Getting Your Home Ready for Winter

Even though we are already one (or two) storms into winter, you may still have some catching up to do to winterize your home.  Here are some handy tips:

Get Your Water Under Wraps

• Blow out sprinklers

• Detach all hoses from the outside of the house

• Make sure ponds, hot tubs, etc. are either full or completely drained

• Flush out your hot water heater

  • Check out YouTube to find out how to flush your hot water heater yourself to make sure it’s running efficiently.

• Winterize your A/C unit – flushing out hoses properly can help extend the life of the unit

 

Get Ready for Winter Storms

• Make sure you have the essentials where you need them:

  • Scraper/brush in the car

  • Snow shovel

  • Have ice melt on hand

  • Flashlight and/or candles handy in case of a power outage

• Clean leaves from gutters for efficient runoff

• Get fireplaces ready, whether that be cleaning wood-burning fireplaces and stocking up on fuel, or getting your electric fireplace serviced

• Change your furnace filter

 

Plant Some Bulbs

• Colorado is usually blessed with mild fall seasons so take advantage and plant bulbs now so you can enjoy them as soon as it starts to warm up!

  • Bulbs like crocus, hyacinth, and tulips can do very well if planted before the soil freezes.

  • Check out the following link for more fall bulb planting tips for Colorado:  https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/fall-planted-bulbs-and-corms-7-410/

 

Seal Baby Seal

• Seal windows if needed

  • This can entail anything from having new windows or weather stripping professionally installed, to adding thermal film or heat conserving curtains on your own.

• Seal decks

  • If you have time for a project, keep deck wood healthy despite huge swings in temperature and moisture over the winter!

 

Miscellaneous Winter Tips

• Have ceiling fans?  Change their direction to clockwise and they will push hot air down into the room.

• If you have a traditional wood-burning chimney, consider making sure the flue seals correctly, or consider the use of a chimney balloon to cut down on heat loss.

 

With some preparation, your winter can be cozy and you won’t be playing catch-up when the temperature dips!