October 4, 2023

As winter approaches, it becomes crucial to prepare your home for the cold and challenging weather conditions that lie ahead. Winter can bring a host of potential hazards, from freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall, to icy roads and strong winds. Although insurance helps to cover the cost of damage to your home, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to take measures each year to protect your home from damage. Claims can be denied due to lack of proper home maintenance.

By implementing proper preparations and precautions, you can fortify your home against the harsh winter elements and create a warm, safe, and secure haven for yourself and your loved ones throughout the season.

Checklist To Help You Prepare Your Home For The Winter

Indoor Preparation Checklist

• Reverse Your Fans Change the direction of your ceiling fans to circulate warm air downward during winter, helping to distribute heat efficiently.

• Maintain Your Chimney Schedule a professional chimney inspection and cleaning to ensure proper ventilation and reduce the risk of chimney fires.

• Adjust The Temperature On Your Water Heater Lower the temperature on your water heater to save energy and prevent scalding accidents during winter months.

• Tune Up Your Furnace Have your furnace professionally serviced to ensure it operates efficiently and safely throughout the winter season.

• Block Drafts Seal gaps around windows and doors with weather-stripping or caulk to prevent cold drafts from entering your home and improve energy efficiency.

• Avoid A Burst Pipe Insulate exposed pipes and disconnect outdoor hoses to prevent freezing and potential bursting during freezing temperatures. For more details on how to treat a burst pipe, check out exactly what steps you can take.

Outdoor Preparation Checklist

• Clear Off Debris From Your Driveway And Sidewalks Leaves can become quite slippery when wet, so raking them off your lawn, driveway, and sidewalk can help to mitigate the risk of an accident.

• Prepare Outdoor Plumbing And Pools Drain any outdoor spigots or sprinkler systems and properly cover them with insulation to protect them from freezing weather.

• Clean Your Gutters Leaves have likely settled into your gutters over the summer months, which can cause ice dams when freezing temperatures arrive and the drainage system isn’t working properly. Get a jump start by cleaning these out now to avoid messy leaks over the coming months.

• Prevent Pests Take measures to seal any cracks or openings in your home's exterior to prevent pests from seeking shelter indoors during the colder months.

• Prevent Frozen Locks Use lock lubricant or deicer to prevent outdoor locks from freezing and becoming difficult to operate in cold weather.

Prepare Your Home For Winter Weather

To help keep you on track, you can download a full PDF of the list here. To make sure your home is fully prepared for the season, we recommend you check in with your agent to make sure you have the best homeowners insurance to keep you feeling comfortable and confident.