Cold weather is coming to Jonesboro and northeast Arkansas this week, so if you haven't winterized your home, now is the time. You'll get a season's worth of savings and peace of mind by taking a few steps to get your home ready for cold weather.
My husband, Bryan, has been in residential and commercial construction all his adult life and is the one who winterizes our home each year. So I asked him what all he does to make our home winter safe and efficient. I also looked online for further information. Here is the to-do list:
1) Clean out those gutters
Once the leaves fall, remove them and other debris from your home's gutters -- by hand, by scraper or spatula, and finally by a good hose rinse -- so that winter's rain and melting snow can drain. Clogged drains can form ice dams, in which water backs up, freezes and causes water to seep into the house.
As you're hosing out your gutters, look for leaks and misaligned pipes. Also, make sure the downspouts are carrying water away from the house's foundation, where it could cause flooding or other water damage.
2) Block those leaks
One of the best ways to winterize your home is to simply block obvious leaks around your house, both inside and out. I looked online about this and the average American home has leaks that amount to a nine-square-foot hole in the wall, according to EarthWorks Group. Wow, that's a lot of leakage!
First, find the leaks: On a breezy day, walk around inside holding a lit incense stick to the most common drafty areas: recessed lighting, window and door frames, electrical outlets.
Then, buy door sweeps to close spaces under exterior doors, and caulk or apply tacky rope caulk to those drafty spots, says Danny Lipford, host of the nationally syndicated TV show "Today's Homeowner." Outlet gaskets can easily be installed in electrical outlets that share a home's outer walls, where cold air often enters.
Outside, seal leaks with weather-resistant caulk. Also look for weathered caulk (cracked or pulled away from surfaces) and re-caulk if needed. For brick areas, use masonry sealer, which will better stand up to freezing and thawing. My husband, Bryan, says "Even if it's a small crack, it's worth sealing up," It also discourages any insects from entering your home which makes me agree, "seal it up!"
3) Insulate Yourself
Everytime it has snowed during our 23 years of marriage, Bryan has always pointed out to me how you can tell if a home is well insulated. The longer the snow stays on your roof, the better your home is insulated. Our roof is always the last one in the neighborhood to have snow on it. According to Bryan, that means our home is well insulated. So another thing that does cost a little money -- but boy, you do get the money back quick -- is adding insulation to the existing insulation in the attic. According to experts, you need a minimum of 12 inches of insulation in your attic.
Again, looked this topic up online and found that you shouldn't clutter your brain with R-values or measuring tape, though. According to Danny Lipford, host of the nationally syndicated TV show "Today's Homeowner, a rule of thumb on whether you need to add insulation: "If you go into the attic and you can see the ceiling joists you know you don't have enough, because a ceiling joist is at most 10 or 11 inches."
A related tip: If you're layering insulation atop other insulation, don't use the kind that has "kraft face" finish (i.e., a paper backing). It acts as a vapor barrier, Lipford explains, and therefore can cause moisture problems in the insulation.
4) Heat Maintenance
First, if you have a furnace turn it on to make sure it's even working, before the coldest weather begins. A strong, odd, short-lasting smell is natural when first firing up the furnace; simply open windows to dissipate it. But according to what I have read, if the smell lasts a long time, shut down the furnace and call a professional.
Whether you have a furnace or a central electric unit, throughout the winter you should change the filters regularly (check them monthly). According to experts, a dirty filter impedes air flow, reduces efficiency and could even cause a fire in an extreme case. Toss out the dirty fiberglass filters; reusable electrostatic or electronic filters can be washed.
According to our heat and air professional, if you have a heat pump, turn to emergency heat when the temperature is 36 or below to avoid the coils on your outside unit from freezing. If your coils freezes up, your unit will run continuously.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a home with central heating can lose up to 60% of its heated air before that air reaches the vents if ductwork is not well-connected and insulated, or if it must travel through unheated spaces. That's a huge amount of wasted money, not to mention a chilly house.
Ducts aren't always easy to see, but you can often find them exposed in the attic, the basement and crawlspaces. Repair places where pipes are pinched, which impedes flow of heated air to the house, and fix gaps with a metal-backed tape (duct tape actually doesn't stand up to the job over time).
Ducts also should be vacuumed once every few years, to clean out the abundant dust, animal hair and other gunk that can gather in them and cause respiratory problems.
6) Face your windows
Now, of course, is the time to take down the window screens and put up storm windows, which provide an extra layer of protection and warmth for the home. Storm windows are particularly helpful if you have old, single-pane glass windows. But if you don't have storm windows, and your windows are leaky or drafty, "They need to be updated to a more efficient window," says Lipford.
Of course, windows are pricey. Budget to replace them a few at a time, and in the meantime, buy a window insulator kit, Lipford recommends. Basically, the kit is plastic sheeting that's affixed to a window’s interior with double-stick tape. A hair dryer is then used to shrink-wrap the sheeting onto the window. (It can be removed in the spring.) "It's temporary and it's not pretty, but it's inexpensive (about $4 a window) and it's extremely effective," says Lipford.
7) Don't forget the chimney
Don't put off your chimney needs before using your fireplace, according to Ashley Eldridge, director of education for the Chimney Safety Institute of America.
Eldridge advises. "A common myth is that a chimney needs to be swept every year," says Eldridge. Not true. But a chimney should at least be inspected before use each year, he adds. "I've seen tennis balls and ducks in chimneys," he says.
Ask for a Level 1 inspection, in which the professional examines the readily accessible portions of the chimney, Eldridge says. "Most certified chimney sweeps include a Level 1 service with a sweep," he adds.
Woodstoves are a different beast, however, cautions Eldridge. They should be swept more than once a year. A general rule of thumb is that a cleaning should be performed for every ¼ inch of creosote, "anywhere that it's found." Why? "If it's ash, then it's primarily lye -- the same stuff that was once used to make soap, and it's very acidic." It can cause mortar and the metal damper to rot, Eldridge says.
Another tip: Buy a protective cap for your chimney, with a screen, advises Eldridge. "It's probably the single easiest protection" because it keeps out foreign objects (birds, tennis balls) as well as rain that can mix with the ash and eat away at the fireplace's walls. He advises buying based on durability, not appearance.
One other reminder: To keep out cold air, fireplace owners should keep their chimney's damper closed when the fireplace isn't in use. And for the same reason, woodstove owners should have glass doors on their stoves, and keep them closed when the stove isn't in use.
8) Reverse that fan
Reversing your ceiling fan is a small tip that people don't often think of. By reversing its direction from the summer operation, the fan will push warm air downward and force it to recirculate, keeping you more comfortable. I can never remember which way the blades should be turning in summer and then in winter. Here's how you know the fan is ready for winter: As you look up, the blades should be turning clockwise.
9) Wrap those pipes
A burst pipe caused by a winter freeze is a nightmare. Prevent it before Jack Frost sets his grip: Before freezing nights hit, install exterior insulated spigot covers from Home Depot or Lowes.
Next, go looking for other pipes that aren't insulated, or that pass through unheated spaces -- pipes that run through crawlspaces, basements or garages. Wrap them with pre-molded foam rubber sleeves or fiberglass insulation, available at hardware stores. If you're really worried about a pipe freezing, you can first wrap it with heating tape, which is basically an electrical cord that emits heat.
10) Finally, check those alarms
This is a great time to check the operation -- and change the batteries -- on your home's smoke detectors. Detectors should be replaced every 10 years, fire officials say. Test them -- older ones in particular -- with a small bit of actual smoke, and not just by pressing the "test" button. Check to see that your fire extinguisher is still where it should be, and still works.
Also, invest in a carbon-monoxide detector; every home should have at least one.
Hope this helps you stay warm and energy efficient!
