Winter requires a lot of preparation and anticipating potential problems during the season. By now, you have probably already crossed a lot of winter and holiday planning off your list. Hopefully, you have not forgotten to include your home’s winterization needs as well. You may think your furnace is running fine, which may be true. But a furnace will not run efficiently if your home is not winterized properly. Your furnace should be set up for success! Luckily, your experts at Grove City Heating & Air have come together to suggest a few things for you:
Examine Your Detectors
Have you considered your smoke detectors? Unfortunately, house fires are more common in the winter than in any other season. For this reason, you should make it a priority to stay on top of checking your smoke detectors frequently. Therefore, you want to get in the habit of checking each of them once a month and changing batteries out when needed.
Examine Your Gutters
Let’s think about those gutters next! Homeowners should clean gutters at least once a year, but more often if you have trees hanging over them. When a gutter gets blocked with leaves and sticks in the winter, ice dams form and cause problems. Ice dams are no fun to deal with. Try to tackle this job before the next snowfall if possible. You can even use an old plastic spatula from your kitchen drawer to make it an easy cleaning process!
Examine Your Fireplace & Furnace
Since we are going over tips to winterize your home to allow your furnace to run at its best efficiency, it would only make sense to look into the furnace and other heating elements in your home as well. Usually, by now, most homeowners have their tune-up and safety check already done by this time of the year. This ensures everything is running smoothly and your furnace is well maintained. If your home has a fireplace or a boiler, we recommend getting these checked by a professional. As a rule of thumb, fireplaces should get cleaned before their first use in the winter.
Examine Your House for Cracks & Openings
If you have gaps or openings on either the exterior or the interior of your house, you want to make sure those are adequately sealed with a high-quality sealant. The furnace in your house is working hard to blow out warm air. So, you don’t want that warm air escaping from your home or cold air creeping inside.
Examine Your Door Screens & Screen Windows
Door screens and screen windows should be examined before the cold weather sets in. See what type of condition they are in with a quick inspection. When possible, it is wise to switch them out for storm windows and doors for the winter season. Doing this helps keep your main doors and windows going for a more extended period. Unprotected main windows and doors are subjected to the cold winter elements, which result in quicker wear and tear.
Start with one thing at a time, and don’t let these home winterization tips overwhelm you. Our top priority is to provide five-star service from your Grove City Heating & Air family. We want you to feel confident in the services we have provided. Perhaps, your furnace has been acting up, and you can’t quite pinpoint the issue. Don’t let that problem linger. Please, give us a call today, and we will be more than happy to assist you.
Call Grove City Heating & Air today at (614) 490-7540, or schedule an appointment online now by clicking here!
