Winterizing your home.
Your greatest investment is your home. Not only financially, but emotionally. After all, it’s not just a house, it’s a home and you’re proud of where you live, or at least you should be. Treating your home as your greatest investment means maintaining everything, in all seasons. With the weather turning icy, it’s time to think about winterizing.
Winterizing goes far beyond cleaning up the yard and putting away the summer patio furniture. It means taking a look at pipes, hot water heater, hose bibs, insulation, furnaces, etc.
A good winterization list to follow, thanks to About Home.com
- Heating system check. Turn on your thermostate and set it to 80 degrees just for testing. You should hear the furnace turn on and start to blow within a few minutes. Schedule a seasonal furnace maintance check with a certified professional to check your system, clean your filters, ductwork etc.
- Have your chimney swept and inspected, check the flue damper operation.
- Insulate your exposed piping
- Insulate your hot water tank with an insulating blanket, you can find one at the hardware store. Insulate outlets and switch plates as well.
- Check windows and doors for air leaks and broken seals
- Have your sprinkler system winterized if you haven’t already.
The weather in Portland seemed to go from nice autumn to freezing within a month, so make sure you go through your list and get your home protected for the next big freeze.
