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 may want to contact a ventilation expert and/or a roofer to make some improvements that 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!
Late Fall/ early Winter is when critters often enter our homes to build a nest and ride out the cold weather. So 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 look carefully for those small holes!
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 a good time to examine the water and heating pipes along the 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 replaced.
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
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.
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.
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!
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, think twice about opening it now.
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.
Have your water heater serviced. Most people never do this and are surprised at the suggestion. However, there is no combustion or mechanical device that won’t benefit from an annual inspection and tune-up.
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.
Trip circuitbreakers monthly.
Test GFI protected circuitbreakers and receptacles monthly.
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!
It is not uncommon for people who go away for long periods of time to “winterize” their homes while they are away. This means that in order to save some money by not heating the house when unoccupied, they shut the water off at the main and drain the water out of the system, and pour antifreeze in the fixtures to prevent the traps from freezing. Some will even add antifreeze to the heating system as well. In my experience, this work is best done by an experienced professional. It is the very rare homeowner who is able to do this without causing serious damage to their home. My advise to anyone who is going away during the cold weather is: turn the heat down, but never off. If you really want to turn the heat off, hire a licensed plumber to winterize your home, and make sure you have someone check the house periodically while your gone.
Are all of your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in good working order? Replacing the batteries when daylight saving time is over is a great idea.
Is your attic fully insulated? What about crawl spaces and the basement ceiling?
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!
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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Morrison Home Inspections
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