Winter is finally here, and for many Americans, it’s time to bundle up and stay indoors to keep warm! Whether you have a favorite quilt to cuddle up in, a wood-burning fireplace to sit in front of, or new boilers in Glasgow to provide reliable heating, keeping warm during the winter is key! To make sure we enjoy a wonderful and cozy winter season, licensed contractor and TV home-improvement expert David Leon from Home Made Simple on the Oprah Winfrey Network has provided the following tips to help make your home as comfy as possible this season.
4 Tips to Keeping Warm This Winter Season
- Heating system and air filters – Have your heating system serviced every year by a professional heating service, get common heat pump repairs, and check the filters system every month. Also, inspect your heating system’s exhaust vent for rust, damage, or any corrosion, which might need heater repair or replacement service that provide Furnace tune ups in Manassas.
- Seal the leaks – Check to make sure your doors and windows are properly sealed so heat doesn’t escape. Inspect caulking and weather stripping around openings for wear and tear, and replace if necessary.
- Plumbing – Busted water pipes can cause expensive damage. Take time now to wrap outside pipes that might be exposed to extreme temperatures. Review the locations for the main water and fuel shut-off valves with all members of your household.
- Have a plan – When you own a home, you know that things are going to break down – but when it happens, do you know who you’ll call or what you’ll do? A home warranty is a great way to protect your budget against costly repairs, and save yourself the time and hassle of finding a qualified professional such as a furnace repair technician to get major systems and appliances up and running again.
While getting hot water installation is important, homeowners should also be aware of important warning signs and potential heating system hazards to protect their homes from any accidents! In 2011, faulty and improperly used heating equipment were involved in nearly 400 deaths nationwide, as well as more than 53,000 fires and $893 million in direct property damage, according to the National Fire Protection Association. To help prevent heating system hazards, homeowners should be aware of the following critical warning signs:
- Always be aware of gas odors. If you smell gas around your heating unit, leave the area and call your gas company immediately.
- Be sure your pilot light is burning a steady blue flame. If it is not, call your heating professional or a gas company.
- Take a close look at your exhaust fan for any rust, damage or deterioration. If you notice any, call a qualified professional and describe what you see to determine whether a repair is needed.
- Take extra care with space heaters. They should be plugged directly into a wall outlet, never into an extension cord, and turned off at night. When in use, always be sure space heaters are a safe distance from curtains and other flammable items
Along with these warning signs, American Home Shield, the nation’s leading provider of home protection plans, reminds homeowners to use extra care when operating space heaters. For example, they should be plugged directly into a wall outlet, never into an extension cord, and turned off at night. When in use, always be sure space heaters are a safe distance from curtains and other flammable items.
Homeowners can watch helpful videos about a variety of home maintenance tips and home heating warning signs at www.YouTube.com/TheAHSTeam.
How do you keep warm during the winter season?
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Well thankfuly, living in Miami, we rarely have to put the heat on 🙂 Although I would certainly welcome a few more days of cooler weather during this time of the year 🙁
It is 29 degrees here right now. We are all bundled up in sweaters and under blankets.
Great tips especially for the northerners. Down here in Florida it does not get too cold, wish it did.
I always have lots of extra blankets and jumpers around in winter to try and keep extra cosy 🙂 x
We used to lose so much heat out of our windows and doors. It’s much cozier now that we have sealed them.
We are about to install a woodburning fireplace! We need to seal the cracks too.
Great tips! We will have to do most of these because our house gets so cold and I’m tired of the huge heating bills! Ugh. We most definitely need to seal up our windows!
I am a blankets fanatic. The more blankets, the better
Keeping the house sealed and air tight is so important. My hubby is an electrician so its something we are always thinking about.
Definitely some good tips. I live in Arizona and it doesn’t get too cold.
These are some great tips for keeping warm during the cold weather months. It can get drafty in our home during the winter.
The one good thing about renting is not having to worry about costly repairs when things go wrong. I feel bad for the home owners though. Luckily, all of these things in my house are monitored by our landlord. We live in an area that gets cold enough for pipes to freeze.
We have to worry about this a little bit but this is the time of year we can open our windows in Florida. It makes our house less musty.
We have energy efficient windows and a city program allowed us to have our home winterized where they sealed up all our cracks and such.
I had my husband buy me an electric throw because he likes to keep the thermostat way down in the winter. I am constantly cold because of that!
These are great tips to remember! We have a freeze out plan too, in case our heat goes out for any reason!
We live in a two bedroom apartment. We have steam heat the other apartments around us keep their heat on and we don’t even have to turn our heat on it’s always at 73 degrees.
These are great tips! I really love heated blankets 🙂
great tips. it has been in the -30’s a lot this past week (with wind chill) and we had some frozen pipes in one of our rental properties. I’m so glad they didn’t burst.