When winter hits, is your home prepared? We prepare ourselves for winter by bundling up in warm clothes, but our houses need a different kind of winter prep. Otherwise, you may be paying more for your energy bills than you need to.

Avoid high seasonal costs by winterizing your plumbing, HVAC, and electrical systems. Here’s where you can begin:

Insulation/Weatherstripping

The more you can keep your house insulated, the less you will have to pay for heating costs. Weatherstriping can help with that. Weatherstrips are sealing strips alongside your windows and doors to keep cold air out and warm air in during winter.

Good weatherstrips can save you around 10-15% on monthly energy bills. But over time, they can wear down pretty thin. Cold air may be sneaking into your house if your weatherstrips haven’t been replaced in a while.

If you have a basement or attic with poor insulation it may also be bringing in some cold drafts. There are several different types of insulation, so inspect where drafts are coming in and where needs the most attention first. Take small steps to ensure that your home is well-insulated and you can help prolong your HVAC system’s lifespan.

Pipes

Before your pipes have a chance to freeze, drain them while the weather’s still good. Blow out your sprinklers early on and drain any other pipes left outside like faucets and garden hoses.

But remember that it’s not just your outdoor pipes that need attention. Pipes inside the house without good insulation might also freeze. Ensure that pipes in trouble areas are kept warm, such as with heat tape or heating cables. Or you can wrap insulation around your pipes and water heater to save on water heating costs.

Gutters

As the leaves fall they often fall right into your home gutters. If these gutters aren’t cleared of leaves and other debris it can cause you quite a bit of problems.

Clogged gutters prevent effective water drainage, which may cause backed up water to leak into your home. Such leaks, while a pain to deal with, also affect your home’s insulation and energy bills. Clogged gutters that inhibit water flow may also form potentially hazardous icicles that can weigh down your gutters. Do yourself and your home a favor and just clean out those gutters before they become a problem.

Heating

Check that your heater is working before it gets too cold. If it fails to warm up your home or takes a while to raise the temperature, it may need repairs or even a replacement.

Every homeowner should have a professional routine check of their heating system even if it does seem to be working fine. A technician may find some areas of concern that you may have missed, such as air vents or ducts that need vacuuming. Often debris will build up in these tricky spots, putting a strain on your HVAC system.

Take care of your HVAC system even before a technician comes. One way to do this is by changing out your air and furnace filters regularly. Most experts agree on changing out filters once a month. Developing small habits like this can make a big difference on the life of your heating system, especially when winter rolls around.

But still be sure to have a professional check out your HVAC system. They’ll know whether a faulty system needs a simple repair or needs to be replaced entirely. It’s better to replace your HVAC system sooner rather than later to save yourself money on endless repairs and higher energy bills from a system that just won’t work.

Want Help Winterizing Your Home?

For those of us with already overbooked schedules, it’s hard to make the time to winterize your home. But there’s an easier way to get it done and start saving yourself money on your monthly energy bills.

For you in Delaware and the Maryland Coast, let F.H. Furr help get your home ready for winter. We offer special winterization services to ensure that your home is ready when the cold front hits. Plus we only charge by the job, not by the hour, to save you even more money this winter.

Contact us to learn more about our exceptional service when you need to winterize your home! With F.H. Furr, getting your home ready for the winter season has never been easier.