5 Tips for Weatherizing Your Home for Winter

Figuring out where to start and how to weatherize your home for winter can be daunting. We’ve done the research for you, so here are five easy home weatherization tips to help you start lowering your energy costs and guarantee your home will be cozier when the mercury drops.

1. Clean your gutters. Yes, it’s a nasty job, but clogged gutters are a primary reason ice dams build up. Ice dams are those nasty ice floes that form on your roof if the gutter doesn’t properly drain. The warm air in your house leaks into the attic, which warms the roof and causes the ice and snow to melt. The ice lies beneath the snow to the gutter, where it refreezes instead of being drained. That causes the ice buildup, which can create water spots inside your home. Sealing home air leaks can help prevent this problem, as well.
2. Install — and set! — programmable thermostats. Programmable thermostats are one example of easy home weatherization tips that can make your heating (and cooling) system operate more efficiently. Why heat a home — or cool it for that matter — at the same temperature when no one is in it? Programmable thermostats are easy to install and ENERGY STAR estimates you can save as much as 10% on heating and cooling costs by properly using one. The critical piece is actually using the thermostat once you have it. Set it to the recommended temperatures and then just enjoy the savings.
3. Change ceiling fans to rotate the correct way. Many only think of ceiling fans as a summer tool for cooling. But a ceiling fan can be an important tool in your home weatherization tips toolbox year-round. In the winter, it can also be used to rotate air flow so that heat rising into a high ceiling is blown back down to where it can do the most good — where the people are. That can only happen if it’s blowing the right way, however.
4. Check, clean or replace central heating filters. Checking filters is on ENERGY STAR’s monthly home weatherization tips checklist. ENERGY STAR recommends checking filters monthly and changing them every three months, at least. A dirty air filter slows down air flow and makes a system work harder, thereby wasting energy.
5. Flush your water heater. Sediment inevitably gathers inside your water heater (unless you have a tankless one) and impedes the water flow. Flushing is an easy DIY task to weatherize your home for winter. The Family Handyman is just one of many online videos that can walk you through this.

Windows and doors top the list of culprits for air leaks and other issues that can lower the energy efficiency of your house. Paying attention to window weatherization and weatherizing doors, then, are among the smartest ways you can weatherize your home for winter. Here are some home weatherization tips to get you started.

Get Free Weatherization Assistance

The New York State Weatherization Assistance Program helps reduce heating and cooling costs for income-eligible homeowners and renters by providing free services that help conserve energy and improve safety and health standards.

Weatherization services include:

• Sealing of cracks and holes to reduce heat loss;
• insulation of attics and walls;
• heating system repairs or replacement;
• providing efficient lighting and refrigeration;
• window and/or outside door repair or replacement;
• minor repairs which are needed to ensure maximum efficiency of the weatherization services performed;
• and mitigation of energy-related health and safety issues.

Tioga Opportunities, Inc,’s Weatherization Assistance Program can provide low to no-cost energy efficiency upgrades to improve the health, safety, and comfort of your home and reduce your energy costs. Click here to learn more:https://tiogaopp.org/energy-weatherization/ or call our office at 607-687-0944 for more information.