Your Fall Home Maintenance Checklist? How Much Is Checked Off?

Winters in Northeast Ohio are known for their harsh conditions, with the heating season sometimes lasting from October to April. As summer draws to a close, this is the perfect time to perform fall home maintenance. Taking care of your fall maintenance checklist now ensures your home is ready for cooler temperatures.

Use the guide below to gauge the progress of your fall home maintenance:

Interior

• Heating and cooling your home can account for nearly half of your energy costs. Make sure you’re not losing heated air, by air sealing your home. Check around windows, doors and other likely places for air leaks. If leaks are found, seal them with weatherstripping or caulk. Air sealing a leaky home can save 20 percent of your heating costs this winter.
• Have preventive maintenance performed on your heating system by a qualified, professional technician. This way, minor issues can be addressed before they become major problems. HVAC equipment that’s maintained regularly is more efficient and has a longer life.
• When you begin using your furnace, change the direction of ceiling fan blades to clockwise to create upward drafts to redistribute warm air away from the ceiling and down into the room.
• Replace the batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.

Exterior

• Check the home’s foundation for cracks, taking care to inspect areas where the foundation meets another building material. Look around doors and windows for areas where air can escape. Close any gaps with caulk or spray foam.
• Visually inspect the roof for damaged, missing and loose shingles, replacing where needed.
• Once trees have shed their leaves, clean out gutters and downspouts. Clogged gutters are a primary cause of ice dams, which can cause considerable damage in winter. They also force rain water and melted snow to flow over the edges of gutters and down into the foundation. If you have a lot of leaf fall on your property, you’ll need to clear out the gutters regularly throughout the autumn.
• Drain and store hoses. After the last use of the season, shut off the water supply to outdoor spigots.

Yard

• Clean and store outdoor furniture and garden tools.
• Test your snow removal equipment, and have repairs and maintenance done before the first snow falls.
• Remove soil from pots and planters.

To learn how we can help get your HVAC system ready for winter, please contact us today. Stack Heating & Cooling has provided the Greater Cleveland area with quality, professional heating and cooling since 1976.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about maintenance checklists and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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