Photo courtesy of geocam20000

As the dog days of summer begin to grow shorter it is a great time to think about winterizing your home to prepare for the colder months ahead.  Snow, ice and sub-freezing temperatures can damage a home’s exterior, leading to costly repairs.  Inadequate seals and insulation can force home heating systems to work in overdrive, adding hundreds of dollars to winter utility bills.  Implement the following winter preparation tips to save on energy costs and protect your home from costly damage.

Indoor Winterizing Tasks

1.  Have chimneys cleaned and inspected.  Blockages and buildup in chimneys can lead to dangerous conditions such as fires and inadequate ventilation.

2.  Consider a thermal insulating blanket for your hot water heater.  Hot water heaters are often the least-efficient appliance in your home.  This is especially true if your tank is store in an outdoor storage room or garage (as ours is).  When temperatures drop the tank has to work extra hard to keep the contents warm.  Consider adding a thermal insulating blanket for your hot water heat to insulate the water from surrounding temperatures.

3.  If your windows are not made of newer insulated glass, consider installing storm windows.  New, energy-efficient windows often two layers of glass with insulating air in between.  Older, single-pane models allow cold air to more easily seep in and make rooms feel cooler.

4. Add insulation to attics and crawlspaces.  Inadequate insulation in attics allows heat to rise up and out of your home, forcing heating systems to work harder to keep your home warm.

5. Install a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats allow you to automatically create a heating/cooling schedule for your home.  At night you can allow inside temperatures to drop down a bit, but warm things up just before the alarm clock goes off. Similarly, you can allow the temperatures to drop inside your hours when it is empty during the day, but warm things up before you arrive home from work.

6. Arrange for a professional inspection of your furnace.  Just like automobiles require periodic maintenance, furnaces require servicing by a professional.  It’s worth the cost of a service call.

7.  If you vacation during the winter months, leave your heat on and set it to 55 degrees.  This will help reduce the chance of interior pipes freezing.

8. Install a carbon monoxide detector.  Gas-log fireplaces and furnaces can give off toxic carbon monoxide gases.  Follow manufacturer recommendations on placement of monitoring device.

9. Install fresh batteries in all smoke alarms.  We change the batteries in our smoke alarms twice a year, around daylight savings time changes.  It’s a good idea to periodically test alarms to be sure batteries are still working properly.

10.  Inspect fire extinguishers and recharge if necessary.  Replace any extinguishers older than ten years.

11. Insulate water pipes that may be exposed to freezing temperatures.  If water in pipes freeze, chances are the expansion will cause them to burst and you’ll be stuck with a huge bill from a plumber.

Outdoor Winterizing Tasks

12.  Caulk around windows to prevent cold air from seeping in around cracks.  If you are not sure your windows needed additional caulking, try the candle trick.  On a windy day, light a candle and place it near your window with indoor cooling/heating systems turned off.  If the flame flickers when a gust of wind picks up it is an indication air is seeping around your windows.

13. Clean gutters. A clogged gutter can lead to a flooded basement when snow melts and the water has no where to run off.

14. Drain garden hoses and turn off any outdoor water faucets.  Remove nozzles or sprayers from the end of garden hoses and be sure to drain any water left in the line.

15. Add some antifreeze to the base of portable basketball goals filled with water.  During winter months the water in the goal’s base can freeze and expand, cracking the base.  Purchase a brand of antifreeze that is safe for kids and animals just in case.

16. Inspect driveways and pathways.  Patch cracks with a cement or asphalt kit to prevent water from entering the cracks, freezing, expanding and creating even larger cracks.

17. Make sure you have a snow shovel, rock salt, sand and other tools for dealing with snow and ice on your property.

18. Stock up on firewood.  Store it at least 50 feet away from your home to prevent fire and termites from coming too close to your home.

19. Bleed the valves on any hot-water radiators.  Open slightly until water appears and close again.

20. Be sure there are no flammable materials stored close to your furnace.  This one seems obvious, but many fires are started during the winter months because of flammable items being stored too close to furnaces.

21. Inspect fireplace damper to make sure it is opening and closing properly.  One year, in our old home, the damper wasn’t opening properly, but we did not discover it until we lit a fire and the living room filled with smoke.

22. If you installed summer screens on doors and windows, replace them with the glass equivalents stored during the summer.  Adding the extra pane of glass back to storm doors will ad a layer of insulation against colder temperatures.

23. Drain gas from lawnmower and store for the winter.  It’s also a good idea to store the lawnmower or tractor indoors during extremely cold temperatures.

24. Consider a tune-up on snow blowers and other snow removal equipment.  A little preventive maintenance goes a long way for winter equipment.

25. Apply sealant to decks. Sealant helps prevent wood damage from extreme freezing/thawing cycles.

26.  Move potted plants inside, or closer to the home to prevent damage from freezing temperatures. The temperature near your home’s exterior walls will be a little warmer than out further in your yard.  It also helps to cover outdoor plants with a sheet to insulate them from sub-freezing temperatures.

27. Clean patio furniture and store it away from winter.  In some areas winter storms are often accompanied by high winds.  During these storms, outdoor furniture can be scattered about your yard (and your neighbor’s yard).  Since you won’t likely be using it, look for a place to store it until spring.

28. Check with manufacturer to determine if spare refrigerators or freezers stored in unheated garages are safe to operate at extremely cold temperatures.  Extra refrigerators and freezers are great for stockpiling grocery deals, but if the temperature drops below the inside setting of your refrigerator or freezer it can cause the unit to operate inefficiently.

29. Seal areas around dryer vents, cable outlets and mail chutes with a caulking gun. Look for cracks or holes around outdoor fixtures such as vents and outlets as these spaces allow cold air from outside to enter your wall space and make indoor heating less effective.

Terminix pest control service delivers termite control, flea control and much more.  For your next termite inspection, trust Terminix.

The following is a guest post contributed by Heather Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of small business finance. She invites your questions and writing job opportunities at her personal email address: heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

Although they may not be your largest monthly expense, your utility bills can certainly make life tough — particularly in the summer months when we seem to use more water and blast the air conditioner. Since things are heating up right now, it is a good idea to prepare for rising costs. Below are 10 simple ways to save money on your utilities.

1. Turn off the light as soon as you leave a room.
2. If you will be away from the house for more than two hours, turn off the air conditioner.
3. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
4. Water your lawn at dusk or after dark, as the heat of the sun will evaporate the water.
5. Use energy-saving, fluorescent light bulbs.
6. Hand wash large, bulky dishes to save room in the dishwasher.
7. Use cold water to wash your clothes. Cold-water detergent is now available in all major grocery stores.
8. Don’t linger in the shower.
9. Keep the thermostat at a reasonable level. Using ceiling fans can help the comfort level.
10. Don’t use an automated sprinkler system. Instead, only water your lawn when it looks thirsty, preferably with a soaker hose.

While the tips above won’t make you a millionaire, they will help you save money on rising costs this summer. Much of this advice can be applied to your life year round. However, it is during the warmest months that most of us really start to resent the incoming utility bills.

I recently had an occasion to create some sawdust building our square foot garden box.  All that cutting and drilling left a small pile of sawdust behind, and instead of simply scraping it up and throwing it away, I wondered how I might be able to reuse it.  It turns out sawdust has several little-known, but highly effective, uses around the house. From weed killing to cleaning up spills, sawdust is a handyman’s most useful leftover.

It is cheaper than Roundup. Many people are unaware of sawdust’s weed-killing prowess, particularly dust made from walnut and cedar wood varieties. The sawdust not only suppresses weeds similar to mulch or other cover products, but as it decays it creates soil conditions that are not conducive to plant life – even weeds. Carefully sweep sawdust into crevices you don’t want weeds or grass to grow, such as expansion joints in concrete or in between stepping stones in your backyard.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.  Around the holiday season a small pile of sawdust can be mixed with some glue and a little white paint, and used to coat your favorite holiday crafts to simulate snow. Add some glitter for a special holiday sparkle. This also works particularly well when creating a snowy ground for a small nativity scene or similar Christmas display.

Make your own sawdust briquettes to use as firestarters. Have you ever used those soap-like bricks of highly flammable gel to get a fire going? With sawdust and a few other products found around the house you can make your own fire starter briquettes. First, melt some wax in a large Teflon pot – candle wax will do the trick. Begin slowly adding sawdust until the mixture becomes less pliable. Pour up the hot wax/sawdust mixture in some non-stick muffin or cupcake pans and allow them to cool. Slide out the “cake” mixtures and voila, homemade sawdust briquettes guaranteed to get your wood-burning fire going.

Sawdust is super absorbent. Sawdust has fantastic absorbent quality, and soaks up just about any home spill, from motor oil to a bucket of paint. Stash some in your garage and throw it out over a spill if you kick over a can of motor oil. Push it around the spill with an old mop and watch it soak up the spillage.

Trade in those snowchains. This tip is particularly relevant for drivers that must battle snow and ice on their daily commutes. Sprinkling some sawdust in a snowy rut can help your car’s tires gain traction, and prevent the snow and ice underneath from growing further compacted. As a side benefit, it is biodegradable so you are not hurting the environment by throwing out some synthetic, commercial mixture.

The next time you create some sawdust, remember these tips before sweeping it up and trashing it.  You will save a little money and do your part to help the environment.

Image Credit:  steve_lodefink