Those of us in northern climates know well that a little preventative action can save us headaches when the weather
turns cold. I live an Anchorage, Alaska, which is located on Cook Inlet. Our elevation is low and the water keeps our temperature relatively temperate, but it will still get well below freezing and stay that way for months.
Here is a checklist of things I do around my house “pre-snow“:
1. Have your furnace inspected. This should be done every year. If you forget and have a problem, odds are it will be on a very cold night when the heating guy takes forever to get to you and charges triple-time. I’ve found that you can save money by having your heating systems cleaned and serviced by a professional in good weather, beats the rush and saves you money in the winter when rates are higher.
2. Clean leaves out of your house gutters. If you have trees close by your house, you will have leaves. If you don’t get the leaves out, by next year the leaves will be decomposing into sod. Wait a couple seasons and you’ll have mess of it. On a rainy day you’ll see water running over the sides of your gutters, possibly at the dammed up downspouts. This is an easy job to do in the fall before the roof gets ice on it.
3. Disconnect your garden house. This is an easy item to overlook. Leaving a garden hose connected will make water trapped inside the hose freeze and travel upside the wall of the house. Modern hose bibs are built to be frost free, but it’s not worth it to test the quality of your wall and frost-free hose spigot. If it freezes, it will break and can run water inside the wall either right when it breaks or in the spring when it finally thaws creating a much larger mess and greater repair.
4. Use your ‘set-back’ thermostats. In the great State of Alaska, there has been a push for years to get an energy audit and make basic repairs. By basic, installing better quality windows, caulking drafts and cracks and installing weather seal to doors jams and thresholds to stop air leaks. Most homes today, at least in Alaska, have set-back thermometers that allow you to set the time for you home to cool down during the day when you are at work, and come back to temperature when you are on your way home from work. If you have them already, use them! They will save you money. If you don’t have them, get them, install them and use’em! During the day, wear a sweater and put your socks on – you’ll save money!
5. Use Your Ceiling Fan. I like to have the air moving when I am at home. In the summer our fan blows down to provide refreshing cool air. Warm air rises; if you have a vaulted ceiling your fan will push the warm air back down into the room.
6. Remove small appliance fuel. Gasoline will gel when it sets for the winter. Remove the fuel from your lawn mower and other summer tools. You can add a fuel stabilizer to the gas tanks of small engines, such as tractors or 4 wheelers, if you aren’t going to run them for the winter. If you use a snow blower, now would be a good time to fire it up to make sure it’s ready when you get a driveway full of snow.
7. Take the table and chairs off the deck. It’s a sure bet you won’t be having breakfast or dinner on the deck for a while. If you move the table and chairs off the deck, it’s much easier to shovel the deck this winter.
8. Clean your chimney. The fire department will tell you they have chimney fires every year from people with traditional wood fireplaces when they built a big fire on the first cold night of winter. Remember, wood fires release creosote into to the flue which condenses on the flue walls on the way up the chimney. Creosote is very combustible. Clean your fireplace in the fall to repair for winter use.
9. Double check your smoke detector and carbon monoxide units. Accidental carbon monoxide poisoning generally happens when furnaces have problems or when cars run in the garage without ventilation. Make sure the batteries are fresh and the units are functioning properly. Also check for operating fire extinguishers!
10. Unpack your snow shovels. Make sure your shovel is accessible for the first snow dump early on Monday morning when you open your garage door to head to work! Ugh!











