Winter isn’t as far away as it seems. Doing a few chores now can save you time, money, and aggravation when the cold weather comes. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Outside
Have the gutters cleaned. Gutters have nothing to do with ice dams, but clogged rain gutters can exacerbate the problem. Have them cleaned out when the leaves stop falling so they can collect roof drainage and direct it away from the house.
If you have had ice dam problems in the past, you ought to hire a roofer to make install the right kinds of vents, which will virtually eliminate the problem. A well vented, well insulated attic will rarely have an ice dam problem, and the installation of ice and water shield beneath the shingles on the low roof edges and valleys is great insurance against leaks!
Late Fall/ early Winter is when rodents often enter our homes to nest, and ride out the cold weather. Walk around the exterior looking for ways small animals can enter your house and seal them off! If a mouse can fit its head into an opening, it can wriggle the rest of its body through, so fix every dime sized hole you can find!
Shut off the sill cocks (garden hose spigots) from the inside and drain the water out of the line to prevent them from freezing and bursting during cold weather. This is also a good time to examine the water and heating pipes along your basement’s outside walls to make sure they are properly insulated.
Clean leaves and other debris out of the window wells to make sure you are maintaining at least six inches between the soil and any wood members.
Make sure your storm windows are lowered and not broken. You may want to reapply caulking where is has deteriorated on the exterior. Note: There should be a space visible from the interior between the bottom of the storm window and the wooden window frame to allow water to drain out of the window well. Don’t make the costly mistake of caulking these weepholes as it will collect rainwater and cause the window sills to decay. If the weepholes in your windows have become clogged, unclog them or drill new ones.
If you have thermopane windows in your home, have any of them become cloudy? If so, the vacuum seals are broken, they have lost their insulating value, and they should be reglazed.
Take a walk around the exterior of the house and look for areas that need attention. Are there sections of rain gutters that were pulled away from the house by snow and ice? How much have last year’s small pockets of wood decay grown?
If those stairs got really slick last year from winter snow and ice, maybe this is the time to have them coated with a textured paint. Never use salt to melt ice on masonry stairs or walks, it deteriorates the masonry. Instead, shovel them as cleanly as possible, and use clean sand if needed to provide better traction.
If that old front door was too drafty, replace the weather-stripping now weather and get ready for the first frost.
Heating system
Gas and oil prices will likely hit all time highs this winter, so reducing your home’s fuel consumption has never paid bigger dividends!
Bleed the air out of your forced hot water radiators or baseboards. You should never hear water rushing through the pipes or radiators. If you do, it means there is air in the line and the system should be bled.
Do the air vents on your steam radiators work properly? Most homes have very old air vents that leak steam and/or water (they should only vent air) or don’t work at all. These are simple to replace and can often improve the performance of the system. Replacing old air vents with new adjustable air vents provides you with a much greater degree of control over the heat in each room. Never try to control the heat output of a steam radiator with the shutoff valve! It will damage the valve. Shutoff valves should be left wide open during the heating season.
Be sure to drain some water out of the low water cutoff valve on your steam boiler every few weeks during the heating season. Also, be sure the water level is high enough in the boiler. If you don’t know how, ask your heating contractor to show you.
A good time to have the heating system serviced is prior to the start of the season. Most people with oil heat will do this anyway, but it is just as important with a gas-fired unit. All mechanical and combustion equipment runs better when it is thoroughly cleaned and serviced annually.
Replace the air filter on your forced warm air heating system before the season begins and every 6 weeks or so after that, depending on your home. Many people with allergies find that having the ductwork and air handler professionally cleaned provides them with a lot of relief in the winter, when they spend more time indoors.
Avoid wide temperature variations when setting the thermostats. Try to pick a setting and leave it there. Keeping the house really warm when you’re home and really cool when you’re away typically wastes more energy than it saves. And if you’re too cool at 68 degrees, put on a sweater!
Weatherstrip your doors (I like the magnetic vinyl type of weatherstripping available at most home stores), or replace them with energy efficient doors. They’ll look better and keep the draft out.
Insulate your attic floor (never the roof sheathing), the exterior walls, and the basement/crawl space floor. The goal is to have a thermal barrier on the perimeter of the house which will keep the warmth in during the winter, and keep the heat out in the summer. Insulate as many exposed heating pipes and ducts as you can to make sure none of that heat is lost to unconditioned spaces like basements and attics.
If your pull down stairs are uninsulated, there is a six square foot hole in your thermal barrier. You can find a terrific Styrofoam cover for it at www.draftcap.com .
Replacing that old clunker of a heating system is an expensive proposition. Newer equipment is costly, but often consumes much less energy. However, if you are going to be living in your house for a long time, it may be worthwhile. When shopping for contractors to replace your system, be sure and have them perform a heat loss analysis on your home to determine the size of the system you need. Most heating systems are overdesigned by a wide margin. This means most people bought too much equipment, and have unnecessarily high operating costs. Always try to buy the smallest, highest efficiency system available. This pays off big time over the years. Bigger is not better, you want the right sized system.
Having an automatic vent damper installed on your smokepipe will dramatically lower standby losses in your system. It costs a few hundred dollars, but can save you up to 15% on your heating bill.
Replacing a standing pilot light with an electronic ignition also costs a few hundred dollars or so, but can reduce heating costs on gas fired systems by 5-10%.
Basement
Drain the water heater (this should be done monthly) If the water heater is over 5 years old and this drain cock at the base of the tank has never been opened, don’t do it now, it might not close. Just remember to do it on the next one.
Take the temperature of the hot water. If its any hotter than 120° F, you are wasting energy, so turn it down! Also, insulating your water heater will lower operating costs and improve longevity. Just make sure the insulation does not interfere with the burner or pressure-temperature relief valve.
Check the dryer exhaust hose for lint buildup and clean it out. This is a good time to make the exhaust hose as straight as possible and eliminate sags in the hose that collect lint and water. If the vent is clogged, the dryer loses efficiency and raises your operating costs.
Interior
The fireplace/wood stove flue should be professionally cleaned and inspected before you begin using it for the season. Also, make sure the fireplace damper is closed when you are not using the fireplace. Leaving it open will suck heat from your house at an alarming rate, and allow an entry point for critters!
Do you have smoke and CO detectors where you need them? Are they all working? Replacing the batteries when daylight saving time is over is a great idea.
Flow restrictors and aerators on plumbing fixtures conserve energy and water, and will more than pay for themselves over the life of the fixture. Installing these devices is within the capabilities of most homeowners too! Its a nice little inside project for when the weather gets cold.
Vacuum the coils on your refrigerator to remove the dirt the blocks heat transfer and reduces efficiency. This appliance is in continuous operation throughout the year, so it pays to keep it clean!
Jim Morrison
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