Winter is well and truly here. As the days are shorter and colder, it’s time to look for ways of keeping your home safe from the cold. Homes suffer from relentless rain, snow, hail and the ever-lingering ice. Winter season comes with headache to many homeowners who are not prepared to handle the effects that come with it. For instance, a frozen pipe that burst is very expensive to fix. Heating bills are also extortionate, so we want to try and reduce these.
The good news is that you can evade the damages that may be caused by strong winds and heavy ice during winter season by preparing your home.
Ways winter elements can destroy your home:
The effects of winter elements in your home can be far reaching. Just to highlight a few, here are some common ways that the elements can destroy your residence.
– The ice from winter season can destroy your chimney.
– Extreme winds can damage your roofing system.
– There can be freezing and bursting of your pipes.
– Heavy snow piles can also collapse your roof.
Ways to keep your home insulated:
It is critically important to insulate your home to avoid incurring losses arising from winter elements. Here are the main ways to do this.
- Sealing swing and slide doors
When you have swing and slide doors in your house, you can insulate them during winter season by covering them with insulating panel. Besides, you can also minimize the air flow into the house by redoing weather-stripping or hanging vertical blind. This helps block cold air from entering the house. Slide doors also called sliding patio doors and unlike the hinge doors, they tightly fit in the panels leaving no space for cold air breeze. Learn more.
- Air seal the ceiling
When you insulate your home, it slows the transfer of heat from one side of the insulated layer to the other. Always make sure you air seal holes on your ceiling. Every penetration made by electricians and plumbers must also be air sealed.
- Installation of solar attic exhaust fan
You can also install solar tubes in hallways, bathrooms, entry ways and kitchen to circulate heat in the house. This will help keep the house warm since a solar heater will be absorbing the little heat from the sun when it shines which will then be used to heat the house.
Other alternative ways to insulate your home during winter include among others inspecting your roof, winterising your pipes, preventing icicles and ice dams and sealing the attic access cover.
Conclusion
Winter season normally comes with heavy snow, ice and strong winds. One cannot prevent this from happening. However, with the above tips for insulating your home in winter, you will be more prepared to not only survive the cold from the winter, but also enjoy in this coming winter like a pro.
