Winter is around the corner, which means now is the best time to prepare your home for the upcoming colder months. Our winter savings and comfort checklist will help you lower your utility bills, protect your house, and keep your family warm all season long. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
1. Reverse Your Ceiling Fans
Here’s a great tip if your ceiling fans are equipped with a reverse switch. Once you’ve turned your furnace on for the winter, use your fan’s reverse switch to run the fan’s blades in a clockwise direction. This will create an updraft and push down the warm air from the ceiling into the room. This is especially helpful if your home has high ceilings!
2. Check Your Roof and Gutters
Look for damaged, missing or loose shingles and have them repaired as soon as possible. This will prevent leakage during a winter storm or from melting snow. Additionally, remove any leaves, pine needles or other debris from your roof as this promotes deterioration of the shingles.
Don’t forget to clean the gutters as well! A clogged gutter will cause water to back up on the house, damaging your roof, siding, and wood trim. A gutter full of debris can also cause ice dams and leakage.
3. Check Windows and Doors
Check the upper and lower sash of all windows, including storm windows, to make sure they are locked. This may seem obvious, but many homeowners forget to lock their windows and sometimes even to close them. This can result in extremely high energy bills and safety issues.
Another important step is to thoroughly clean your window sills and weep holes. Closing windows with debris in the sills can damage the window and leave small gaps for cold air to come in. Now is also the ideal time to clean the outdoor glass on your windows before it gets too cold to do so. This will also allow more sunlight to shine through, which will aid in warming your home throughout the cold winter months.
Check your doors for drafts. Since doors expand in the heat and contract in the cold, small gaps can occur in the winter, allowing cold air to come in and warm air to go out. If you can’t seem to find where the cold is coming from, turn off the lights in your home during the day and check for light coming through around the edges of your door. If light is coming through, chances are that’s where the cold is coming in as well. The best way to solve this issue is to replace the door altogether.
Related Read: Why Winter Is the Perfect Time to Replace Patio Doors
4. Schedule a Furnace Tune-Up
This is something every homeowner should do at this time of year! During a tune-up, a licensed technician will make small adjustments, such as lubricating moving parts, inspecting and cleaning condensate drains, and testing the unit’s starting capabilities. Small problems can be detected before they turn into larger, more expensive repairs. Regular maintenance also leads to fewer unexpected breakdowns.
5. Call a Chimney Sweep
A professional chimney sweep will ensure your chimney and vents are clean and in good condition. This will prevent chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. They’ll also make sure your chimney isn’t letting in cold air, which will reduce your utility bills and increase comfort!
It’s getting chilly outside, which means the last thing on your mind is a party on the patio. However, right now is the perfect time to think about your patio doors. Why? All-Weather is here to explain. 
There are many ways to update a patio door in order to have it operating well during winter weather. You can replace rollers, screens, and glass. However, if you have a door that is difficult to open and close, it is best to replace it altogether to avoid a larger issue down the road.
According to 
When is a pocket insert window recommended? 
If you still cannot find the cause of the draft, the problem could be your attic insulation. Did you know that 
Door contractors are less busy at this time of year, meaning they’ll get to your installation quickly, blocking off your entry to keep the cold out while they install your new door. It’s quick and easy, and they’ll be done in half a day — probably before the kids get home from school!
You’ve seen the Energy Star rating on appliances, but did you know that the 
There’s nothing worse than sitting at your kitchen table having coffee one morning and noticing a small crack in your sunny kitchen window! Next, you ask yourself questions like: 
A stress crack in an insulated glass window is a crack that starts small, near the edge of the window, and often continues to grow and spread across the glass. Extreme fluctuations in temperature are the most common cause of small thermal stress cracks. For instance, when it’s a cold day and you crank your heat up drastically to stay warm. 
An impact break is just what it sounds like — a broken window caused by a neighborhood ballgame hit gone astray, a rock propelled by a weed eater or a lawn mower, or a golf swing gone wrong if you live on a golf course. These are usually characterized and easily identifiable due to the starburst pattern that radiates outward from the point of impact. 
Pressure cracks are less common and always seem to come out of nowhere. Most commonly seen in insulated glass, or double-paned windows, pressure cracks can be caused by drastic pressure system changes in the weather or when windows are installed at too high or too low of an elevation level. These cracks tend to curve in the shape of an hourglass and will most likely result in a complete window replacement. 
A window that fails to stay in the open position isn’t just annoying–it’s downright dangerous. 
Now, the question is: should you simply repair your window or replace it altogether? While there are temporary fixes you can consider to resolve the problem in the short term, this is probably a sign that your windows are becoming worn and are in need of replacing.
Everyone wants a beautiful home inside and out, and you invest a lot of time and effort into the appearance and condition of your home. One thing that may be overlooked, though, is your entry door. This is a vital part of the house because it affects the temperature, security, and appearance of your home.
