Easy Tips to Winterize your Home, Save Energy and Cut Heating Costs

Winter in the Okanagan is around the corner, use these easy tips to cut down heating costs and keep your home safe from possible winter damage:

1. Clogged gutters can cause serious problems around your home. Avoid major repairs such as leaking gutters, cracked foundations, rotten wood, leaking roofs, and slippery sidewalks, cracked driveways, washed out landscaping and wood destroying insects. Draft blockers are a wonderful solution for cold air getting into your home. Use them on windows and doors. Keeps heat in and cold out!
2. Repair any caulking and weather stripping this will also alleviate drafts and help your home feel warmer.
3. Fireplace and chimneys need to be cleaned, to avoid a potential disaster.
4. Protect your outside water faucets by draining all the water out of the hoses, remove and store them. Shut off valves and drain the water. Insulate the faucet and hose bib to keep pipes from freezing.
5. Leaving your cabinet doors under the sink open will allow warm air to flow which can help pipes from freezing and bursting.
6. Reverse your ceiling fans; heat rises so this will allow the warm air to be pushed down to heat the room.
7. Don’t neglect your furnace maintenance; simply changing your clogged filters can make a big difference.
8. Fix a leaky roof to avoid damage to your home or building. Many leaks go undetected but you can look for unexplained puddles of water on the floor, sagging or drooping ceilings, or a musty odor a sign of mold.
9. Reduce your water heating costs by lowering the temperature to 120 degrees.
10. Pick up a window insulation kit, it’s affordable and the plastic is essentially invisible.
11. Winterize your A/C and water lines. Simply drain any hoses and air conditioner pipes, check to ensure you don’t have excess water pooled in equipment. Turn off water shutoff valve.
12. Add more insulation between walls, attic floor and basement ceiling.

If disaster strikes your home this winter, call the professionals at Stutters!

Toll Free 1-877-763-1540