As it gets colder outside and the leaves begin to fall, you may want to begin thinking about winterizing your home. Sounds easy enough, but what does it entail? There are a lot of different things you can do to prepare your home for the cold winter months. Here are just a few of those things you can do to make sure you stay warm all winter long.
The first is inspecting your heating system. You always want to make sure your furnace is working properly. Check for leaks or damage. If you smell a strong, odd smell that continues past the initial start of the furnace for the year, you should call a professional because there could be something critically wrong with your furnace. You should always change your filters regularly about every few months. Running your heat with clogged filters will cause you to not get good quality airflow and it reduces the efficiency.
Another thing you always want to do is to make sure your home is properly insulated. Often people like to put additional insulation in their attic. A good amount of insulation would be at least 12 inches. You can also look into insulating your windows. You can either buy storm windows or get a window insulator kit. Buying the actual windows can be pricey but are a more permanent solution than the window insulator kit. Either way, when the winter winds start blowing, you will be glad you decided to insulate those windows. If you want to insulate, there are some great companies that do Rhode Island insulation, Massachusetts insulation, and insulation anywhere else you need it. They can help you decide what would be best for your home and your budget.
Another important step to winterizing your home is to clean out your rain gutters. It may not be the first thing you think of to do but it will definitely be worth it. Not cleaning your rain gutters out can cause ice dams and if the water can’t drain down, it will eventually seep into your home. Taking time to clean the leaves and other debris from your gutters will be well worth it.
You can also check your home for leaks, check your smoke detectors, and even check your chimney. You want to make sure your house is ready for the cold nights, with the storms and the fire going. You will be happy you took the time to winterize your home.