Remodeling a Home

As winter rolls into town, everyone starts looking for ways to keep warm. Are you ready? Do you know what to do to get your home ready for the chilly weather? Here, you'll find a few tips to help you prepare your home for winter and keep the air from getting stale as you're locked inside for months.

Schedule a Furnace Cleaning

The furnace must be cleaned at least once each year. During this cleaning, the components will be checked to be sure they are all in good working order. If a single part is in disrepair, the system will consume more energy to operate. The cleaner the system is, and the better you keep up with the maintenance of the equipment, the longer and more efficiently it will run.

Keep up with Filter Changes

The filter in the furnace catches all of the nasty stuff that you don't want blowing through your furnace and into your home. In most cases, a new filter each month will do very well, but if your home is very dusty or you use some sort of wood or coal burning supplemental heat source, the filter will become dirty much faster. Buy the filters in bulk so you have them on hand whenever you need them.

Clear Vents and Registers

Get out your vacuum and your screw driver. Remove the vent and register covers and vacuum them out as best you can. Keeping the duct work, vents and registers clean will allow for a better flow of air that contains fewer dust particles.

Tip: If you haven't had the duct work in your home professionally cleaned in a while, consider having it done this year. Dirt and moisture do build up inside the duct work and will make things smell badly and reduce the efficiency of the heating system.

Air out the House

Anytime you get a break in the weather, open a few windows around the house – just enough to allow some fresh air to come inside and release the stale air from inside. Expedite the process by putting fans in two windows – one pulling the air in and one pushing the air out. This will speed up the cycling of the stale air and leave things smelling fresh and clean.

Contact a local heating installation company to learn more about what you can do to prepare the heating system and your home for a cozy, warm winter without suffering through stale, stinky air.