Enjoy the Season Without Worry When You Complete Your 2017 Winter Checklist

Winter means holidays here in Holmdel, NC, which means the ability to spend quality time with friends and family. You want to do everything that you can now to ensure that your home is comfortable and safe.

Before winter officially arrives is a good time to tend to these home maintenance tasks, which will improve your home’s energy efficiency and level of safety. Here are some items that you should include this year on your winter checklist:

Test Your Alarms

Your smoke alarm is your family and your home’s first line of defense in the event of a fire. It provides you with precious minutes to escape, as well as giving you the opportunity to call for help to try to minimize fire damage.

By the same token, you need a properly functioning carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide gas is poisonous and is colorless, odorless and tasteless, making it impossible to detect on your own.

Press test buttons and make sure that they are working properly. Replace batteries and clean dust and debris from the units inside and out. Never paint on a detector, because it blocks the sensors. As an extra safety precaution, store a fire extinguisher on each level of your home.

De-Icer

Reduce the risk of injury in the event of ice forming on the walkway and driveway at your house. The most effective way to deal with this is to have de-icing salt handy, so stock up now.

You don’t want to be scrambling around if ice does appear. You could fall and hurt yourself. Or plumbing system issues can arise.

These usually happen when outdoor plumbing is left with water inside (popularly occurs with hoses or pipes). Whenever such a situation presents itself, your entire home plumbing system is at risk.

Ventilate and Insulate

In order for your home to heat evenly and comfortably, it needs to be fairly dry. The problem is that we tend to close the windows tight and shut off fans in the winter, because the focus is on staying warm, not cooling down.

To keep the air flowing, rely on exhaust fans in your kitchen and bathrooms to vent moist air outside. A heat exchange pump is a good option as well. Another idea is to open windows an inch or so for a few minutes a day to let fresh air in.

If ventilation is about keeping your home dry so that it can be warm, insulation is about making it air-tight so that the heat won’t escape. Proper insulation will reduce your heating bills, reduce condensation (which can help with ventilation) and reduce unpleasant drafts. If your home is older, it may very well be time to upgrade.