Home Winterizing Checklists

The cold has arrived and with it can come damage and wasted energy. But some simple and low cost maintenance and weatherproofing tasks can save you money on your energy bill and keep the damaging weather where it belongs…outside your home!

Many homeowners think that winterizing their home will be prohibitively expensive and labor intensive. The good news is that neither needs to be the case. While the checklist of points you should cover each season can seem daunting, most of what needs to be done can be achieved for a few hundred dollars or less, depending on your home and how often it has been maintained.

Some Of The Items To Get Your List Started

• Gaps around exterior doors
• Improving window insulating using easy and low cost kits
• Weather-stripping
• Heat and air conditioning filter replacement
• Front and back door threshold sweep strips

For an additional few hundred dollars you can seriously bump up your checklist with some or all of the following:

1. Utility company home energy audits to expertly check the function and efficiency of your central air system and furnace.
2. Programmable thermostat installation to better tailor your energy use to the time you actually spend at home versus when you and your family are away at work and school.
3. Chimney balloons to stop valuable heat from escaping throughout the winter.
4. New ceiling fans that also heat the rooms they are in.

The folks over at BobVila.com have put together a great package of winterizing checklists and must-do’s for every budget, from $100, $250 and $500. They even have a great list you can do for actually no cost at all (but we still suggest you hit one of the more aggressive lists). You’ll be much more comfortable this winter and have valuable peace of mind that you’ve done all you can to protect your home, family and your investment.

For more info and all the complete checklists, visit BobVila.com and their season winterizing how-to’s today!