When you spend a little time winterizing your home, you’ll benefit throughout the upcoming months. Heating bills will drop and your home will be safer and more comfortable. There are several tasks an informed homeowner can tackle, as well as some that might be best left to the expertise of your qualified technicians. 

DIY tips for winterizing your home

  • Check the attic. If you can see the tops of the joists, you need more insulation. Insulation blocks the transfer of heat through your ceilings into the attic. Blown-in or fiberglass batts are always available at home improvement centers and are durable and inexpensive ways to lower heating bills.
  • Look for air leaks and use exterior caulk or expanding foam to seal them. Likely places are the around window frames, places where pipes, wires and cables enter your home and flues and vents leaving the roof. Fresh weatherstripping keeps cold air from blowing indoors around exterior doors. If there’s a gap at the bottom, use a draft blocker or install a door sweep.
  • Clean the gutters. When they fill with leaves, water has a harder time draining and when it freezes, it can back up onto your roof, causing roof problems.
  • Tend to the windows when winterizing your home. A lot of heat can escape through your windows, even when they’re closed. Hang the storm windows if you use them. If you have single-pane windows, use clear plastic window kits that help keep drafts out and slow the thermal transmission of heat outdoors.
  • Test the smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. CO detectors tend to deplete batteries faster, so make it a point to check them monthly for safety.

Professional winterizing services

  • Hire a chimney sweep if you have and use a fireplace. Accumulations of soot can start fires.
  • Have your heating system professionally inspected. It will operate more efficiently and safely when an HVAC technician cleans and adjusts it. Normal maintenance checks include a ductwork inspection, which is an important step since ductwork problems can raise heating bills by as much as 60 percent.

If you’d like more information about winterizing your home, furnace maintenance or other HVAC issues, contact Stack Heating & Cooling. We’ve provided HVAC services for the greater Cleveland area since 1976 and have achieved NATE certification, the highest achievement in the HVAC industry.

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 winterizing your home and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

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