Winter is a harsh season, with snowstorms often causing water leakage, chilly air drafts, frozen pipes, and other issues related to home living. If you’re a homeowner wanting to avoid these issues, then there are some steps to take to protect your residence against the cold climate. Here are five common ways to winterize your home.
Check the Heating System Regularly
Your HVAC unit will be playing a pivotal role in ensuring warmth throughout the winter. You’ll need to make sure that it’s still functional, and that may take annual checkups and service maintenance visits. If you notice the HVAC isn’t giving out a sufficient amount of heat during wintertime, then it may be time to either repair or replace the system with a new one.
Test the Thermostat
Sometimes the issue isn’t the HVAC system itself, but rather the tools connected to it. The thermostat is a device that measures temperature for an enclosed area, and residents will use it to either push up the heat or switch it off. For the thermostat, you’ll need to make sure that it’s still working the way it’s supposed to. Is the device following its directions? Does it have enough power to turn the HVAC system on and off? Does it accurately match the room temperature? Make sure to check for all of these things while testing your thermostat’s functionality.
Insulate the Home
Insulation will provide resistance against sudden air drafts entering from the outside world. If your house isn’t well insulated, then you should search for weak spots like the attic, a vented crawl space, or a garage walls. Once you know where to insulate the home, the next step will be to purchase the right material and begin applying it near areas that have an excess amount of draft.
Replace the Air Filter
It’s also important to have a decent ventilation system, as this will control the indoor air quality of your home. Your air filter works to catch dust, pollen, dander and other matter that impacts indoor air quality. When the air filter becomes dirty, you’ll need to replace is with a new one that’s able to perform the same task effectively. Know how to locate your home’s air filters, detached the outer vent, then either clean the current filter or replace it with another. Then you reinstall the vent wall and hope for the best. During the months of winter, having healthy air flow from a functioning air filter will do wonders for the home.
Test the Smoke Detector
Last but not least, you’ll need a working smoke detector that stops fire in its earliest of stages. A Smoke Detector should be checked and tested at least once every other week in the winter. There are ways of checking to see whether a smoke detector alarm still works, so you could use DIY guides for that. If you’re unfamiliar with smoke detector testing, you can always hire a service professional for the job. The same goes for the other projects mentioned before.
Professional Heating Services in Billerica, MA: MRW Mechanical
Need help winterizing your home? If so, MRW Mechanical would be more than happy to help out! Contact us today to learn how we can keep you comfortable inside your home!