Tips for Winterizing Your Home During Cold Weather

Cold weather will be here before you know it. Don’t wait until it arrives to get your Broken Arrow home ready. Take steps now by using the following helpful tips for winterizing your home.

Schedule Heating-System Maintenance While Winterizing Your Home

Your furnace or heat pump needs routine maintenance to make sure it runs efficiently and safely. Gas furnaces can have buildup that needs to be cleaned to prevent safety issues. Set up an HVAC maintenance visit before you start using your heating system this season.

Find and Seal Gaps While Winterizing Your Home

Gaps and cracks make it easy for cold winter air to get into your home. It might flow in through openings around doors and windows, for example. Add weatherstripping to these areas or replace existing weatherstripping that’s worn. Seal up other gaps in your home exterior to keep cold air out and hot air in.

Check Insulation While Winterizing Your Home

Insulation in your attic helps keep heated air in your living space. Otherwise, it can escape through the roof. This causes you to use your heating system more and more, leading to wear and tear and higher utility bills. Add insulation to your attic if you don’t have enough in there.

Test Carbon Monoxide Detectors While Winterizing Your Home

Check carbon monoxide detectors this season. These detectors alert you immediately if carbon monoxide, which is odorless, colorless, and potentially deadly, is leaking inside your home. These leaks can be life-threatening, so making sure your carbon monoxide detectors are working is essential.

Change Air Filters While Winterizing Your Home

Put new air filters into your HVAC system, especially if you haven’t changed them in a while. This helps ensure that your heating system can work efficiently while also improving your indoor air quality (IAQ). Check your air filters again during winter to see if they need to be replaced.

If you need help winterizing your home, such as with HVAC maintenance or adding insulation, contact Air Assurance. We offer dependable HVAC services for homeowners in and around Broken Arrow.

Can Cold Weather Shock Your HVAC System?

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Your outdoor HVAC unit is designed to withstand the elements. However, if temperatures drop below a certain point, it can run into trouble. Here's how cold weather can affect your system and what you can do about it.

Snow and Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are great for milder winter climates such as Oklahoma's. They operate like an AC in reverse, pumping warm air into your home and cold air outside. They can be more than three times more efficient than gas furnaces.

However, when it snows, you need to be careful. If snow is allowed to build up around your outdoor unit, it can restrict airflow. As the coils get clogged with snow, the compressor stops working and the blower motor won't turn. If the weather gets below freezing, then ice can build up around the unit as well.

During cold weather, it's important to keep snow and ice away from your heat pump. There should be a defrost setting for the unit itself, but you'll also need to shovel away any snow piling up around it. It needs to be free of debris for at least 2 square feet on all sides in order to work properly.

Extreme Cold Weather

Especially if you have an older-model heat pump, it might have difficulty functioning in temperatures below 25 degrees. In fact, when the weather gets below 40, it starts losing efficiency. By the time it reaches 25, it may be less efficient than a regular gas furnace. Heat pumps work by extracting the heat from the air. The less heat there is to extract, the less efficiently your system will operate. Below a certain point, you'll need a backup heat source.

Fortunately, more modern heat pumps don't have this problem. They're designed to continue heating your home without losing efficiency, even at temperatures far below zero. Therefore, if you want to maintain your heating in cold weather, consider upgrading to a newer system.

To ensure your home comfort in all kinds of weather, contact us at Air Assurance. Broken Arrow homes count on us for quality heating and cooling solutions.