The coldest and darkest months of the year are when you’re going to be spending the most time indoors. So you want to be sure that your home is as warm, safe, and comfortable as possible. Read ahead to discover 5 top tips that are going to help you prepare your home for the winter!
1. Insulation
If you want to avoid high energy bills and prevent big disasters, insulation is going to be your best friend. Improving the insulation throughout the building and draught-proofing your doors and windows can make a massive difference, and it’s something you want to start work on as early as possible.
Insulation isn’t just about trapping heat in your house either. Exposed pipes outside should be insulated to prevent them from freezing. This can lead to bursts and even worse issues further down the line.
2. Cover Your Floors
Bare floors are easy to clean and nice to look at. They cause a lot of heat loss over the winter months. Throwing down a few rugs as it starts to get cold is a great way to keep your toes warm. It will noticeably affect the warmth of the entire room too.
If you really want to improve a room’s ability to retain heat, you might even want to consider installing a carpet.
3. Give Your Radiators Some Space
A big mistake that a lot of homeowners make without realizing it is blocking radiators with large furniture.
You want to have a decent amount of room in front of each of your radiators so that they are actually heating the air in your home. Otherwise, that heat is going to be absorbed straight into your couch or armchair.
4. Clean Your Gutters and Check Your Drainage
Excess water is one of the biggest problems your home can face over the winter. It can freeze and cause damage. It can lead to mold and mildew growth, and it can result in rust or rot in all the worst places.
Check any drainage channels to see if they are blocked before heavy rain might fall. And you will want to empty your rain gutters as well. You can contact Residential & Commercial Drain Cleaning services to unclog the drains and clean the pipes thoroughly.
It might not be the most pleasant job to do as the temperature starts to drop, but you can seriously regret not doing it. If your gutters are full, then the water will back up and overflow down the sides of your home, damaging the exterior and potentially infiltrating your basement or undermining your foundation.
5. Regular Professional Tune-Ups
Making sure that your furnace is in full working order has to be a top priority over the winter, and a full professional tune-up is always the best way to be sure.
Get a qualified HVAC contractor in to check the refrigerant lines, flush the drain, test the electrical components, clean out your unit of any dust and debris, and sort out anything else that needs doing. It’s a job that a lot of people put off, but leaks and fires are just not worth the risk.