How to Winterize Your Home

You may vastly prefer summer over winter, but that doesn’t mean winter is all bad. That’s especially true when you factor in warm evenings at home with your family, and plenty of heat and good cheer to go around.

On the other hand, winter can be far more challenging, at least at times, if you’re not properly prepared. To help make sure you are, McKinzie Heating & Air presents these sure-fire tips on how to prepare your house for the cold weather months:   

Reverse the direction of your ceiling fan. Since warm air rises, a ceiling fan will push the heat back down into your living spaces to provide added comfort at a lower cost. That’s because your heating system won’t have to work as hard to maintain your desired comfort level.

Insulate exposed water pipes. The colder it gets, the better the chance your water pipes have of freezing, cracking and breaking. To avoid such a major headache, wrap insulation around all water pipes in unheated spaces like your garage or basement.

Schedule a home heating tune-up and inspection.  Annual maintenance is essential to keep your heating system in top working order and your home heating costs under control.  Annual maintenance also gives your trained McKinzie  heating technician the chance to check for gas or carbon monoxide leaks.

Have your ducts cleaned.  The more time you spend indoors, the greater the need for clean indoor air. Duct cleaning is a great way to rid your home of dust, dust mites, fungus, mildew, and other pollutants that gather inside your ducts and escape every time the heating system starts up.

Locate and seal drafts.  To locate a draft, move a lit candle around the edges of windows and doors. Anywhere the flame turns horizontal, you have a leak.  A fresh application of weather-resistant caulking or weather stripping will help solve the problem.

For the best in winter-long indoor comfort, contact McKinzie Heating and Air today to request our heating system tune-up and inspection. It’s a great way to keep in top working condition while reducing your home heating costs.