Every December is a reminder of the winter season. While the snows that accompany the season are good for pictures to post on social media, many dread the cold for its impact on the body and overall well-being. Besides, the winter can also cause damage to your home.

That’s why it’s important to put measures in place to ensure you don’t only stay warm in the grueling cold but also prevent possible havoc on your property. This article highlights winter preparation tips for homeowners to prevent heat loss or property damage, and save money during winter.

Best Ways to Prevent Heat Loss During Winter

First, let’s look at some ways to keep your home warm in the cold winter weather. The best approach is to have these measures in place before winter hits.

Boost Your Insulation

The very first approach to retaining warmth in your home during winter is to keep it insulated. But then, there are levels of insulation, depending on how cold it gets in your city. If your home is already insulated (which it should be all things being equal), the walls, attic, and other sections of the building should be fine.

However, you may need a little bit more work to retain heat. This includes reinforcing the insulation material like fiberglass batts to block uninsulated gaps that may have been created due to wear and tear.

Topping up the insulation is a cost-effective way to keep your house warm when the weather is cold. It also saves time compared to an entire overhaul of the insulation system.

Seal Up Air Drafts

Another quick fix to tick off your home checklist before winter arrives is to block all air channels across the building. After your insulation is intact, you can further prevent heat loss by checking your exterior for holes, gaps, and other weak points that can allow heat escape. Doing so will protect your home from air drafts that will pull out warm air.

A group approach is caulking and replacing old caulk to prevent air leaks through cracks, joints, and other gaps around window frames, power outlets, door jambs, etc. You can either DIY or contact air sealing service providers around you.

Upgrade or Cover Single Pane Windows

If you live in an old house, you may have single-pane windows. While having such a window may seem normal, have you wondered why modern houses have double or triple-glazed windows with two or three panes of glass? The answer is simple. Such windows have extra insulating power to retain heat compared to having a sheet of glass with terrible insulation.

So, if your home has single-pane windows, you want to upgrade them to a minimum of double-glazing options to absorb and contain heat better. However, if you don’t have a budget for such an expense, a low-cost alternative is to cover your single-pane windows with plastic sheets during the cold winter months. The impact isn’t as much as having multiple window panes, but it does a great job.

Cover Your Unused Chimney

Unless you’re using a constant fireplace as part of your home’s heating system, any unused chimney in your home should be covered to prevent heat loss. Leaving the chimney open will create a loophole for all the heat within the house to escape easily, ultimately leading to higher heating bills at the end of the month.

You can also seal up the fireplace in your home with a cover to avoid spending more to heat up the space inside your chimney. That’s less money and even better results.

Best Ways to Prevent Property Damage in the Cold Season

After you’ve looked inward to keep your home hot in the cold months, you also want to look outward to protect your home from potential external damage in the winter season. Here are some winter weather preps you can do to prevent property damage:

Clean Out The Gutters Regularly

Clear roof gutters, downspouts, and exterior drainage systems. Ensure that leaves, sticks, and other debris are removed to allow melting snow and ice to move across freely and prevent ice build-up or water overflow.

This can also prevent ice damming as a result of water being unable to move freely through the gutters, causing it to seep into the house and leak from the roof and walls.

Service Your Heating System

The best time to put your heating system to the test is before winter. You want to check if all appliances are functional and fix broken ones ahead of time. While you can fix certain maintenance issues and faults yourself, consider using specialists for the best result

Trim Surrounding Trees

Trees are more likely to break and fall during harsh weather conditions. If this happens, the trees or branches can damage your home or car, or injure someone walking by your property. Trim all surrounding trees and their branches before winter to potentially prevent such issues.

Check Exposed Pipes for Cracks and Leaks

After putting everything in place and insulating your pipes inside the home, assess all the external pipes for cracks or leakages. Additionally, you can install a flow-based water leak detection system to turn off the water system and alert you of any issues.

Use a Backup Generator

Winter may come with power outages due to environmental damage. As such, your furnace, water heaters, and other heating appliances cannot function when power is out. Consider having a backup generator in preparation for the likelihood that there will be electricity issues in your home or locale.

Get Home Insurance

While there are a couple of things to do to protect your home during winter, life happens. A stronger winter wave could render your efforts abortive and cause significant damage to your property.

That’s why having a home insurance plan helps when small or big issues arise. For instance, if the locks get damaged or the heating system breaks down, you can easily report such damages and have your insurance company step in.

Secure Your Lot With the Perfect Home Insurance Coverage

After putting plans in place in readiness for winter, you should consider finding home insurance coverage as an additional layer of security in case of high impact from the cold.

Our expert team at Patriotic Insurance Group is on standby to help you find the perfect insurance policy for your home. Contact us today to find out how we can be of help.