November 10, 2021
Winter HVAC Preparation in American Fork, UT

When the winter season finally hits, it can bring a lot of snow and ice with it. Both of these can be extremely dangerous to the safety of your home and your family. By following the home preparation tips that we’re going to go over below, you can help to ensure that your family stays warm in your home and that your home stays safe this winter season.

Get Professional Heating Maintenance

When fall arrives, it is time to schedule your professional heating maintenance. It helps to get your heating system cleaned, inspected, and ready to take on the cold winter weather. It is a good idea to schedule your maintenance early in the fall season so that you can be alerted of any potential problems with your system before you need to use it.

Trim Back Tree Branches

Before the snow hits the ground, it is a good idea to take a look at the trees around your home. Any branches that are overhanging your house, car, or walking path, should be removed. Even if the branch is healthy, a large amount of snow can add too much weight and cause the branch to crack. It is typically best just to remove these branches so that you don’t have to worry about them falling on your home, family, or car.

Clean Your Gutters

As the end of the fall season approaches, it’s likely that you have a lot of leaves and loose debris inside of your gutters. You’ll want to clean out all of your gutters to ensure that there can be a free flow of water from your roof through them. If you lapse on cleaning out your gutters, melting snow can cause a backup of water on your roof. This can not only lead to leaking but also create dangerous ice dams.

Put Fresh Batteries in Detectors

Necessary safety features for all homes include smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. While these are great when they’re functioning, they’re not going to help you if the batteries are dead. Now is a good time to replace all the batteries in your detectors with new ones so that they’re prepared for the upcoming winter season.

Drain Your Outside Faucet

Another necessary task that you’ll need to undertake is draining out your outside faucet. You’ll want to shut off the water at the valve for the faucet. Then, go ahead and let all the water drain out. It is also important to remove your hose to protect it from freezing during the cold winter months.

Reverse Ceiling Fans

If you’re like most homeowners, you have ceiling fans throughout various rooms in your home, like your living room and your bedrooms. As we switch from warm to cold weather, it’s important to change the direction that your fans are going to be spinning.

During the winter months, you’ll want to switch your ceiling fans to rotate in a clockwise direction. This will force air up and out into the walls of the room. Once the warm air hits your walls, it will travel down to the floor. This will help to heat up your home and minimize your reliance on your heating system.

Inspect Your Roof

You may want to grab your ladder and head up to your roof to give it a good inspection. Be on the lookout for any missing shingles or any that are curled over and need to be replaced. In addition, you want to examine the flashing around your vent pipes and chimneys. If you notice any holes, it’s necessary to get the flashing replaced as holes can lead to leaks from melting snow.

Get Your Winter Essentials Out

You don’t want to wait for the first snowstorm to try and figure out where your snow shovels are. Rather, you want to get your snow shovels and snowblower ready before the winter weather ever hits. Now is also a good time to go ahead and stock up on salt for your pathways and driveway.

Reliable Heating Service Company

Gunthers Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing offers reliable heating and cooling services in American Fork, UT, and the surrounding area. We’re also available for all of your indoor air quality, ductwork, and plumbing needs. We even install solar-powered attic fans and provide custom sheet metal fabrication. Call us today to learn more about our services and get the heating assistance that you need this winter!

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