5 Tips to Winterize Your Home 

If you own a summer home or plan to leave your primary resident vacant for a long period of time during the winter, it’s important to take the correct steps in winterizing your home to avoid problems or damage. Don’t walk into the cold months alone, check out these tips to winterize your home from Greenwood Plumbing & Heating below:  

1.Protect Your Pipes  

According to BPIhomeowner.com, the most ideal way to keep your pipes safe from low temperatures this winter is to insulate them.  To insulate your pipes, you can use heater tape – which is easy to apply yourself. In addition to the pipes, it’s important that you’re insulating valves as they’re particularly prone to low-temperature complications. If you need help insulating your pipes or have a question, don’t hesitate to reach out to the professionals at Greenwood.   

2.Seal The Cracks 

Do you ever feel a cold draft in the winter? Be sure you’re closing all of the surrounding windows and doors, in addition to filling in any cracks that could be letting in cold drafts near the water pipes. By ensuring the surrounding area near the pipes is warm, you can avoid further complications and breaks. You can also purchase door draft stoppers. 

3.Have Your Heating Checked 

Make sure you’re confident in your heating system going into the colder months. Nothing’s worse than having an issue on a cold New England day or night! Schedule a preventative maintenance appointment with Greenwood to ensure you are staying warm all winter long!  

4.Keep Things Cozy   

Don’t turn your thermostat off! It can be tempting to try and save energy and money, but the results of your home being unheated for the winter will be much more catastrophic. According to cagleservice.com, you should make sure you are setting your thermostat to at least 55 degrees, avoiding the home getting too cold inside.     

5.Clean The Gutters 

When the temperature drops and water begins to freeze, it’s important to remember leaves, branches and other debris are also freezing.  If you didn’t clean your gutters before the winter, there most likely is accumulated debris piled up in your gutters. Your gutters weren’t designed to withhold that weight and can cause the hardware to come loose or fall completely off.  In addition, the pretty icicles you see hanging from people’s homes are created by ice dams which are caused by clogged gutters. Ice dams can do serious damage to your roof and other parts of your home.   

If you need help getting your house winterized or need to schedule your preventative maintenance appointment with Greenwood, give us a call today (401) 738-9245!