When winter comes along, you will definitely encounter cold weather not only on yourself but also on your house. The extreme cold and freezing weather during the time usually brings along snow condition and ice meltdown. Below are some of the steps to do for you to protect your premises from the cold winter weather and with the right tools and doing some pre-winter maintenance will help you ensuring that the premises and your family able to rest in piece during that difficult condition.
What you need to do:
- Check and provide water pipes safety
- Use pipe insulation, thermal tape, cloth or newspapers
- Check the safety of your natural gas
- Install a carbon monoxide detector
- Check the electricity safety
Method:
- First of all, you have to check your house water pipes. You need to cover all the pipes which you find will be exposed to the cold weather using pipe insulation, thermal tape, and cloth or by using several layers of newspaper. Always remember to turn the running water mode into a slow but steady stream during that period and also disconnect all hoses from your outside faucets, plus ensure that it is also drained completely.
- Once you notice a strong smell of gas coming out from your premises, you have to get all of your family out of the house to a location that is safe and do not operate any electrical switch or appliances, plus always leave all doors open. Do not hesitate to call for help through your local emergency line. Apart from that, you can purchase and install a carbon monoxide detector that will automatically trigger an alarm whenever there is any gas leakage. Always remember not to use a gas oven in order to heat your house during that period.
- For a small space heater that you use, make sure to check its cords so that they are not frayed and always make sure that the heater operates properly. Important thing to remember is ensuring the space heater must be operated farther from flammable items such as curtains and fabric sofa, plus also do not overload its power strips beyond the specific ratings.
- The next step to do is to set your thermostat at least at 68 degrees or lower range in order to reduce your power consumption (for each degree higher that you consume, it will increase your energy usage up to four percent).
- Always wear warm clothing weather you are indoor or outdoor and also throw some extra blanket on your bed for your comfort after you have lower down your thermostat settings. You can also save energy of up to 25 percent by doing the following steps such as caulking, sealing and weather-stripping all you windows surrounding, outside of your doors, or where exterior walls, floors or ceilings are penetrated by plumbing.
Additional Reading:
http://www.dannylipford.com/diy-home-improvement/doors-and-windows/how-to-protect-your-home-during-extreme-cold-weather/
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2010/01/04/news.602329.sto
http://www.kirotv.com/money/18259784/detail.html
http://www.easier.com/63712-protect-your-pipes-as-cold-weather-bites.html
http://www.houselogic.com/articles/protect-your-home-cold-weather-threats/
http://www.gru.com/AboutGRU/NewsReleases/Archives/Articles/news-2009-02-04.jsp
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gentlentropy/3187991395/
