Just as we change our lifestyles with seasons, we should do the same to our homes. The onset of the winter season means dealing with sub-zero arctic-like temperatures lots of icy conditions and snow. With such condition, it is inevitable to start developing ways to protect your home from any possible damage that may come with snow’s frigid temperatures. It is also important to ensure that your home is as warm as possible to keep off any winter blues. This article offers some insightful tips to apply in your home to ensure your home is ready for winter.
Tend to your tree branches
Frequent storms characterise winter. These storms can deposit loads of tree branches on the roof of your house. Under the weight of ice or snow, the branches can then snap and fall on your roof, and pierce it or even cause greater damage. To evade surprise leaks on your roof, you should ensure that you prune branches that can potentially fall on the roof of your house before the onset of winter.
Install weather-stripping
Look out for your house’s exterior doors for any cold air leakages. Examine this from the inside of your house. There are two major methods to carry out this. The high-tech approach makes use of an infrared laser gun to spot cold drafts. The alternative technique, which is considered low tech, involves moving a candlelit around the door’s frame. If there’s a draft, then the candle flame blows towards you. Seal any draft by installing weather-stripping of foam inside the door frame. Your hardware will always guide you on the instructions to install the weather stripping and appropriate products.
Get the right window coverings.
You may be having some sheer curtains appropriate for the summer weather; however, when it comes to ensuring that the house is warm, these curtains are not the right choice. For the winter weather go for some insulated or layered curtains. If you love sheer curtains, then the suitable winter counterpart would be insulation kits from a hardware store.
Clear the gutters
When twigs or leaves block gutters, ice and snow which normally would be directed away from the house will gather, causing the fascia boards below the roofline to rot. It also leads to leaks in the basements and cracks on walkways or in the foundations. To prevent such expensive structural damage, ensure that you inspect and where necessary clean the gutters before freezing starts. For large debris use a scoop or trowel while for smaller debris you can utilise a garden hose.
Focus on the fireplace
Many techniques used to keep houses warm, some people have installed, electric heating boilers, while others have a fireplace. For fireplaces, if you haven’t had the chimney inspected lately. Ensure that before winter sets in it gets inspected to get rid of any sooty build-up or any other obstructions that can cause chimney fires during winter. When you aren’t using the fireplace always ensure that you close the damper above the firebox to retain the warm indoor air preventing and ensuring that the cold air doesn’t enter through the chimney. If the fireplace presents too much work, you can always switch to electric boilers; you can check them out at Boxt.
Lay off the lawn
Before the initial frost, it’s a good practice to aerate the lawn. To aerate it dig some holes on it to permit the soil to breathe. Aeration of the lawn is done with a spiked tool known as an aerator which pierces the soil. If you’ve got a large lawn, there are gas or electric powered aerators. When the turf gets dormant for winter, ensure that equipment, pets, and kids are off the lawn as much as possible as heavy traffic can damage the turf grass, causing bare patches on the lawn later in spring.
Make sure you cover up hard floors
If you got hardwood or concrete floors, carpets will ensure you keep the ground warm in winter. Hard floors, don’t help retain heat, which is a disadvantage in winter, thus with no underfloor heating, it’s best to have a carpet during winter. You can find reputable sites offering warm carpets at ReviewsBird.
Service and clean air-conditioning
During winter, you should clean or replace filters of your air-conditioning system monthly. This is especially the case when filters are in constant use. By keeping filters clean as well as replacing old filters, this can lower the energy consumption of your air conditioner by 5 to 15%.
In conclusion, winter is a chilly month that requires proper preparations. With this article, you need not worry as it covers how you can get your house ready for winter.