How To Winterize Your Home

I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my knowledge with your readers. Today, I think we should focus on one aspect of home maintenance and safety that many homeowners tend to ignore – winterizing your homes. There are many reasons why you should winterize your home. One of the best benefits is that it helps in reducing your repair and maintenance costs.

In fact, winterizing your home can help you save thousands of dollars in repairs and costly replacements in the long term. If you don’t winterize your home, you risk roof damages, higher heating costs, carbon monoxide leaks, higher insurance premiums and much more. It is because most homeowners take it as a hassle that they don’t winterize their homes. But if you want to have a safe and comfortable winter, you shouldn’t ignore this crucial aspect of your home’s maintenance.

Utilize the following tips to winterize your home:

1. Protect Roof Against Ice Dams

Ice dams have extremely damaging effects on the roof. It could cause damages to the attic and walls by preventing drainage. You should take the following steps to prevent this from happening.

• The attic should be adequately ventilated. A cooler attic means lesser chances of formation of ice dams.
• The attic floor should be insulated and re-insulated appropriately and regularly. This will help in minimizing the amount of heat being transferred from within your living space to the attic.
• It is recommended to avoid lighting in the roof, which can generate heat and melt the snow on top of the roof.

2. Properly Insulate The Attic

Properly insulating the attic and crawl spaces mean a reduced need for heating. In fact, it can help reduce your heating requirements by 20% to 30%. An easy way to determine the need for more insulation is to check its thickness in different places across the coverage area. The cellulose should be at least 15 cm, and the fiberglass should be 20 cm thick. If it is anything less than this, add more insulation.

This is an important part of your home’s winterization and one that shouldn’t be ignored at all. Amid other benefits, it will also help create a more comfortable environment.

3. Check/Clean Heating Ducts

Ask your HVAC service to check and clean the heating ducts. This can be done when the professional comes to inspect your furnace. Do you know that ducts could lose almost 50% of the heated air? This will translate into a significant amount of loss in terms of heating costs every year. Get the professional to check and detect any heat loss and get it fixed.

4. Block Air Leaks

According to government figures, you could be losing up to 30% of energy to drafts. They can be found near windows and doors. Although there are some temporary fixes to address this issue, you must fix all the leaks permanently. All leaks near the doors and windows should be fixed using weather-resistant caulk. Another good option includes weather stripping.

The points where the wires and pipes exit the basement are also critical points for checking leaks. Besides, there are many places in the attic that will need to be insulated to prevent drafts.

Use these tips to winterize your home. They will not only help save unwanted expenses, but they will also help create a safe and comfortable living space.