It seems all clothing stores switch from summer wear to winter gear around August. We need to protect our bodies against cold temperatures, heavy rains, ice storms, and more. But what about our homes? For Indianapolis-area homeowners, it leads to the inevitable question: Can you winterize a home?
Why Do It?
Winterizing your home benefits your house, your wallet, and your family. When you winterize, you brace your home against winter’s plunging temperatures, thick sheets of ice, heavy snow loads, and more:
- Winterizing improves your home’s interior air quality, keeping it neither too dry nor too cold.
- Winterizing your home helps maintain your family’s health.
- Winterizing lowers your energy bills at a time of year when heat is vital but expensive to produce.
- Winterizing helps your home’s various systems—roof, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, and electrical—last longer and need fewer repairs.
- Winterizing your Indianapolis-area home helps maintain curb appeal and improve resale value.
- A report from AARP showed every $3 tube of caulking saved a homeowner $15 in energy costs.
Once you start looking for ways to save money and improve comfort, you can stay busy all winter.
A bonus tip:
Turn your water heater’s default setting down to 120℉ to save on your most expensive heating task.
Do It
Some of the most important steps to be taken involve no special skills, no risk of falls, and almost no money. You can do all these things:
- Move furniture away from your supply and return sides of your HVAC vents for unimpeded circulation.
- Reverse ceiling fans to draw warm air down.
- Seal expensive air leaks such as drafts under doors and loose windows; try door air blockers and shrink-wrap window film.
- Test all your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, change batteries as needed, and replace equipment in its tenth year.
- Seal your doors and windows by inspecting weatherstripping, adding fresh caulk where needed, and checking for air leaks.
- Clean off and cover your outside air conditioning unit, but not your heat pump’s exterior component!
- After putting on a long-sleeve shirt, safety goggles, and a face mask, climb into your attic to assess your roof insulation or call a reputable roofing company to assess your attic insulation. They will not only ensure you have enough, but will also make sure your existing insulation is not soggy, degraded, or damaged by pests.
- Replace air filters on your home’s heating system, ensure the emergency shut-off switch works, and review your thermostat’s programming.
- Verify that every storm door and window is structurally sound, does not allow air or water infiltration, and closes securely.
- Insulate exposed pipes in crawl spaces, basement areas, and even your attic.
If you feel uncomfortable performing winterizing tasks yourself and your children cannot help, enlist neighbors, friends, or extended family. Don’t be shy; the money saved and the comfort gained will improve your winter living.
A bonus tip:
Protect outside hose bibs from freezing and splitting with hose bib covers.
Have It Done
Winterizing your Indianapolis home does not fall entirely on your sweater-wearing shoulders. Some of the work is more easily done by trained professionals. Some of it must be done by skilled technicians. Here are some tips for having the winterizing work done for you:
- Make an appointment with your furnace, boiler, or HVAC service to inspect and clean your heating system; that includes duct cleaning if you have a forced air system.
- Bring in an arborist or tree service to deal with overhanging limbs, old trees that could topple in an ice storm, and dead wood.
- Get a gutter cleaning service to make sure your gutters have no leaf litter, twigs, or organic debris that could cause ice dams. Why hire a service? Because extension ladders are dangerous!
- Perhaps most importantly, have your roof inspected by your local, reliable residential roofer. Your roofing contractor will know what to look for, how to repair problems, and how to prepare your roof for the worst snow and ice.
You may have noticed you already got two bonus tips. Of course, we will finish this section with an additional bonus tip:
Talk to your roofer about a regular, annual maintenance plan that puts you on a priority list for preventive maintenance and post-winter inspections. Twice a year, your helpful roofer can safeguard your roof and repair any damage caused by snow and ice. Plus, if emergency repairs are needed, you and your roofer already have an excellent working relationship.
Contact Moss Roofing today to get started on winterizing your home! We provide complete roof inspection services, help with gutters, siding replacement, and assistance with your Indianapolis home’s insulation.
