Winterize Your Home

Baby It’s Cold Outside

The fall temperatures are quickly turning frosty, and it’s time to turn back our clocks, which means we have to get our homes ready for the cold weather that is inevitable.

 

While there is tons and tons of advice on how to winterize your home for the winter, sometimes that list can be overwhelming. Foam around my windows? What? (If you do this, please let me know what I am missing!) So while there is a lot you can do to prepare your home for the winter, here is the list of things that we do around our house to get ready for the colder months.

 

Change your batteries. 

This may be the most important one for me. I make sure that my smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors have fresh batteries. And while I am buying batteries for my detectors, I also pick up new batteries for my flashlights just in case we lose power. Daylight savings, which is Sunday, is my reminder to go battery shopping and make sure my detectors and flashlights are ready. Did you know that in the Omaha area, the Omaha Fire Department will come to your home to install a smoke/carbon monoxide detector for free! If you don’t have one in your home currently, click here to find out how to get one installed asap. This is such an important step to keep you and your family safe from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. 

 

Gutters

This may be strange to admit, but besides the balancing on the ladder bit, I really enjoy cleaning out our gutters. I get some disposable garden gloves and dig out all of the nastiness that has settled in our gutters from the last six months. I try to do this once our big tree and our neighbors’ big tree are mostly bare of leaves but before it gets too cold. Once the guck is out, I hose down the gutters to make sure the water flows through the drain spouts. Clogged gutters leave the rain, ice, and snow with nowhere to go which can cause major water damage to your property. Always be careful when on a ladder, of course, and if you aren’t comfortable cleaning your own gutter, reach out to me. I have a 14-year-old who is always looking to earn extra money, or if times are tough, I can hire him for you but don’t skip this important step. 

 

Filters

The other minor winterizing task that we do is to clean our furnace filters. Our furnace has a permanent filter that we just have to clean with our vacuum. Other furnaces will use disposable filters. Either way, this simple step is a great way to keep your furnace working as efficiently as possible. Also, before the temperatures drop to dangerous levels, check your furnace to make sure it is working. This will help you avoid that costly emergency service call to the furnace company if your furnace stops working, which never seems to be during normal business hours.

 

Despite the colder temperatures, I do love the end of the year, and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. My brother and sister-in-law host an amazing meal with tons of food, games, family, and friends. But I know the holidays are a difficult time for many. If you need a place to go on Thanksgiving, please reach out. There is always a place at our table.  And this year I am feeling especially thankful. I don’t know if it was the pandemic, changing jobs, or just something that happens as I get older, but I feel incredibly blessed. Thank you for being a part of my journey in this thing we call life. 

 

Happy fall y’all. 

 

With gratitude, 

 

Molly Hunt-Spisak

 

If you want to receive more information like this, subscribe to my newsletter here.