It’s & We’re Always Open!
Now that fall is just around the corner, and the weather is beginning to cool down, you may want to start thinking about winterizing your New Jersey home. After all, better to take preventive measures now, than wake up in the middle of winter to find that your heating system isn’t functioning properly or that you have leaks letting cold air into your home. Here are a few tips that you can follow to winterize your home:
Find and seal leaks: Turn off your HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system, and all fans, and then light an incense stick or candle. Walk around your home, past all of your windows, doors, and areas in which wires come into your home from outside. If you have leaks, the smoke from the incense or candle will be sucked through them. Patch those leaks with caulk, and install door sweeps and weatherstripping to help keep drafts from coming in under or around exterior doors.
Schedule preventive maintenance and a ductwork inspection: Make sure your HVAC system is ready to work hard for you all winter by scheduling a preventive-maintenance visit with your HVAC contractor. He or she will thoroughly inspect, clean, and lubricate components, to ensure that your heating system works optimally and efficiently all winter long. Additionally, your contractor should inspect your ductwork. If it’s not connected well or insulated properly, you can lose almost 60 percent of your heat before it even reaches the vents. Check all of your filters and replace or clean them if they are dirty. Dirty filters impede the flow of air through your home, causing your heating system to be less efficient. A general rule of thumb is to change them every four to six weeks when your HVAC system is running continuously.
Clean your gutters: If your gutters become jammed full of leaves and other debris, then rain or snow that falls during the winter can back up and potentially cause leaking around your foundation or roof, thereby contributing to mold growth. Furthermore, water trapped in your gutters can freeze during the middle of winter, causing ice dams to form, which again can cause moisture problems once that ice thaws and drains.
These are just a few steps that you should take to winterize your home. For more information and tips to winterize your home, contact the experts at Pipe Works Services. We proudly serve residential and commercial customers in Morris, Union, Somerset, and Essex counties. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Chatham, NJ, and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
