During autumn almost every day, especially towards the end of October, we start noticing that days are shorter and shorter and nights are longer. This change shows that winter is near, so we should get ready for it. Is your home ready for the long winter? Since all you will want to do on cold days is to stay indoors, now it’s time to find some things to fix in the house and some other jobs outside and prepare yourself for the cold winter.
Check the Central heating
Since we need to maintain an acceptable temperature inside our homes during the cold winter days, first we need to have the central heating ready to go. If you haven’t done it before, now it’s the perfect time to have it checked and see if anything needs to be fixed or replaced. Check the boiler and if your central heating runs on gas, find a certified engineer to deal with it. Provided that you make fire with wood, then you had better sweep the chimney in order to be clean. It is an important maintenance phase and you should not underestimate its benefits. Having the heat pump and the furnace verified is also part of the process and if you do take these measures on time, it will spare you wasting your precious time waiting for your turn when outside the temperature goes below zero.
Extend your downspouts
Avoid having water running next to the foundation of your house by installing appropriate extensions to the downspouts. This way water will run three or four feet away from the foundation.
Clean the gutters and drains
Instead of repairing a leak, you’d better start cleaning out the gutters and drains in order to help the drainage system to work as it usually does.
Take care of leaks
If you accidentally notice some cracks near the window, use some caulk to make sure that the warm air will not have the possibility to get out letting the cold air inside. This will increase the bills and make the heating system less efficient.Blinds also can provide energy efficient insulation on cold days.
Outdoor faucets and hoses
It is true that a lot of jobs which are a must for getting the house ready for winter have to be done outside. This is the case with the outdoor faucets and hoses. First, you need to drain any left water from the garden faucets and hoses, then roll up the garden hoses and take them inside the storage room. Inside you may need to check the pipes that could freeze when the temperature becomes very low. Using some rolls of heat tape is a good preventive measure in such a case. Or you can use a foam layer, which is also called lagging, avoiding in this way freezing and bursting.
Clean the garden
Check if everything is properly placed in the storage room: bicycles, gardening tools, the lawn mower. Collect the dry leaves and empty the trash bins.
Buy necessary stuff
You do not have to wait till the first snow finds you unprepared. Go and make the basic supplies. Buy some salt and ice melt if you plan to ever get out of yourcosy house.