Crucial Winter Checklist Items You Could Be Forgetting

Pennsylvania gets the full blast of different seasons throughout the year. Now that we’re enjoying the color and crispness of autumn, everyone knows that winter can’t be too far behind.

If you want to make sure your home is ready for another season of cold and snow, we have a few items to put on your checklist to make sure you’re ready.

Maintain Your Home Alarms

Everyone knows how important fire alarms can be throughout the year, but do you have carbon monoxide alarms installed in your home as well? If you’ve got both, that’s great!

Just make sure that they’re still working as intended. This is a lot easier to do with newer models that combine both functions into one unit.

The reason carbon monoxide alarms are important is that most homes use a furnace that burns gas during the winter to heat the residence. Even when something goes wrong, a furnace can still partially function, with incomplete combustion being the result. This just means that even though the unit is providing warm air, carbon monoxide is also being produced as a side effect, and you can’t smell or see this. You’ll only know there’s a leak if you have an alarm, or people start getting sick.

Start Stocking Up On De-Icing Salt

De-icing salt is an efficient way to maintain winter safety and clearance outside your home. While it’s not going to do much good during the heaviest winter conditions, like blizzards, it’s perfect for the lighter winter situations.

A little snowfall or ice on the sidewalk is when de-icing salt is a great addition to your arsenal of outdoor home winter maintenance.

De-icing salt, if you don’t normally use it, is something that is evenly applied to the sidewalk, driveway and other outdoor points of access to your home, such as outdoor plumbing.

It melts both snow and ice, but once it becomes salt water, it becomes resistant to refreezing, meaning it will continue to melt snow, but not revert back to ice. It’s a great way to “fire and forget,” keeping access to your home clear, with traction so everyone can safely move around.

Inspect Your Insulation & Ventilation

Insulation isn’t something many people pay attention to if they already know that it’s there, but this may be the time to think about either checking its condition, or upgrading.

The better your insulation is, the lower your heating bills become as your furnace doesn’t have to work as long or as frequently.

New insulation in the walls can have a huge impact in keeping your home warmer for longer periods of time. Insulation in your roof only works as long as it’s not damaged by water from leaks and breaks. Check both to keep your efficiency up.

Ventilation is important to make sure that warm air gets to where it needs to. Periodically have your ventilation ducts cleaned to make sure that contaminants like mold haven’t infested the area. Also, make sure they are clear of obstructions to keep the efficiency of your heating up. It’s the same with external ventilation.

You need both exhausts and intakes to be clear for modern HVAC systems to operate at peak efficiency. Following these tips from our checklist ensures that the next winter you have in Allentown, PA is a bit more comfortable and cost-effective when it comes to your home and heating.