Winter is approaching, and preparing your home will be more than just about comfort; it’ll also be about protecting one of your biggest investments. Proper winterization prevents costly repairs, can reduce energy bills, and ensures that your family stays warm during the season.
Whether you are a DIYer or prefer professional help, understanding fundamental winterization duties and the services will prepare you to safeguard your home.
Home Winterization Best Practices
If you want a cozy, energy-efficient, and budget-friendly home this winter, you’ll need a systematic approach to the cold weather. To defend your home against winter’s harsh effects, you can tackle these tasks room by room and system by system. You can conduct the following best practices yourself but call professionals for the more complex and potentially dangerous tasks you need to familiarize yourself with.
Pre-Winter HVAC Tasks
Don’t wait to take control of your indoor heat. If you do, you may discover heating system issues that will cost you even more time (in the cold) and money. HVAC winterization includes replacing your furnace filters monthly, cleaning your vents, testing your thermostat’s accuracy, and observing your ductwork for gaps and disconnections.
Remember that a certified HVAC technician can proficiently perform these functions while conducting safety checks and efficiency tuning that go beyond DIY maintenance.
Sealing and Insulation
If hot air leaks from the house, your furnace may be working overtime. Walk around your home, looking for cracks and gaps within your baseboards, corners, windows, and doors. You may feel for drafts or light an incense stick and hold it close to the above spaces. Look for smoke that is moving out of the room. Your attic may be a problem area. If you find leaks, install foam gaskets, draft stoppers, shrink wrap, and caulk around the appropriate places.
Keep in mind that professional insulation contractors can reach difficult spaces and have devices such as thermal imaging cameras and ultrasonic air leak detectors to quickly and more accurately detect leaks in your home.
Protect Your Plumbing System
Water damage from a frozen pipe bursting can cost thousands. To protect your pipes, disconnect and drain all outdoor hoses and cover exterior faucets with insulated covers.
Use foam sleeves to insulate the exposed pipes in unheated areas (basements, crawl spaces, and garages) for your inside plumbing. Always know where your main water shutoff valve is in an emergency—this can prevent catastrophic water damage.
For homes in frigid climates or with complex plumbing systems, it is helpful to have a licensed plumber assess your system’s winter readiness and install additional safeguards where needed.
Maintain Your Roof and Gutters
Your home’s roof is often its first line of defense against winter weather, so hopefully you have an ice and water barrier. Before it gets freezing and wet, scan your roof for missing or damaged shingles and flashing, especially around chimneys and vents.
Make sure your gutters are clean after the last leaves fall or run the risk of ice dams. This will ensure that your downspouts direct water at least five feet from your foundation. You may even consider installing gutter guards to prevent debris buildup. Lastly, inspect your attic for any water stains or dampness indicating a leak before snow arrives.
Roof work can be dangerous, especially in freezing temperatures. Professional roofers can spot problems you might miss and safely and quickly make repairs before a winter storm hits.
When to Start Your Winter Prep
The best time to begin your winterization efforts is in early fall. Temperatures are still mild enough for outdoor work, and you can start creating a weekend-by-weekend checklist to schedule your projects before winter hits.
To better gauge your timeline, start with the professional services, as they might be busy and have scheduling delays. Next, tackle the outdoor tasks — roof inspection, gutter cleaning, exterior caulking — again, to take advantage of the milder weather. When the temperature drops, move indoors. Here, you can handle simpler tasks such as changing filters and installing draft stoppers.
Finally, keep a winter emergency kit ready with items such as a pipe wrench, space heater, flashlights, and your service provider’s contact information. The best time to prepare for winter emergencies is before they happen.
Winterizing your home doesn’t have to be overwhelming when you have a system in place. Following these best practices and tackling one task at a time will create a winter-ready home that is both comfortable and efficient.
Bear in mind that while many tasks are DIY-friendly, calling a professional for the more complicated and safety-critical work is always an option — and sometimes the better one.
Your investment in winterization can save you time and money, reducing energy bills, preventing damages, and giving you peace of mind throughout the cold season.
