Now’s the time to prep your house to avoid winter disasters

Suffocating heat woke Stephanie Ellis at 4 o’clock one summer morning in 2020.

“It was your worst nightmare,” recalled Ellis, a Realtor with Compass who lives in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia. “No cold air was blowing out.”

Since then, she doesn’t take any chances. Twice a year she does preventative maintenance to avoid costly repairs. Not only does it protect her home from potential disasters, it also saves her money.

Insurance companies offer discounts up to 20% to homeowners with smart-home devices designed to prevent water damage, fire, or theft, according to NerdWallet. On average, insulation alone saves homeowners 15% on their heating and cooling costs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program.

Now’s the time to make your winter checkup list and get to work.

Ellis’ comprehensive list includes some tasks she can do herself and others she hires contractors to complete.

She surveys her property looking for tree limbs that could fall on her house or cars in a heavy snow or ice storm, or provide transportation to critters looking for a warm space inside the house. She checks that outer door handles and railings are tight. She replaces batteries in her smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

Ellis also feels around her doors and windows for air leaks. An easy way to check, according to Angie Hicks, cofounder of Angi, an online home service company based in Indianapolis, is to walk around your windows and doors with a lit candle. If the flame flickers, there’s air coming through, which you can easily fill with weather stripping. Window coverings also help keep cold air at bay.

Ellis hires contractors to clean her gutters, inspect her roof to prevent damage from cycles of freezing and thawing, tune-up her HVAC system, and drain her outdoor spigots. Every couple of years she has an electrician check her electrical panel. She estimates spending about $500 a year for the preventative services.

Hicks recommends tuning up your furnace, the largest user of energy in your home, every fall. If your furnace is older than 10 years, you might consider updating it to an Energy Star-rated system that could save you 20% on your bills.

On especially cold nights, leave a thin trickle of water in sink or tub faucets to prevent the water in the pipes from freezing. Identify faucets connected to pipes that have frozen previously and those that are exposed or against outdoor walls. If water pipes for both hot and cold water are exposed, turn on both to a trickle to prevent either line from freezing.

Also be sure to close and drain your landscaping sprinkler system before the first frost.

Seasonal prep is especially important if you have multiple residences — perhaps a beach house that will be vacant offseason or a house you shutter when you flee to a warmer climate for the winter.

You don’t want to come home to messy surprises. Smart devices can help you adjust your thermostats or warn you about problems.

Bill learned the hard way in 2004 that winterizing his family’s Ocean City Shore house is important.

“The power went out, and a pipe burst, and we had a flood,” recalled Bill, who asked that his last name not be used to protect the security of his sometimes empty house.

A neighbor called him with the bad news, and ever since, he’s hired Broadley’s in Marmora to winterize the home. The process takes a couple of hours and costs about $400.

Bill also installed a smart thermostat controllable from his phone that will alert him if his heating equipment has failed.

A technician blows out all water pipes inside and out with compressed air, empties the water heater, and puts antifreeze in sinks, showers, tubs, toilets and appliances that use water, including the washing machine and dishwasher. The antifreeze prevents freezing if the house temperature falls below 32 degrees.

The main water valve, which controls water coming into the house, is also shut off. It’s important to know where the valve is, in case of emergency. It could be in the basement, crawl space, utility room, or even outdoors.

Geoff Straup, Broadley’s plumbing service technician, recommends a water leak shutoff valve with leak sensors made by Resideo, which attaches to the home’s main water valve. It comes with wireless leak sensors that can be placed in various locations around the home — such as behind the refrigerator or next to the water heater.

If it detects water, it will send an alert to your phone app, or it can shut off the water main to the house. Many insurance companies offer discounts for winterizing, Straup said.

If you don’t want to fully winterize your vacation home because you visit periodically in the winter, it’s critical to keep the heat running and set to at least 55 degrees, said Straup.

“Even if you turn your water main valve to the off position, if your heat goes out and it’s below 32 degrees in your home, it’s a disaster waiting to happen,” he said.

When pipes are within a cabinet under the bathroom sink, keep the cabinet door open to allow warm air to circulate, or wrap towels around the pipes, Hicks said. Don’t assume that because your house is new, you don’t need to winterize. She experienced frozen pipes bursting in a new home.

“The pipes for one of the bathrooms sat on an exterior wall over the garage,” Hicks recalled. “So paying attention to where your pipes are is super important.”

She also reminds homeowners to set up snow clearing before leaving for the winter. Beyond signaling that no one is home, uncleared sidewalks can be dangerous to passersby. Plus many towns have ordinances requiring snow clearance.

Ellis is confident her home will be in good shape come winter.

“It’s like a car,” she said. “The better you maintain it, the better it will ride and the more enjoyable your experience will be. If you don’t, you’re going to pay for it at some point.”