With winter on the horizon, understandably many families are again put in the awkward position of having to renovate aspects of their home now redundant from last year from overuse to fight the cold. Cold weather can be detrimental to your health, home, and family’s health, and it should always be treated with the utmost importance. It can seem almost unnecessary in our modern age to worry about cold-proofing your home, but surprisingly despite the technological and architectural innovations that we are blessed with now, many homes are still very poorly adapted for cold weather and will be extremely chilly if you do not have the correct modifications for your home.
Here are a few ways to cold-proof your home:
Make Sure Your Central Heating Is in Order
A recent survey uncovered that up to 20% of homeowners and tenants believe having their boiler serviced is unnecessary and will only do so when their boiler or heating actually breaks down. The professionals of La Palma plumbers discussed that ideally, you should have your boiler serviced every year to make sure it is both safe and in working order. Unfortunately, boilers left untended and kept in poor condition can become dangerous and begin producing carbon monoxide or even breakdown completely. Risking your family’s health for the sake of a hundred dollars is a risk not worth taking. Be sure to have your boiler serviced and your central heating is working the way that it is meant to so as to avoid any potential damaging health effects or have you having to pay a big chunk of money for a new boiler.
Be Sure to Have Your Chimney Swept
Although chimneys are largely an antiquated system of warming your home, many cottages or old stately homes do, in fact, still have chimneys, and operating ones at that. There are many potential negative health effects’ you can fall victim to from having a chimney but be sure if you do have one to keep both your fireplace and chimney serviced. By not sweeping your chimney, you are welcoming all manner of dust, debris, and even birds, into your home. That is right, birds. It is not uncommon for a chimney that has fallen into disarray to be nested in by birds during the colder months.
Clean your Gutters
Cleaning your gutters, gullies, and downpipes is a sure-fire way to cold-proof your home. By preventing leaves, moss, and all other types of waste from accumulating in your gutters you will provide a swift stream for rainwater to flow it to prevent it from pooling and causing damp in your home and damaging both the structure, growing mold, and causing your home to become wet and horrible. Mold growth in your home can cause lifelong health problems for you and your family and is the leading cause of respiratory infections in impoverished nations and should always be taken seriously and be prevented when possible.
Keep Your Oil Tank Filled Up
If you are living off of an oil heater then it is very important that you keep your oil tank filled to the brim in case of any emergencies, whether snow or flooding, which can leave you unable to heat your home and you will find yourself in a terrible situation. Buying oil during the colder months will see a rise in prices as demand will be high so often the best time to buy oil will be in the summer months and keep it around in your garage or shed, and always keep your oil tank filled up. Otherwise, invest in mains so you don’t have to worry about constantly keeping your oil filled up.
Insulation
You will be surprised to know that many new housing developments do not have walls or loft insulated. A very important, perhaps the first thing that you should do when preparing your house for colder months is to make sure you have adequate insulation in your home and loft, so as to keep your family nice and warm and prevent them from falling ill due to cold.
Another reason to have your loft insulated is to prevent birds and bats from nesting in there. Yes, it is very common in homes without proper insulation to be nested in by all manner of flying animals, and also be home to mice and rats… and perhaps Borrowers.
Be sure when you are carrying out the relevant duties to keep your house cold proofed you exercise complete caution and safety to prevent any accidents and if you are employing independent contractors thoroughly reference them first so that you don’t hire anybody that could cause structural damage to your home or scam you. There is an abundance of cowboy builders out there, do not fall victim to them out of carelessness.
Speak Your Mind