No matter what winter looks like where you live, whether it\u2019s snow and ice all season long or 70 degrees one day and in the teens the next (we\u2019re looking at you, Virginia), the colder months come with unique challenges to keeping your home comfortable and safe. A buildup of condensation plus freezing temperatures can equal trouble for your roof. Heavy ice and snow can lead to blocked and damaged gutters. Fluctuating winter temperatures can cause caulk to crack and separate from your windows, leading to cold drafts and higher energy bills. Extreme cold can cause pipes to freeze and burst.<\/p>\n
The above cold weather catastrophes are only a few ways that winter can damage your home<\/a>. In addition to having a robust homeowners insurance<\/a> plan, taking the proper precautions can help ensure that your home stays warm, cozy, and damage-free all winter long.<\/p>\n While you might think that winterizing your home would refer exclusively to outdoor tasks, the inside of your home needs protection from harsh winter weather as well. Below, we\u2019ll discuss different areas of your home in detail, and the steps you can take to protect them from cold winter temperatures.<\/p>\n Skyrocketing energy bills are a common winter problem for homeowners. But the good news is that it\u2019s not inevitable. Properly insulating your home can both keep your home warm through the winter and cut your bills back down to size. You can do this by:<\/p>\n Even if your home electricity is pretty reliable, you want to have some sort of back-up power source<\/a> on hand, especially when winter rolls around. Your main options here are fuel-powered standby generators and battery backup generators.<\/p>\n Conventional fuel-powered generators typically run on natural gas, liquid propane, or diesel. Some natural gas and propane generators connect directly to your home\u2019s gas line or propane tank, which saves you the effort of manual refills. Diesel generators, on the other hand, will need regular refills in order to keep running.<\/p>\n Home battery backup systems run on electricity, either from your power grid or your home\u2019s solar system. They are significantly more expensive up front, but can save you money in fuel costs in the long run.<\/p>\n To keep our homes warm and comfortable, we tend to keep our windows and doors closed to the outside during the winter. This, combined with otherwise helpful insulation, can unfortunately lead to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide build up inside your home. Fire<\/a> becomes more of a risk in the winter, as well \u2014 using your fireplaces, space heaters, radiators, and wood stoves can all keep your home cozy, but pose a fire risk if not used properly.<\/p>\n To help keep yourself and your home safe this winter, make sure you have plenty of carbon monoxide and smoke detectors installed. You should have at least one of each, or a device that detects both, on every floor of the house, and they should cover all sleeping areas. You should test and clean all of your detectors regularly. Finally, make sure to keep all flammable objects at least three feet away from all heat sources.<\/p>\n Ice, snow, and fluctuating temperatures can cause winter damage to your home\u2019s exterior. Through regular maintenance and preemptive repairs, however, you can do a lot to minimize winter weather damage<\/a> to your home.<\/p>\n Three simple steps you can take to protect the exterior of your home from winter weather are:<\/p>\n When dealing with slippery snow and ice, the last thing you need to deal with is unstable or unsafe steps or handrails. Make sure your railings and steps are solidly put together before winter hits. If you do make a misstep or slip on the ice, you\u2019ll at least have something to grab on to!<\/p>\n All of the steps listed in this article can go a long way towards helping your home weather even the worst winter weather<\/a>. What\u2019s more, they can help your wallet do the same! Taking the proper steps before cold weather sets in can save you money on both bills and repairs for winter damage.<\/p>\n In addition to home repairs and maintenance, homeowner\u2019s insurance is another smart preventative measure. Homeowner\u2019s insurance helps relieve the financial strain of damages to your home, property, and personal belongings.<\/p>\n The post Winter damage prevention for your home<\/a> appeared first on Elephant Insurance<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No matter what winter looks like where you live, whether it\u2019s snow and ice all season long or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270,"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions\/270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauratotten.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Protecting your home for the winter: indoors<\/h2>\n
Add extra insulation<\/h3>\n
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Have a back-up power source at the ready<\/h3>\n
Protection through detection<\/h3>\n
Protecting your home for the winter: outdoors<\/h2>\n
Trim, clean, and seal<\/h3>\n
\n
Repair steps and handrails<\/h3>\n
Wrapping up<\/h2>\n