Winter officially begins in a little less than 2 months. But there’s a chill in the air, and experts say now is the time to have your house prepared for the cold…before it really moves in.
Chances are you have already turned on your furnace for the first time this season. But there's more to it than that. It needs a new filter just about every 3 months. And you should also clean your furnace. When? At Ace Hardware in Sparks, winterizing pro Lincoln Coppock says “Now. If you have a lot of buildup in your furnace and ducts, you have the possibility of a fire."
To save money on home heating bills, Lincoln is a fan of the programmable thermostat. It's the “way not to pay when you're away”. Good news: they are cheaper and more common now, and more are tied to your internet. "You have WiFi thermostats that you can control with your smart phone, so you can turn your furnace on before you get home."
And heads up: a Reno winter isn't complete without some pipe-bursting. It happens to a lot of people here. Lincoln knows one: “He ended up with about $3000 worth of damage. It flooded under his house. It was a nightmare." It’s a disaster which also happened to Ace customer Steven Baum's neighbor: "It was a big deal for him. It damaged some flooring and other things." To protect your home, you can buy an outside faucet cover…backed up by covering or wrapping other exterior and garage pipes. Coppock says, “There's foam insulation you can put around pipes, and you can wrap it with pipe wrap tape."
One of the biggest penny savers is weather stripping. This could save you up to 30% on your heating bill. But he says the foam along your windows “Has to be up to date. No leaks. It's a good idea to put on window insulation film because that will reduce your heating costs as well."
Add a few shots from the caulk gun, which packs heat…against high heating bills. Lincoln thinks this is more needed than ever right now,after our brutally hot, dry summer: "Heat and sunlight will dry out caulking. And once we get some wet weather, you'll see that water coming in." Good news: today's caulking materials have greatly improved and last a lot longer. He says “There are new waterproofing agents, and acrylics to withstand UV. And you can get them in several colors as well."
All to keep the freezing temperatures out. And there'll be plenty of those...coming soon.
