Here's some great tips on how to prepare your home for winter.
Have a local heating and cooling professional inspect and tune up your furnace and heat pump. Do it now to ensure efficiency and prevent costly emergency repairs that might put you in a waiting line for service
Tune up your generator or have it serviced. Be sure to have fresh fuel and other necessary supplies for operation. Practice setting up and shutting down the generator system because when the time comes to use it, it may have to be done in the dark.
Have your fireplaces, whether wood burning or gas, cleaned and serviced.
Reverse your ceiling fans to push warm air down, especially if you have high ceilings. This may help reduce energy bills too.
Clean your roof and gutters, or hire a good professional to do it. A good professional roof cleaner will know how to clean the roof without reducing the life expectancy, make minor repairs, and clean the gutters inside and out. A power washer will likely do more damage than good to a composition roof.
Divert water away from your basement, foundation, and driveway. We get a lot of rain in the Pacific Northwest. It's easier and cheaper to prevent flooding than it is to deal with it when it happens. Also, if you have a sump pump, inspect and service if it needed.
Winterize your irrigation systems for lawn, gardens, outdoor spigots, and hose bibs. If a deep freeze occurs, plumbers get busy and you may have to wait for emergency service.
Article written by:
Chris Miller, Coldwell Banker Bainbridge Island
Bill Barrow - Chris Miller Team
206-780-6146