Search Results for: blog getting your home ready for winterpart 1 the furnace

How NOT To Heat Your Home

Our local Dairy Queen was closed today. Not because it ran out of soft-serve. Rather, the electronic sign outside the establishment scrolled: “CLOSED due to EXTREME COLD!” Not something you see everyday. Then again, our below zero temperatures (way below—windchills here have been around 45 below zero) are not something you experience every day either. Less than two weeks ago my daughter and I were in Hawaii baking in 84 degree tropical weather. This morning we woke up in Wisconsin where the temperature was –10. (A difference of nearly 95 degrees… but who’s counting). The Dairy Queen, the YWCA, the … Continue reading →

New Year Resolutions For Homeowners

We are almost a full week into 2007… have you broken your New Year’s resolution yet? I have. Oh well. I had resolved to concentrate more on home maintenance, but I can barely muster enough energy to put away the holiday decorations, so you can see what foot I’ve gotten off on… In all seriousness, the first part of the year is an ideal time to develop a strategy for household maintenance, if for no other reason than to prevent costly problems down the road. It’s no secret that designing and implementing a plan to upkeep your home will end … Continue reading →

More Tips For Winterizing Your Home—Pipes and Gutters

So you’ve completed the winterization process on your home’s windows and doors, now it’s time to concentrate on the plumbing and roof. I don’t know where you live, but here in the Upper Midwest meteorologists are warning of an Artic blast that’s making its way down from Canada. They say by the end of the week our daytime highs won’t get out of the mid 20’s. For residents around here now’s the time to wrap the outside hose bibs. Resist the newspaper-and-duct-tape method (once water seeps through the newspaper your covering will be rendered useless, and that’s not saying anything … Continue reading →

More Tips For Winterizing Your Home—Windows and Doors

In a previous blog I provided some tips on how to ensure your home is ready for Old Man Winter. In our home we are prepping for an Artic blast, which is currently making its way down from Canada. I am never ready for bone chilling temperatures, but that doesn’t mean my house isn’t. Believe me, if you’ve got air leaks around your windows, the first cold day of winter will reveal them to you. Did you know one of the oldest methods for detecting an air leak is to use a lit candle? Simply move it around the window’s … Continue reading →

Battling Your Home’s Invisible Dangers

I spent the better part of this week battling a severe cold, sore throat, etc. The rest of the time was spent trying to figure out how it was that I got sick in the first place (I hate being sick and try to maintain a lifestyle that prevents me from having to deal with illnesses). The time I wasted trying to re-track my steps was fruitless, save for the fact that I stumbled upon some interesting information about hazardous pollutants that hide in all of our households (for about an hour I was convinced my sickness was triggered by … Continue reading →

What To Know Before You Light That First Fire Of The Season

It’s in the 30’s today in the Upper Midwest—a lot of residents here are recovering from a moderate storm that dumped up to 14 inches of snow in some spots. With chilly temperatures and a fresh blanket of snow outside, nothing is better than coming indoors to warm up in front of a roaring fire. Sounds inviting, but without taking the proper precautions, that warm and toasty fire can come back to burn you. According to the National Fire Prevention Association, there are approximately 11,000 chimney fires in the United States every year, which cause more than $7 million in … Continue reading →

Decorating Tips: Your Fireplace and Mantel

During the spring and summer months they may be two of the most overlooked items in your home. But once winter rolls around the fireplace and mantel become the center of attention. If you have a fireplace then you know–home is where the hearth is. And, with the amount of time friends and family members spend warning their hands and feet by the flames, you are almost guaranteed that they will be looking at your mantel. Long before you haul your Christmas tree indoors your fireplace and mantel can kick-start the holiday season. A mantel may be small (which makes … Continue reading →

Winterizing Your Home: 10 Ways To Lower Your Gas Bill

Two years ago I nearly had a heart attack when I opened our heating bill. The winter was brutal and so was the payment amount printed on the bills for the months of January, February, and March. But, back then I had just given birth and was more concerned about keeping my precious baby warm than trying to make the most of our energy dollar. I’ve wised up since then. The following are simple guidelines we now follow to ensure that I don’t experience cardiac arrest when the gas bills come in. Hopefully they can help you enjoy lower heating … Continue reading →