Preparing The Heating System And Your Home For Winter

Your home's heating system needs your help if you want it to continue to run optimally and keep your home comfortable during even the coldest of days. Here, you'll find a few tips that will help you help your furnace run strong throughout the winter season.

Have a Professional Inspection and Cleaning

If you're wise, you keep up with changing the furnace filter every month or so, but do you do anything else to maintain the system? Inside your furnace, there are fans and heating elements that must work together to create enough heat for your home. If the fan becomes dirty or the elements begin to fail, the system will not work efficiently.

During a professional inspection and cleaning, the technician will look for any parts that are worn or aren't working properly. He or she will provide you with the information that you need to decide if you want to make the repairs – sometimes, it's better to replace the unit, rather than repair it – he or she will help you identify the best solution for your household.

Winterize the Home

Now that you know the heating system is up to snuff – you need to get the rest of the house ready for winter.

Start with the windows and doors. Get a stick of incense and check each window by moving the incense stick around the frame and any joints in the window. If there are any air leaks, you'll see movement in the smoke. Use a wax pencil to mark the area so that you can return with some silicone caulking to seal it up.

Inspect your attic space to make sure that the insulation is all where it should be. Rodents and pesky intruders can get up into your attic and begin moving the insulation to make themselves a comfortable home. Just a small amount of removed insulation can allow for a lot of heat to escape over the winter.

Bundle up a bit on the colder days. Don't make your heating system work harder than it has to when the weather is especially cold. Instead of bumping up the thermostat to warm things up, throw on a nice warm pair of jammies with a robe and slippers. If you get up and moving around, you'll soon be able to shed a layer or two and wait for the sun to naturally warm the house a bit.

Talk with a local heating contractor service, like Ronnie Ritchie Service Co Inc, to learn more about preparing the heating system and your home for winter.