Rise | We've Done the Research
Winter Readiness Checklist for the Home
The leaves are falling, days are shortening, and the first thing you do in the early morning is to pull on your slippers and turn up the thermostat. These telltale signs of the imminent arrival of winter bring along visions of long, cold days huddled up inside your home. Most of us spend long hours in our homes during those gray, winter days when just opening the door to get to your car makes you miserable. Global warming is often associated with hot, dry summers and extreme storms. A 2017 study published in the journal Nature Geoscience found a link between warmer Arctic temperatures and colder winters in North America. Those once in a lifetime Polar vortexes might become the norm sooner than we might think.
Table of Contents
Because we spend so much time at home in the wintertime, making sure that our homes are best prepared to keep us warm and cozy is something that every homeowner should do during the fall. Below, we offer a winter readiness checklist. These tips will enable you to rest comfortably in front of your warm wood stove for the next few months of cold weather.
Winterize Your Home Heating System
The most crucial winter-readiness aspect of the resilient home is your home heating system. Even the best-insulated residences will quickly become unlivable if a central furnace or heat pump goes out. To make sure that your central furnace, heat pump, or other heating system is ready for another long winter, consider doing the following tasks:
- Test your heating system before the cold sets in. This preparation will let you make sure that things are still working correctly.
- Call an HVAC professional for a standard maintenance inspection. These professionals can identify parts that might need replacing, thus avoiding potential breakdowns.
- Check and monitor fuel levels. Almost 48 percent of homes in the United States rely on natural gas for their home heating needs. If you are not supplied by a utility's service line, make sure that you have sufficient natural gas in your tank to last through the winter.
- Install carbon monoxide detectors. Carbon monoxide is a deadly killer, and improperly working HVAC equipment might lead this gas into your home.
- Check your exhaust vents. Birds, squirrels, and other animals love making their nests in the exhaust vents in your roof or on the exterior walls of your house. Blocked exhaust vents pose a fire hazard for your family and reduce your home heating system's efficiency.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
