Winter Readiness Checklist for the Home

Because we spend so much time at home in the wintertime, making sure that our homes are best prepared to keep us warm and cozy is something that every homeowner should do during the fall. Below, we offer a winter readiness checklist. These tips will enable you to rest comfortably in front of your warm wood stove for the next few months of cold weather. 

Winterize Your Home Heating System 

The most crucial winter-readiness aspect of the resilient home is your home heating system. Even the best-insulated residences will quickly become unlivable if a central furnace or heat pump goes out. To make sure that your central furnace, heat pump, or other heating system is ready for another long winter, consider doing the following tasks: 

• Test your heating system before the cold sets in. This preparation will let you make sure that things are still working correctly. 
• Call an HVAC professional for a standard maintenance inspection. These professionals can identify parts that might need replacing, thus avoiding potential breakdowns. 
• Check and monitor fuel levels. Almost 48 percent of homes in the United States rely on natural gas for their home heating needs. If you are not supplied by a utility's service line, make sure that you have sufficient natural gas in your tank to last through the winter.
• Install carbon monoxide detectors. Carbon monoxide is a deadly killer, and improperly working HVAC equipment might lead this gas into your home. 
• Check your exhaust vents. Birds, squirrels, and other animals love making their nests in the exhaust vents in your roof or on the exterior walls of your house. Blocked exhaust vents pose a fire hazard for your family and reduce your home heating system's efficiency. 

Replace Your Furnace Filter

Changing the air filters on your home's HVAC equipment should be a bi-monthly task. Doing this before winter sets in is especially important to protect and improve your home's indoor air quality. Because we spend more time inside during the winter, keeping our inside air free from dust and other allergens is essential in protecting our health. With the COVID-19 cases expected to continue to surge throughout the winter, upgrading to a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) air filter can help protect your family from COVID and other viruses. One recent study found that high-efficiency air filters are one of the reasons that COVID-19 transmission is almost an impossibility in the circulated air of a closed airplane cabin. 

Changing your air filters might also increase the efficiency of your home heating system. Dirty filters tend to block airflow, thus forcing your furnace to work harder and expend more energy. Electrostatic filters have recently hit the market. While they're marginally more expensive, they do trap more potential allergens and bacteria that make their way into your home through your heating ducts. 

Have an Alternative Way to Heat Your Home 

According to the EIA (the Energy Information Administration), close to 85 percent of all residential homes heat their houses with electricity and natural gas. The frequency and intensity of extreme winter weather are likely to only increase in the coming years due to global climate change. Mega snowstorms have regularly caused massive power outages, which, besides leading to billions of dollars of damage, can also leave your family vulnerable to a home without heat. 

If your house isn't equipped with a wood-burning fireplace or a wood stove, consider purchasing kerosene heaters or a gasoline or solar-powered generator, and several space heaters. This effort will allow you to stay comfortable and safe during those extreme weather events if severe winter weather causes an extended power outage. 

Winterize Your Water Pipes

There is nothing worse than waking up one cold winter morning and finding your basement flooded with an inch of water. Exposed and under-insulated piping in your home plumbing system is extremely vulnerable to cracking and leaks. Before freezing temperatures set in, make sure to insulate any pipes that are in the unconditioned spaces of your home. Outdoor water faucets or spigots also need to have the water supply turned off and drained during fall. Investing in a smart water leak detector is also an excellent strategy to catch any leaks before becoming unmanageable. 

Review Your Insulation 

A well-insulated home is like the difference between sleeping underneath a down-filled comforter and a simple polyester sheet. A home energy audit is a smart way to identify under-insulated areas in your walls, ceiling, attic, and floors. Even if you don't have the financial means to improve your insulation this fall, you can improve your home's thermal performance by insulating any exterior outlets or switch plates with cheap foam sealing products. Also, if your home has an older tank-style water heater, consider investing in an insulating blanket to cut back on your home water heating bill.