Winter Home Maintenance Checklist

In cold weather, there are various things that homeowners can do to help protect their home, make the interior more comfortable, prevent some headaches, and lower utility bills. Some of which are things that are actually easiest to do in the winter.

1. Check your windows and doors for drafts. When its cold and windy outside, this is the best time to easily tell if there are air leaks in these areas. This flaw will be much more apparent at this time of year. You can use your hand or even smoke from a blown-out candle to easily tell if there is a draft in these places. If a draft exists, adding weatherstripping, caulking exposed exterior joints, and adding window weatherization plastic kits are each a good idea. The same goes for receptacles and switches on exterior walls. Foam kits can be installed behind the receptacle and switch cover plates to help reduce the amount of cold air drafting at these wall openings.

2. Most homes, even those only 20 years old, can benefit from more attic insulation. Current code in our area for attics is R-49. That would equate to 14” of cellulose, about 16” of fiberglass batt, or about 18” of blown-in fiberglass insulation. Different insulation types have different R-values per inch. Since warm air rises, you get the most bang for your buck by properly insulating your attic. A common flaw found in many homes is the lack of insulation and weatherstripping the attic entrance location. In older homes, this is often a door to a walk-up staircase. In more modern homes, this is often a push-up panel (aka skuttle) or maybe even a pulldown ladder in a bedroom or hall ceiling. Zip-up insulation kits are also available for pulldown ladders. If you fully insulate your entire attic, but don’t insulate your attic access location, this can considerably lower your overall attic insulation R-value. Read my Attic Insulation article for more info.

There is an area (the purple/dark blue color indicates cold attic air) of missing insulation above this section of ceiling.

For example, if 98% of your attic is insulated to R-49 and your attic access panel (which we’ll estimate to be 2% of the attic area in size) is uninsulated, your attic’s overall R-value would then only be approx. R-14. That’s a huge drop from R-49.

The infrared-overlay image to the right was taken in the summer and shows an attic access panel lacking insulation. The yellow color indicates attic heat finding its way into living space. In winter, the yellow indication in this infrared image would, instead, look like dark blue due to cold attic air contacting the access panel. In the colder months, the living space heat would be lost to the attic at this location. When living space heat is lost into the attic, this causes the home’s heating system to have to run more often, resulting in higher bills.

3. If you have a work sink in your garage, adding pipe insulation to the exposed supply plumbing feeding this sink is also a good idea. Garages are susceptible to freezing temperatures in the winter and exposed uninsulated plumbing in this area can freeze. Never use a blow-torch on frozen pipes either; a hair dryer is the proper item to use if this ever happens.

4. After cooking large meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas, your oven may be in need of a good cleaning by now. A paste-like solution consisting of baking soda and vinegar can do wonders to help clean your oven’s interior. Applying this mixture and letting it sit overnight and then wiping it down with a wet sponge the next morning can make easy work of this task. Another option is to use a cleaner used for grills/BBQs as that will likely also work well. This article goes over this task in more detail.

5. When is the last time you tested your sump pump? I call sump pumps your basement’s best friend. In the winter, assuming we actually get snow, we often have some fast thaws. This melted snow (now water) can find its way into your sump pit. A non-functional sump pump isn’t going to save you here. Also, in winter, we sometimes have very windy days which can result in a power outage. A battery backup sump pump (which I always recommend to my clients buying a home with a sump pit) is a wise idea, especially if your basement is finished or you have a lot of items stored there. For more info, read my Sump Pump article.

6. Check/replace your heating system’s air filter. This applies to furnaces and heat pumps; boilers don’t directly heat air and, therefore, don’t have an air filter. The most common type of air filter in use today is the 1″ thick pleated type. These typically need to be replaced every 90 days. So, if you installed a new air filter at the beginning of heating season (say, October, for example), then January would be the next time to replace it. Air filters protect the heating system’s interior components. A dirty air filter can cause excessive wear to your system since air flow through the system can be restricted. The larger media pleated filters (often 4″, 5″, or 7″ thick) are normally good for 12 months. Fiberglass air filters are not recommended as they filter air very poorly and generally need to be replaced monthly.

This dirty air filter should have been replaced months ago.

7. When did you last test or replace your smoke detectors? Contrary to popular belief, pressing the TEST button doesn’t actually test the detector. It only tests whether the unit is powered. To test the actual detector, you would need a source of smoke, such as from a blown-out candle or canned smoke. Smoke detectors need to be replaced about every 10 years as the Americium (a radioactive element) inside the detector deteriorates after about 10 years. Americium is used to detect smoke. What good is an old smoke detector if it no longer reliably detects smoke and protects you? The same goes for carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. Each should be installed throughout your home and should be replaced as listed by the manufacture (again, normally every 10 years).

8. Winter is a little late to check your gutters for debris (that is really a late autumn task), but if they are clogged with leaves, freezing temperatures can cause frozen gutters. This can let freezing water back up into your eaves resulting in a roof leak, rotted roof sheathing, and/or large icicles and may also be enough weight to let a gutter literally fall off your home. Heat tape can be installed in gutters and above the eaves of your roof to help prevent water in these areas from freezing.
(Photo courtesy of The Ice Dam Guys)

Matthew Steger is a Certified Level 1 Infrared Thermographer, an ASHI Certified Inspector (ACI), and an electrical engineer. He can be reached at matthew@thehomeinspectorsnotebook.com. No article, or portion thereof, may be reproduced or copied without prior written consent of Matthew Steger.