Even though the snow if falling in parts of the country, there is still time to take steps to prepare your home for the winter, esp. if you live in those areas where winter holds off until January. Protecting your home against winter temperatures and storms is a matter of taking a few simple steps.

The first thing you need to do is locate and seal any gaps and holes in your home that will allow warm air to leak out. This includes buying door sweeps and caulking any gaps.

Next up is checking your furnace. In addition to firing it up to make sure it’s working properly, you may want to consider having it cleaned and tuned. It’s simple enough to search for ” heating phoenix ” in a search engine or phone book to find a local heating expert. It will cost around $100-$125 to get this annual check and make sure your system is operating at peak efficiency. Ducts should also be checked for both leaks and blockages to ensure that the warm air gets from the furnace to every vent.

Other steps to take include clearing the gutters, increasing the insulation in the attic (12 inches is the accepted minimum no matter what climate you live in), switching screens for storm windows, and having chimneys and fireplaces checked. You may also want to reverse ceiling fans to better circulate warm air and check your smoke alarms while you’re at it.

Tags: heating phoenix

This entry was posted on Friday, December 10th, 2010 at 4:10 pm and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.