How to Winterize Your Home: A Guide to Products and What to Look for
Taking care of your furnace should be on the top of your list when it comes to winterizing your home. Once you have all the drafts and cracks in your home sealed up the air that you have circulating in your home is there to stay and you should do your best to make sure it is as clean as possible. To ensure this make sure you change the air filters in your furnace every 2-3 months. Try using a high – efficiency filter that is pleated giving more surface area to capture dirt.
To conserve heat and keep the bills down try installing an programmable thermostat. The thermostat can be set for a lower temperature when everyone is out of the house for work, school or the weekend.
Water Heater
If your water heater is down in a basement or in a cold area of the house you might want to consider an insulation blanket to make sure the heat does not dissipate. The blanket wraps around the water heater so that it can insulate it.
Another way to keep heat from dissipating from your water source is to insulate your water pipes with foam insulation. If you have a lot of pipe that will go a long way till it reaches your showers or sinks the first five to ten feet of pipe from the water heater can be covered with sleeves of pipe insulation. This is easy and super affordable to do.
Roof and Gutters
Nothing is worse than finding out ou have roof and ceiling damage in the middle of the winter due to your gutters causing backups of water. To prevent any damage be sure to clean out your gutters and downspouts this way no water can get under the edges of the roof or down the walls
To prevent any ice dams from occurring add ceiling insulations. This way the roof will be kept cool by the increased under roof ventilation.
Windows and Doors
Installing a door sweep and saddle will keep out those cold winter drafts that can keep your home from staying warm. The door sweep will be attached to the bottom of the door and the saddle is attached to the floor so that both come together blocking all cold air from entering.
Self adhesive foam weather strips can also be applied to your doors as well as windows to seal any gaps and keep air from escaping and cold drafts out. Windows that are not energy efficient can be covered with insulating film, a clear plastic that can be taped to the window and keeps heat from being lost.
