Winterizing Your Home in Philadelphia

We all know that the winters here in Pennsylvania can be brutal, causing your utility bills to skyrocket and maybe even damage to your house. In order to best protect your home and family during these cold, winter months, there are precautionary steps you can take. Winterizing your home in Philadelphia can be an extensive process, but here we have highlighted what our ServiceWhale professionals think is most important.

Clean Your Gutters

When winterizing your home, the exterior of your house can be just as important as the interior. For instance, your gutters should not go overlooked. By having your gutters cleaned, you can improve water flow during the winter. When water flow is improved, it can prevent icicles and even ice dams from building up. And, as many of you know, ice dams are never a good thing.

While you have someone working on the upper parts of your house, consider having your roof cleaned and inspected by a ServiceWhale contractor, too. It is likely that snow will pile on your roof this winter, so you want to make sure that it will be able to hold. Doing so could save you from having to pay for costly repairs.

Protect Against Draft

Inside your house, protecting against draft is important to winterizing your home. Not only will it help keep your space warm, it can also cut down on your utility bills. There are endless ways to prevent draft in your home, but by paying attention to gaps in your home’s framework, like underneath doors, your efforts will be most efficient.

For instance, plastic window insulation can keep hot air in and cold air out. New weather stripping can improve the seals on your doors and windows. Draft guards can be slipped underneath doors to keep the heat of a particular room from escaping, and so on.

Seal Off Unused Rooms

In addition to protecting against draft, you can also consider sealing off unused rooms in your home. For example, if you don’t plan on using that spare bedroom this winter, or if you hardly retreat to the basement, you can seal these spaces off.

Shut the doors and windows and seal them off with insulation. Close any vents so that your heater doesn’t heat this room, and block the air flow under the doorway. This way, your HVAC system will only heat the rooms that you are using, which can cut down on your utility bills.

Have Inspections Done

Like your roof, have your HVAC and plumbing systems inspected for any damage. By doing so, you could protect these systems from breaking during the winter, causing repairs to be costly. Additionally, your ServiceWhale contractor will be able to help you improve the winter efficiency of your home.

They would be able to make suggestions of furthering your home’s winterization. For example, your home’s pipes might be a good candidate for insulation, or your inspector can lower your water heater temperature. They can boost your home’s insulation or check the seals of your ducts. Like we mentioned earlier, the ways to winterize your home in Philadelphia are endless, but we hope that these pointers will help you save some money in these upcoming, frigid months.

For additional information on ServiceWhale contractors and winterizing your home, please visit our website or contact us to learn more.