5 Tips to Winterize your Home
As local movers in Nelson, we are well acquainted with moving families in colder weather. But, before the winter months roll in we want to share some tips for making your home as warm as possible.
Autumn is now in full swing, the leaves are turning colours and the night is beginning to shorten our days. It will soon be time for us to turn back our clocks and pull out the flannel shirts, wool socks, and winter tires. If you’ve recently moved and you haven’t had a chance to winterize your home or if you have an older home that needs some general maintenance – this list is for you.
5 Tips for Winterizing your Home
Air Leaks and Door Sweeps – No one likes a cold draft, run your hands along the baseboards to see if you can feel cold air blowing in and if you have leaks around baseboards, additional caulking or insulation will work fine. Next, have a look at your doors that are on an exterior wall to see if you can see any gaps. Installing a metal or rubber door sweep will do a great job at keeping the cold air out.
Weather Stripping and Sealing Windows – While your checking for gaps near the bottom of your door you may as well inspect the doorway for gaps around the full perimeter of the door. Installing weather stripping around the doorway will enhance the seal around the door and keep the cold air out. We also recommend using a window insulation kit around the exterior of your windows. This will help keep the warm air in and keep the cold air out.
Electrical Outlets – Electrical outlets are another common spot for drafts. Run your hands along the outlets on exterior walls to check if you can feel any cold air blowing in. If you do, we recommend picking up some foam insulation cutouts from your home improvement or hardware store.
Clean the Fireplace and Furnace – If you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to maintain a clean fireplace, woodstove, furnace and chimney. We recommend changing the furnace filter and making sure that the fireplace flue is closed when not in use. If you don’t have glass doors on your fireplace it’s a good idea to install them as this will help keep the warm air in and cold air out.
Stock up on Fire Wood – Winter is coming, make sure you have plenty of firewood and remember safety first! We recommend pre-cutting kindling and having an assortment of full logs and spilt logs as full logs will burn long into the night.
We hope these tips on winterizing your home can keep your home as warm as possible this fall. For all your seasonal storage needs remember Nelson storage and if you have any questions related to moving please feel free to contact Kootenay Moving anytime.