Preparing a House for Winter

Winter is fast approaching and with it comes cold weather and snow. Before the snow hits the ground, there are a few things you should do around the house to get your home ready for winter. Here's a quick guide to preparing your home for the colder months of the year.

Tips for Saving Money While Keeping the House Warm During the Winter

Losing heat during the winter can create costly bills for homeowners. Therefore, it's important to thoroughly check these areas of your home each year prior to the first snow.

Always check out the thermostat and ensure it is running properly. If you're unsure of how to check your thermostat, call in a professional. You may spend money the first year by doing this, but be sure to ask questions so you know what to look for and then the following winter, you can check things out yourself.

Most furnaces have filters that should be changed once a month; though most people don't do this. Perhaps your filter doesn't quite need to be changed yet, but always be sure to check it at various points throughout the winter.

Lastly, go through your home and locate all of the cooler rooms. Then, check these rooms for air leaks, such as those commonly found around windows or electrical outlets. Then, insulate these leaks accordingly.

Turning on the Heat

There are some things that are normal when first turning on a heating system following the warmer months of the year. This includes a strange smell that may be present when the system first starts. This smell is the scent of dust burning off as the heating system starts up and is completely normal. Consider opening the windows to help clear out the odor more efficiently.

If the smell persists or another unusual scent is present, turn off the system immediately and check around to see if any objects are touching your furnace (or other heating system) and move them away. If there are no obvious causes, call in a professional who is better familiar with your type of heating system and can locate and correct the issue.

Once you've established that your heating system is in proper working order, it's time to go through the home and ensure that there is an even temperature in all of the rooms. (Do this after the odor has cleared and you've closed all of the windows.) You can use a handheld device that tests temperature or you can simply do this by feel.

Walking from room to room, you may notice that some rooms are warmer and some are colder, even after you've checked for air leaks. This is also normal even if there are no detectable leaks. To remedy this situation, you can adjust the registers in each room accordingly. For example, rooms that are warmer can have the dampers on the register only half open, while the colder rooms can have the registers fully open.