Preparing a Canadian Home for Winter

(content by Johan)

Summer is now over, and soon winter will be upon us. Winter is a unique season, as it brings lots of bad weather and cold temperatures. The unique weather means that a lot of preparation needs to be done on your home, ensuring that it is ready to survive the winter. Properly preparing your home is especially important if you’ve just closed on one of the Calgary homes for sale or own Toronto real estate, as Canadian winters are notorious for being harsh. So how can you properly prepare a home for a Canadian winter? Let’s take a look.

Seal Doors and Windows

Staying warm during the winter is likely your primary concern. While you might be able to crank the heat up in the winter months, that isn’t always the best option. What you should do first is analyze all openings in your home like doors and windows. You should be looking for cracks or other openings where air can escape. These openings need to be sealed before the cold of winter sets in. If not, most of the warm air from your heater will seep out, making your house colder and causing you to spend more on heating. If you want to be more comfortable and save money this winter, then you definitely should ensure that all doors and windows are properly sealed.

Cut Overhanging Branches

To prepare your home for the harsh Canadian winter, you need to cut any overhanging branches around your home. These branches can cause some major problems once the snow and ice start to accumulate. Once a heavy amount of ice and snow has settled on these overhead branches, they can collapse and fall to the ground. This can be a major problem, especially if these overhanging branches are over your home or near power lines. Falling branches can cause major property damage, or completely knock down power lines and take them out of commission if not taken care of properly. As a result, you should try to cut down any dangerous overhanging branches before the winter season even sets in.

Stock Up On Supplies

One of the most important parts of preparing for a harsh winter is ensuring that you’re fully stocked up on valuable winter supplies. There are plenty of things that you need to make sure that you are stocked up on, allowing you to prepare for whatever winter throws at you. First, you should ensure that you’re stocked up on salt, allowing you to melt the ice in your driveway. Having salt on hand to melt ice can be a huge help, allowing you to drive safer in your driveway and ensuring that you don’t slip and fall on ice. In addition, you’ll likely want to stock up supplies that can help you clear out snow. This might include picking up a snowblower or a snow shovel, whichever you prefer. Finally, you’ll want to ensure that you have plenty of ways to deal with the cold. Doing so means that you have blankets and warm clothes at the ready if you ever need them. If you want to fully prepare for the Canadian winter, you’re going to need to stock up on supplies well beforehand.

Clean Filters and Vents

As mentioned before, you’ll likely have your heat running all winter long. You probably want your home to be heated as efficiently as possible, making it warm and comfortable for you and your family. One of the best ways to ensure that a home is heated efficiently is to ensure that all of your vents and filters are cleaned before winter begins. If filters and vents are not clean, warm air will be blocked and your home will be heated much less efficiently, making your home colder and causing you to spend more on your heating bill. In addition, dirty furnace filters and vents could lead to poor air quality in your home, something that can cause major health problems. To stay warm and stay healthy, you should clean your furnace’s filters and vents in preparation for the winter season.