdoors. But making sure your home is properly insulated. Check your attic, walls and basement for adequate insulation. Feel around electrical outlets and switch plates for cold air. Have a professional add insulation if necessary.
Look around doors and windows for gaps and potential places where warm air can escape. Use calking or weather stripping to take care of any problem areas. And consider having a professional replace old window with energy efficient, double paned windows. A www.servicemagic.com hall shows that only about 15 percent of homes that energy efficient windows, which could save you lots of money on your [inaudible].
Next you want to check out your furnace, keeping a clean filter on your furnace throughout the winter is essential to maximize in its efficiency. Dirty filters make the furnace work harder and may damage it. Having a heating expert, check out your unit for leaks on a yearly basis is always a good idea. Fire fighters will tell you that a dirty chimney can be extremely dangerous.
Wood fires in fire places can lead to creosol build up in your chimney, which can lead to a chimney fire. Hire a professional to make sure your chimney is clean before lighting your first winter fire. Also if you do not have one already, install some kind of glass enclosure on your fire place opening to reduce the amount of hot air that is being sucked out of your house when you are burning a fire.
Many people under estimate the importance of taking care of their outdoor plumbing. Leaving water sitting in pipes through the winter can be disastrous. The water supply to your outdoor pipes should always be shut off for the winter and the pipes drained. Even if you have been lucky so far, it only takes one winter blast to freeze the pipe which can burst, leaving you with a watery and expensive nasty clean up.
The same is true for your lawn sprinkler system. Right now, you probably have water seeding in the underground pipes. If that freezes, those pipes could burst too. A lot of home owners do this themselves but a professional will make sure that all the waters blown out so that you do not end up replacing some or all of your sprinklers system.
Finally make sure you keep your gutters and downspouts clear of all fall leaves. If water is improperly drained, it could freeze and cause big problems for your roof.
Protecting your home from the harsh conditions of winter is critical. Spending sometime and money now can save thousands down the road. To find the pre-screen professional to assist you with this task go to www.servicemagic.com. Home improvement, hassle free.
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