The Benefits of Winterization
Winterization is another name for the process of preparing your home for the long winter months. Unfortunately, cold weather can be harsh on homes. As the temperatures continue to drop, it is wise to become proactive to avoid facing an emergency, such as a malfunctioning heater/furnace in the middle of the night. While it can include all kinds of maintenance, winterization is mostly associated with HVAC systems, as they are responsible for keeping your home warm and comfortable during the winter.
At Harris Aire Serv, we believe preventive HVAC maintenance can make a world of difference in preserving the functionality and condition of your HVAC system. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at why you should winterize your home and provide five easy tips to get you started.
Why Should You Winterize Your Home?
Winterizing your home is essential for keeping your home’s indoor temperature and air quality comfortable and healthy. Winterizing an HVAC system will allow it to run more efficiently throughout the colder months, lowering energy bills without sacrificing your warm and cozy indoor environment. Additionally, by properly maintaining your HVAC system, you can reduce wear and tear on its components, which will help extend its lifespan.
How to Winterize Your Home
Now that we know why it’s important to winterize our homes, let’s look at 8 easy steps to get started:
- Check for drafts: Take a walk around the exterior and interior of your home to identify any drafts or air leaks that could be causing air to escape from within your home. Seal any cracks or gaps in windows or doors with weather-stripping and caulk where necessary.
- Reverse your ceiling fan: When a fan turns counterclockwise, it pushes cold air downward. Reverse the blade's rotation clockwise to recirculate heat.
- Clean your fireplace/chimney: Over time, the black, sooty substance (creosote) that sticks inside a chimney after wood burns can release toxic fumes. It can also spark a chimney fire. Accumulated dust can also be a health and safety issue. Sweeping your chimney is a wise decision.
- Change air filters: Dirty air filters can cause multiple problems, such as decreased efficiency and poor indoor air quality. Make sure to replace old filters with new ones every three months so your HVAC system can filter out contaminants more effectively.
- Clear gutters: When rain and melting snow can't drain properly, obstructed water can turn into ice. This scenario can cause leaks, ice dams, and mold. As a result, it is wise to clear leaves and debris from your gutters to avoid wintertime clogs.
- Buy a smart thermostat: This technology will learn your routines and automatically program the heating schedule appropriately to minimize costs, energy waste, and discomfort. Smart thermostats can be easily monitored and adjusted via a phone app for maximum convenience.
- Clean vents/registers: Washing, scrubbing, vacuuming, and sweeping vents and registers will improve the airflow and air quality throughout your home. Don’t forget to dust particles away from delicate components of your HVAC units, like motors and coils.
- Insulate ducts: Damaged insulation on ductwork can lead to inefficient heating because some of the heat inside them will leak out before reaching their destination rooms in the house, so check whether they need additional insulation or repairs before the cold weather sets in!
Contact An HVAC Professional
With these tips in mind, winterizing your home should be easy! Proper maintenance can help keep energy costs down while you remain comfortable indoors even when temperatures outside drop drastically! Although this checklist didn’t cover every winterization task, it is hopefully a helpful to-do list that will boost your HVAC system’s chances of performing seamlessly and dependably all winter long.
Of course, it is always a good idea to hire an HVAC professional to inspect, repair, and maintain your HVAC solution. Harris Aire Serv is proud to be your local, reliable solution. Our qualified technicians can diagnose potential issues with your system, tune up your furnace and heater, and repair serious problems before winter arrives. Remember—by taking proactive steps now, you won't have to worry about unexpected breakdowns later! So don't wait until it's too late—start winterizing today!
Need HVAC Repair? Call our team today or reach out to us online.
