Get Your Home Ready for Winter: A Simple Fall Checklist
A little planning now keeps winter cozy instead of exciting. Three things to do before the first cold snap.
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Have you noticed that the furnace always picks the coldest night of the year to stop working? Mine has a real sense of drama. A little fall planning keeps winter cozy instead of exciting, and most of it takes just an afternoon.
1. Have your heating checked
- Book a yearly tune-up for your furnace, boiler or heat pump. Do it now, before the repair companies get busy with emergency calls.
- Change the filter. It’s usually a quick swap, and the right size is printed on the old one.
- If you use a space heater, give it three feet of clear space, plug it straight into the wall (not an extension cord), and turn it off when you leave the room or go to bed.
- Fireplace or wood stove? Have the chimney inspected before the first fire.
2. Test your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
- Press the test button on every alarm. If you can’t reach it safely, ask a family member or neighbor, or call your local fire department. Many will help.
- Put in fresh batteries, and replace any alarm that’s 10 years old or more. The date is usually printed on the back.
- Make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms and on every level, especially if you have gas heat, a fireplace or an attached garage.
3. Stock a simple power-outage kit
Keep it all in one bin or bag, somewhere easy to find in the dark:
- Flashlights or battery lanterns, plus spare batteries (skip the candles)
- A few days of water and easy food that needs no cooking
- A phone charger or battery pack
- Extra blankets
- A copy of your medicine list and important phone numbers
If you rely on medical equipment that uses electricity, call your utility company and ask about their medical needs list.
Try this today
- Book the furnace check today.
- Test every smoke and CO alarm this weekend.
- Gather your outage kit in one bin.
A few more winter helpers
- Put a bag of ice melt and a sturdy shovel by the door now.
- Add weatherstripping or a draft stopper on drafty doors.
- Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor faucets if you live where it freezes.
- Line up a neighbor or local teen for snow shoveling. Shoveling is heavy work, so there’s no shame in hiring help.
Make a winter buddy plan
Before the first storm, agree with a neighbor, friend or family member to check on each other when the weather turns bad or the power goes out. A quick phone call or a wave from the window is enough. Write their number on your Who to Call list, and keep your phone charged when a storm is on the way. It’s a small thing that brings a lot of peace of mind, for you and for the people who worry about you.
Free help with the walk-through
Our free True Course Starter Kit includes a large-print Home Safety Walk-Through you can take room by room. You can get it free on the homepage.
What’s on your get-ready-for-winter list? Tell me in the comments.