In Richmond, the weather keeps changing – it’s warm, it’s cold, it’s warm again – but soon the cold days will be upon us for good. Save money this winter and help the environment by winterizing your home. It’s easy to do, and you’d be surprised how these simple steps can make a big difference in your utility bill, and your comfort level. 

1. Get your furnace inspected. Furnaces should be cleaned and tuned by a professional annually. It’s not an expensive service, and it will keep your furnace running efficiently and safely.
2. Check your home for air leaks.  Especially around doors and windows.  Adding weather stripping and insulation is one of the easiest things you can do.   Add weather stripping around doors and caulk or foam around gaps in windows to help keep the warm air inside.  You can also add a door sweep to exterior doors.
3. Insulate your attic and crawl spaces.  A little extra insulation in your home’s attic or crawl space can save you a lot of money in heating bills.   You need 11 to 12 inches of insulation in your attic. Since ceiling joists are about that high, you know you need to add more insulation if you can see the ceiling joists.
4. Get your duct work checked. A home with central heat can lose up to 60% of its heated air before that air reaches the vents if ductwork is not well-connected and insulated. That’s a huge waste of money. Your professional HVAC contractor can ensure your ductwork is properly in place and well insulated.
5. Cover windows with bubble wrap. It’s not just for gift boxes. Plastic wrap works too, but bubble wrap offers better insulation especially if windows are old and not thermo-insulated.
6. Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans. This pushes hot air down and re-circulates it through the house. 
7. Move furniture off your vents.  How easy is that?!
8. Wrap your pipes. As a plumbing contractor, we’re used to leaks. And we want to make sure you don’t have them. If you’re worried about your pipes freezing and bursting, wrap pipes in areas that are not heated with pre-molded foam rubber sleeves or fiberglass insulation.  Wrapping the pipes leading into and out of your home can help prevent water damage and flooding too, especially in basement or crawl space areas.
9. Take the hoses off the spigots.  Water expands as it freezes, and any water that’s trapped in pipes has the potential to split them as it cools.  Store your hoses in the garage for the Winter.
10. Clean the chimney.  Before starting that fireplace, make sure the chimney is clean, and your smoke detectors are working and have fresh batteries.  And everyone in the family should know where your fire extinquisher is and how to properly use it.
11. Shut the door. Have guest or other rooms you don’t use? Close the vents in those rooms and shut the doors.
12. Clean the gutters.  Avoiding water overflows especially in icy or snowy conditions.  By November, most of the leaves have fallen from the trees in Richmond although those oak trees sometimes hang around until Spring.  Just keep an eye on the gutters and be sure they’re clear of leaves, tree limbs and other debris especially when experiencing windy conditions.
13. Invest in a computerized, programmable thermostat. Program your heating system exactly the way you want it,  so that your house isn’t heating when nobody is at home.
14. Get your irrigation system turned off and inspected by a certified professional.  Virginia State Law requires that you have your backflow valve inspected every year, because faulty valves can cause dirt in your irrigation system to get sucked back into the water supply of your house. 
15. Make your garage a usable space for Winter projects.  Check out our blog post about installing a heater for garages or utility spaces so you can complete woodworking or other DIY projects throughout the year.

Remembering these important home winterization tips each year before Winter starts will help you prepare your home to be warm, energy efficient, and safe – even if the weather outside turns frightful.   

At Marshall Mechanical, we’re here to help you get your residence ready for the colder weather so if you need your heating system, furnace or duct work inspected, programmable thermostat or garage heater installed, or your lawn irrigation system certified and winterized, simply call us at 804.323.0189.  We’ll get your home ready for the cold, even if you’re not.

P.S. Don’t forget to share these great tips with friends, family and co-workers.  We’re sure they would appreciate the energy efficiency and safety reminders.