Wrap Your Home Up Warm For Winter

Look out your window, and you’ll see the skies are darker. Is that a hint of ice spreading across the ground. It doesn’t take much to see it’s clear, winter is here once more. But is your home prepared? There are plenty of changes both large and small that you can make to your home to ensure it is ready for the most treacherous time of the year. You don’t want to be dealing with an expensive home repair in the middle of the snowy season. Nor do you want to discover that your home isn’t quite as warm as you had hoped. So, let’s look at some of the changes that you should be making before winter arrives.

Wrap Your Home Up Warm For Winter

Outside, Waterproofing

Do you have any wooden areas in your garden? Perhaps you have a decking that’s perfect in the summer for drinks with friends and family. When winter arrives though it’s nothing more than a liability which you need to fix and sort out as much as you can. You can do that, quite simply by weatherproofing your decking. You might have already had your decking weatherproofed with a protective layer that will keep the wood dry through the winter months. However, if you haven’t made any changes like this, it’s time to sort it out. You’ll be able to get this type of cover from your local home depot store without too much trouble.

Remember, if you do have anything that could be damaged by high winds, heavy snow or even just a nasty frost, it’s best to put it inside and out of sight through winter. You can bring it out again in the spring when the weather is less frightful. Don’t forget that if your home is an alternate build, it too may need waterproofing before the ice and snow arrive on your doorstep.

Keeping Windows Warm

You might also want to think about how effective your windows are for keeping the warmth inside your home. An easy way to check this is to move your hand around the outside edge of the window a few inches away from the glass. If you can feel a breeze or a slight chill, this suggests the window isn’t providing the level of insulation that it should be. This can be quite an expensive repair as it suggests that the seal has worn out. Particularly, if there is water in between the two panes of glass. You can repair this yourself if you have the skill or hire an expert to resolve the issue for you.

Alternatively, you can simply opt to hang up thicker curtains through the winter months. This is a quick fix and may be ideal if you had no idea the windows needed work and are in no way financially prepared for the issue. You can buy thicker curtains on sale now from furniture stores. If you grab them before the weather starts to turn, you might find they are more than affordable.

Check Your Heating

You should make sure you are checking different areas of your heating before the cold season sets in. The process of Chimney Sweep Forsyth County, GA is complex and nasty, so many homeowners leave it to the professionals. We can give you a few warning lights that there’s an issue with your heating. You might have a proper manual fire which is great, unless of course, rather than flowing out the chimney the smoke seems to be billowing inside your living room. If that’s the case, you probably have a blocked chimney. It’s not an easy fix but one that can be handled with a service like Capitol Chimney. They’ll fix the issue for you and make sure that you have no trouble using your wood fire to stay toasty all through the festive season.

Of course, you may also be using radiators to keep warm but what if they aren’t heating properly? It really depends on what area isn’t heating. If they aren’t heating at all, this is most likely an issue with your overall heating system. If only part of the radiator is heating up, there’s a good chance there’s some grime and muck somewhere blocking the water. You can fix this by unscrewing the radiator being sure to use a bucket to catch any water that flows out. You should then be able to hose out the radiator, outside, screw it back on and get it working once more.

If you can’t do this, there’s a good chance that you need to turn your attention the boiler. If you do have an issue with the boiler through the winter months, the best advice we can recommend is to call in an expert. If you’re lucky, it will need to be repaired, and if you’re unlucky, it will need to be replaced. The difference here is at least a few thousand in costs.

To avoid this kind of situation, you should be making sure you are checking your boiler at regular intervals through the year. That way, you can make sure that if there are any issues with it, they can be repaired before they become a serious problem.

Let There Be Light

It may come as no surprise that houses, in general, require a lot more electricity through the winter months. The evenings are darker, and therefore we find ourselves turning on the lights earlier and more often. As such, if you’re not careful your electricity bill can rise through the roof.

The best way to avoid this is to make sure that you are investing in LED lighting. LED lights can be bought from any home depot store and will be an absolutely brilliant way to keep your home will lit through winter. Remember, you should also be checking out any festive lighting and make sure they too are using LEDs. If you want to see the benefits of LEDs just try to touch them. Unlike typical bulbs, you won’t burn your hand because these lights don’t get hot enough and this definitely use less energy.

We hope you find this advice helpful preparing your home for the winter months and that you avoid some of the potential expensive repairs.