Getting your home ready for cold weather
With temperatures reaching sub zero this week, we have complied some tips for preparing your home for this very cold weather!
- Protect your Pipes. If water inside your pipes freezes, it will expand. If that happens, your pipes could crack and burst. This can cause a lot of damage. To avoid this, you should drain water from outdoor faucets, disconnect and store outdoor hoses and cover outdoor faucets with foam insulators.
- Clean out your gutters. It is essential to clean out your gutters to ensure there are no blockages. They play an important part to keep your house structurally sound by guiding rainwater off your roof and down the drain. If they become broken or get clogged then it can cause damp which in turn can cause structural damage.
- Add some extra insulation in the loft. Around a quarter of the heat in your house is lost through the roof, so insulating the loft makes a very big difference to keeping heat in your home which can save you money on your energy bills. It is also worth consider cavity wall insulation.
- Check your Radiators. Radiators should heat right to the top. If they don’t, then you need to bleed them. This will release any air that is trapped at the top which is stopping the hot water from rising. This will ensure your radiators are working the best they can.
- Get your Boiler Serviced. Boilers need to be looked after. Your boiler should be serviced at least once a year by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer. This will make it last longer and work more efficiently, saving you money. More importantly, it will mean you will not be left without hot water or heating in these freezing temperatures!
- Sweep the Chimney. If you have a chimney it is very important to maintain it. Chimney fires can occur during the winter months so to avoid this you should get a professional to clean your chimney.
- Check for draughts. To prevent losing heat from your house, check the edges of your doors and windows to ensure that there are no gaps where heat is escaping. If there are, you should seal them with self-adhesive draught strips and/or cover them with a draught excluder.