Simple tips to prepare your home from winter

Winter is in full swing, but it's not too late to make sure your home is ready to tackle the snow and cold.

Cold weather and snowy days may already be upon us, but that doesn’t mean its too late to make sure your home is all set for winter.

Meg Wright, of Wright at Home – Handy Ma’am Services joined CTV Your Morning Ottawa on Tuesday to share some easy-to-do tips and tricks to get your house ready for the winter weather.

Carbon monoxide safety

Wright says one of the most important things homeowners should do is make sure their carbon monoxide detectors are in working order.

“You’re supposed to actually have one on every floor of your house. So, not a lot of people know that,” Wright said.

In the winter months, carbon monoxide safety doesn’t end there, Wright says.

“What you want to do is make sure that you are clearing the outdoor vents,” Wright said. “Because let’s say your furnace vent gets blocked with snow, then you actually get carbon monoxide backed up into your house, which is very dangerous.”

Wright says homeowners should inspect their outdoor vents during the cold months to remove any snow, ice or other debris that could be in the way.

“You want to make sure that all of your outdoor vents are clear. That’s kind of the first really important safety tip around winter,” Wright said.

Taps and pipes

One of the last things homeowners want to be dealing with over the winter is a burst pipe. According to Wright, the average cost to replace a pipe is $4,000.

For homeowners who haven’t already, Wright suggests turning off all outdoor taps, which can typically be done via a valve in a basement.

“So, you want to turn off that valve so that the water can’t go to the outside taps anymore,” Wright said. “Because if they go to the outside taps, your pipes will freeze and then they burst.”

Additionally, Wright suggests purchasing and attaching faucet protectors to keep your outdoor taps protected from the elements throughout the winter.

Furnace care

One of the only things that could be worse than a broken pipe is perhaps a broken furnace, which is why Wright recommends homeowners get their furnaces serviced ahead of winter.

Wright says H-VAC technicians will typically change the furnace’s filters, but if they don’t, it’s easy enough to swap out on one’s own.

“You can go and pick up filters at hardware stores and it’s actually a pretty easy DIY. Lots of tutorials online, of how to change your filter, but it depends on the furnace you have,” Wright said.

For those who are unsure of what filter their furnace uses, Wright recommends bringing the old filter along to the hardware store so that an employee can find the correct one.

Weather stripping

Weather stripping is one element of home upkeep, Wright says people often neglect.

“Not a lot of people think about their weather stripping, but it’s important to go around your home and make sure that the weather stripping around your doors, in particular, and your windows, is all up to date,” Wright said.

If there’s any damage or wear to the strips, they can be replaced with new ones easily enough, Wright says.

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