It’s important to make sure that your home is ready for winter if you want to keep your family safe and comfortable throughout this season. You should also take steps to make sure that you save money in terms of the energy that you use to keep your home warm. Read on to see four of the ways in which you can get your home ready for winter so that you can start preparing.
1. Service Your HVAC System
As winter sets in, you will rely a lot on your air conditioner. This is important to do in good time so that you don’t have to be at the end of the list of clients that the HVAC experts in your area need to serve. With about 75% of all homes in the United States having air conditioners, it’s clear that there will be a number of people getting their units serviced during this season. A well-maintained HVAC system will work efficiently, keeping your home’s temperature regulated at a comfortable point.
2. Seal and Insulate Your Home
Next, you need to insulate and seal your home so that it doesn’t leak the treated air indoors easily to the outdoors. To ensure that your home is sealed, you should do a visual inspection, especially of the doors and windows. Make sure that there are no gaps and cracks around the frames. If you find any, seal them with caulk and weather-stripping to make sure that they’re good for winter. For the attic and basement, you may need to enlist the services of an expert to make sure that the spaces are sealed safely and correctly.
3. Check the State of Your Roof
Your roof should be in solid condition as the winter checks in to ensure that it doesn’t fail at a terrible time. There’s no question about the fact that having to fix your roof in the middle of winter will cost a lot of money and generally be a terrible hassle to you and your family in general. If you find out that your roof is old or damaged to the extent of needing to be fully replaced, don’t hesitate to replace it. This is because a roof replacement, according to some authorities, can give 85% or even more of its investment costs back on resale. Some owners can actually make 100% or more of the cost of installing a new roof by getting a better sale price. Work with an expert to ensure that you get the best quality possible so that you reap the fruits of your investment for a long time to come.
4. Ensure Your Plumbing Is Secured
Finally, remember to winterize your plumbing by taking steps such as turning off your sprinkler system and any other water systems you have running outside your home. Drain all the water outside so that there’s no risk of getting burst pipes and damaged systems when the winter sets in and freezes them. Keep in mind that the maximum pressure that a hose should be subjected to is set during proof pressure or system testing. The corrugation of the hose deforms if the maximum rated pressure is exceeded. This pressure is multiplied by 150% to find the maximum rated test pressure. Find out what these numbers are for your units so that you have a better chance of maintaining your home’s plumbing systems.
Use these four suggestions to make sure that your home is ready for winter. You may have an easy time keeping your home’s winter expenses to a minimum without affecting the comfort of your family.
