The leaves are changing color, the air is getting crisper, and the calendar looms large with the holiday season. It’s not just candy, turkey and gifts that are on the horizon, though. Cold weather, long nights, and snow and/or ice on the ground are also coming with winter.
If you want to make sure your home is ready for the seasonal changes, there are three things you should check off your list in preparation.
Think About Your Insulation & Ventilation
Different homes will have different insulation situations. You may have updated everything in your home, so both your roof and your walls are as energy efficient as possible when it comes to keeping heat in.
You may have an old house, and you’ve never really checked to see what’s on your roof keeping the heat in. Whatever your insulation situation is, good winter preparation is about maintaining or improving it.
This is especially true if you’ve got old fiberglass in the roof that may have been damaged by leaks in your roof. You pay for that damage every month with your heating bill!
The other factor that’s linked to your insulation is your ventilation. This is an important part of your entire HVAC system. Have your vents inspected and cleaned to make sure they are efficiently sending heat to all parts of your home. Make sure that any exhausts that need to vent wastes are clear to do so, and any intakes that need to bring air can also fulfill their function.
Maintain Your Alarms
Safety alarms in a home are very important throughout the year. A fire doesn’t care whether it’s Christmas or the 4th of July.
This is why you should always check your alarms to make sure they’re in good working order. But do you have all the alarms you need? Do you have carbon monoxide in addition to fire alarms? If you’ve got newer models, you may already have one alarm the monitors both conditions.
The true worth of a carbon monoxide alarm comes to the forefront in winter, when we rely—most commonly—on gas burning furnaces to heat our homes. In the event of a system failure, one dangerous side-effect of can is carbon monoxide, which is colorless, odorless and, worst of all, lethal if you breathe in enough of it. Because it is a “stealth” gas in that it’s undetectable to humans, a carbon monoxide alarm is the only thing capable of warning you about a leak in your home.
Buy Some Bags of De-Icing Salt
Also known as “sidewalk salt,” this is just a large bag of salt that is meant to be sprinkled over sidewalks, driveways, and outdoor plumbing during the winter, assuming the conditions require it.
This does not mean heavy snowfall; you’ll still need a shovel or snow blower for that. However, during lighter snowfall, or when there is ice forming on the ground, this is when de-icing salt comes into its own.
Once the salt makes contact with snow and ice, it melts it. But, because it is now salt water, it stays melted, even when the temperature is below the freezing point.
This means that ice is not going to reform, and you or other pedestrians can safely walk down your sidewalk with no fear of slipping. On the driveway, it means your car still has traction when it’s time to leave or enter the garage.
By making sure to check these items off your list, your winter in Manassas, VA is sure to be warmer, safer and more comfortable.