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First Winter in Your Home? What You Need to Know
When you experience your first winter in your home, you're probably looking forward to decorating for the holidays and enjoying time in front of a cozy fireplace. These activities are a fun part of winter, but to keep your house warm and avoid a furnace breakdown, burst pipes, and other major inconveniences, a little preparation goes a long way.
Our real estate agents recommend the following tips to prepare for the first winter in your home:
- Invest in a Smart Thermostat
If your home isn't equipped with one, buying a smart thermostat can help you stay more comfortable in the winter. Buy one with additional room sensors, and you'll be able to adjust the zones of your home based on timing and usage. This will also help reduce your energy bills and may let you score a rebate from your energy provider. - Get an HVAC Tuneup
Getting a professional tuneup for your heating system will eliminate any dust that builds up in the motors, boards, and ducts and reduce the likelihood of problems that could lead to a breakdown. - Have Your Fireplace Inspected and Cleaned
Call a professional chimney sweep to make sure your fireplace is safe to use. A toxic, flammable substance called creosote can build up in your chimney, but it can be removed by a chimney sweep. As part of your inspection, a chimney sweep will also go up on your roof (as long as it's safe to do so) to check for any signs of damage to your chimney that aren't visible from below.
- Check for Potential Drainage Issues
Walk around your home and look for soil that's settled around your foundation, creating lower areas where water can pool. If you see any, fill them in with soil. Also, check your rain gutter downspouts to ensure they're not clogged and are moving water away from your home. You may want to buy some downspout extenders to further extend the water flow away from your home. If you have saturated soil around your home's foundation, it can cause problems as it freezes and thaws throughout winter. - Test Your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Most house fires occur during the winter, so it's important to check your home's smoke detectors to make sure they're in good working order and have fresh batteries. And consider getting some carbon monoxide detectors if your home isn't already equipped with them. - Find and Seal the Leaks in Your Home
During the winter, you'll want to keep warm air inside your home and the cold air outside. Check for gaps around your doors and other places where different materials meet, such as between walls and window frames and around dryer vents. Seal the leaks with caulk, which can be found in varieties to suit many different applications. Weatherstripping can be used to seal gaps around windows and doors.
Contact us to learn more about preparing your home for winter or to buy or sell a home in the Livingston County, MI area. We've provided top-quality real estate services to the area for 35 years, bringing four generations of expertise to our clients.