How to Winterize Your Home

Part of living in New Hampshire and the surrounding states is preparing for a winter season that often brings freezing temperatures and significant amounts of snow. Not only is it important to prepare yourself for the winter season, but it’s also crucial to prepare your home for potentially extreme weather conditions. Use the following tips to help you better understand how to winterize your home to help prevent damage this season.

• Clean out your gutters, removing all leaves, sticks and other debris that may have accumulated there during the fall season. This will allow melting snow and ice to flow freely, preventing the formation of ice dams, which occur when water is unable to drain through your gutters and seeps into your home instead. You may consider installing gutter guards to prevent debris from getting stuck in your gutters in the future.

• Although it may seem obvious, it’s crucial to seal all cracks in and around your home to help keep the cold air outside. Inspect your home, especially drafty areas like recessed lighting and door and window frames. It’s a good idea to purchase door sweeps to seal up spaces under exterior doors, and caulk or apply tacky rope to the other drafty areas you identified in your home. Outdoor cracks should be sealed with weather-resistant caulk.

• Trim trees and rid your property of dead branches. With the ice, wind and snowstorms we are accustomed to receiving in the winter, it’s common for trees and branches to fall, and depending on their location, cause damage to your home or vehicle.

• Is your home adequately insulated? According to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), your attic should be about five to 10 degrees warmer than the outside air. If it isn’t, consider adding extra insulation to your attic, as well as your basement and any crawl spaces. A lack of insulation can not only increase the chances of your pipes freezing, but heat escaping through the attic can also cause snow and ice on your roof to melt, which can contribute to the formation of ice dams and may even result in roof collapse over time.

• Inspect your pipes for any cracks and leaks, and have any damaged pipes you discover repaired immediately. If your home contains pipes that aren’t insulated or pass through unheated spaces, wrap them with insulated sleeves and/or heating tape. Be sure you know how to shut off the water in the unfortunate event that your pipes freeze. Accomplishing this quickly will help prevent them from bursting.

• Have you had your heating system serviced recently? According to the I.I.I., furnaces, boilers and chimneys should be serviced at least once a year to prevent fire and smoke damage.

• Keep your ceiling fans on, but reverse their direction. Reversing your fan’s direction so that the blades are turning clockwise helps re-circulate warm air trapped near that ceiling down to floor level, distributing it where it’s needed most.

• Take care of all necessary repairs. With slippery weather conditions coming into play, the risk of an accident occurring on your property is higher, so it’s crucial to ensure that you’ve repaired any broken or damaged stairs and handrails, for instance.

• Check all smoke, fire and carbon monoxide alarms to ensure that they are functioning properly. Considering that more residential fires occur in the winter, it’s crucial to make sure that you can rely on your alarms.

The winter season, especially here in New Hampshire, can bring harsh weather to your home, so it’s important to be prepared. For additional tips on how to winterize your home, please visit the I.I.I.

At Hunkins & Eaton Insurance Agency, the protection of your home and assets is our priority. To learn more about our agency and to get a free insurance quote, please visit us online at www.hunkins-eaton.com.

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.