During winter, it is possible that enough heat escapes or cold draft enters the interior of our houses. In both cases, our houses could become less efficient during winter. As an example, our hot water heater doesn’t conserve enough heat and it is a good idea to use an insulating blanket. It means that the likelihood of water damage inside our house can be reduced, even during a power outage. During winter, it’s also more likely that water pipes freeze and we may need a heater constantly works 24/7. We could eliminate the use of water heater by using special pipe insulation.
If we have enough time and money, it is a better solution to relocate the pipe to less exposed areas. This could be a more time consuming and expensive solution, but could permanently solve frozen pipes problems during winter. Another solution is to apply heat pipe to our pipes. Our house may become less efficient if the existing insulation has improper R-value. We should make sure that each area of our house uses the proper R-value, especially in walls, ceilings and floors. If we find that our house is using wrong insulation, we should use the right one. Another problem is that our heating system may not work properly. In this case, we should check the furnace and check whether the filter is clean.
For the best possible efficiency, we should clean the registers in each of our room. Rugs, loose carpeting, curtains and furniture should be moved away from the registers. This should avoid fire hazard and allows the air to circulate freely. The pilot light of the furnace should be blue and if it isn’t, we should contact the repairman so it can be looked at immediately. Dirty chimney could also lower the overall efficiency of our house during winter. It means that we should contact chimney cleaner to examine the flue and chimney. Any accumulated creosote should also be removed.
Our house is cooler and less efficient if warm air doesn’t circulate well. This could cause us to increase the temperature of thermostat. The direction of the fan should be optimized to make sure that warm air could circulate to all rooms. Unsealed air leaks could make problem worse in our house. Air leaks can be found around doorways, windows, attic entrances, pipe fittings and electrical outlets. In this case, we should add insulation plates or caulk to locations that merit it. In order to prevent heat and leaks around the windows, we should apply enough weather stripping.
Other than making our house more efficient, we should also consider necessary safety procedures. We should purchase carbon monoxide and smoke alarms detectors. It is important to understand that detectors and sensors may need to be replaced every few years, because they may lose sensitivity over time. Battery in our alarms should also be replaced about once a year. Alarms should be checked to make sure that they are in a perfect working order. Shrubbery should be trimmed away from water pipes, doorways and windows.