Winterizing Your Home: Essential Tips To Protect Your Property
Wintertime can be quite stressful for homeowners. Along with planning for the holiday season, you must find ways to avoid the potential trouble posed by the outdoor conditions. Extreme cold and other winter weather phenomena can disrupt your peace of mind at home in many ways, whether it bursts your water pipes or simply gives you the sniffles.
Thankfully, KO Storage is here to help you learn how to prepare your home for the winter. This helpful guide contains advice to keep in mind as you winterize your home, including specific tips for how to protect pipes in winter and general best practices to follow to keep your home cozy and comfortable.
What Does It Mean To Winterize Your Home?
Winterizing your home is the process of preparing it to withstand the season’s cold temperatures, ice, and snow. This process often includes insulating pipes, sealing entrances, and protecting roofs and windows to reduce the risk of winter-related damage. For many homeowners, weatherization is a yearly routine that saves money on repairs while creating a warmer and more energy-efficient home. This is especially important if you are in a new house for the first winter. Don’t let the house surprise you this winter, and do what you can to be prepared early on. Winterizing your home is one of many packing and moving tips to make your relocation less stressful.
Preparing for Winter Home Expenses
While winterizing your home comes with up-front costs, investing in your home’s future now can prevent even more expensive repairs down the road. Installing modern energy-efficient appliances and scheduling regular maintenance on things like your heating system will help protect you from unexpected bills and allow you to enjoy a warm home during the winter.
How To Protect Pipes in Winter
When it gets cold, exposed or poorly insulated pipes are at high risk of freezing. To keep them protected, leave your faucets dripping and consider adding insulation to pipes located in poorly heated areas such as your basement, attic, or garage. In especially cold areas, heat tape can also be an effective option to keep pipes warm. Outdoor water lines and hoses should also be drained and disconnected to prevent exterior bursts.
Energy-Efficient Windows and Treatments
Windows are often a significant source of heat loss. Upgrading to energy-efficient windows can make a noticeable difference in comfort and heating costs, as double-pane or triple-pane windows provide extra insulation to keep warmth inside. Window treatments can provide further help, with options like thermal curtains or window film you can open during the day to let sunlight naturally warm the room and close at night to retain heat.
Sealing Doors and Other Entrances
Unsealed doors and entryways can cause substantial heat loss, allowing cold air to creep in and inflate your bills. Install weather stripping around exterior doors to reduce drafts and improve your overall insulation. A door sweep is another easy and affordable solution to block drafts under doors that have a noticeable gap at the bottom. If you have an attached garage, you should also make sure your home is well insulated to prevent cold air from seeping in.
Protecting Your Roof From Winter Damage
While often out of sight, your roof can take some of the worst damage during the winter due to everything from heavy snowfall to frost accumulation. Start the process of winterizing your home’s roof by looking for any damaged or missing shingles, as these weak spots can lead to leaks during storms. Keeping gutters clear of leaves and debris is also essential, as clogged gutters can form ice dams that damage the roof and shingles. If you live somewhere with heavy snowfall, look into heating cables to melt what’s on your roof.
Upgrading Home Insulation
If your home has older or inadequate insulation, upgrading key areas like the attic, walls, and basement can retain warmth and lower heating costs. The attic is a particularly crucial area for insulation, as warm air rises and can easily escape through the roof. Upgraded insulation in your walls will regulate ground-level temperature from escaping, and sealing gaps in the basement or crawl space foundation will prevent heat loss from below. Attic repairs are never easy, and sometimes you might need to make some space. If you’re upgrading home insulation, and need self-storage, check out our FAQ page to learn more about how KO Storage can help.
Tips for Maintaining Your Heating System
Keeping a well-maintained heating system is the best way to save energy and prevent costly future repairs. Schedule annual inspections by professionals to make sure everything is in working order and change the filter out as instructed by the manufacturer. Installing a smart thermostat can help you further control heating costs by lowering temperatures when you’re asleep or away.
Rent a Seasonal Storage Unit From KO Storage
KO Storage is your choice when it comes to secure storage solutions. Whether you’re looking to rent temporary storage during a home renovation or a full-time place to store things like summer clothes or pool gear during the winter, renting one of our storage units is simple and easy.
Get started today! Find a self storage facility near you and get the ball rolling!