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<\/a>Photo: James Bombales<\/em><\/p>\nThe leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping and the sun sets earlier every day \u2014 winter is upon us.<\/p>\n
As the weather outside gets colder, so does your home, where it\u2019s tempting to flick on the furnace at the first sign of frost. But before you crank up the heat and battle it out against your family over control of the thermostat, consider the fact that your precious warm air could be escaping someplace else. To improve warmth in your home, it\u2019s important to get rid of cold spots before winter hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cLate summer, fall would be best because you don\u2019t want to wait until after the first snowfall to realize that it\u2019s cold inside,\u201d says Shawn Monteith, Canada\u2019s Handyman.<\/a> \u201cNow, you\u2019ve got to go outside and try to fix what the problem is, if it is outside, and [now] it\u2019s cold.\u201d<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to be a DIY genius to make simple, heat-saving changes to your home. Here\u2019s a few tips from Monteith on how to prevent the cold from creeping in.<\/p>\n Holding up a strip of toilet paper to your window is weird on any given day, but when checking for drafts, it\u2019s perfectly normal.<\/p>\n Crevices and cracks are easy routes for cold air to leak into your home \u2014 window panes, door edges, vents and outlets are the primary targets for this. Holding a lit match or light bathroom paper, such as a piece of Kleenex, is a good way to identify where drafts are seeping in.<\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0Yaoqi LAI<\/a>\/ Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf the flame flickers, that means that you\u2019ve got air coming in,\u201d says Monteith. \u201cAnother way would be a piece of toilet paper \u2014 hold it close to the cracks around windows and doors and the small air [draft] coming in would move the toilet paper or Kleenex.\u201d<\/p>\n If your home has a fireplace, and you\u2019re not planning to use it during the winter, warmth can escape and cold can enter through the chimney. Installing an expandable chimney balloon will block air from coming and going.<\/p>\n To seal up cracks, use caulking, but be careful when you apply it. Monteith explains that some silicone caulking may not stick if it\u2019s too cold.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s simply too cold outside to avoid the furnace, be sure to conduct maintenance on it before use. Changing your filters every season, whether it be every three or four months, prevents the risk of inhaling bacteria and ensures your warm airflow isn\u2019t obstructed by residue in the filter. If you\u2019re looking to splurge, installing a smart thermostat is an efficient way of conserving energy by managing your home\u2019s temperature. Adjusting the humidity or setting the thermostat to turn on only during the coldest hours will make better use of that heat.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to go all out and buy new windows to make them more efficient.<\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0Chloe Ridgway<\/a>\/ Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Applying plastic film insulation, Monteith says, creates a shrink-wrap barrier over your windows to prevent heat loss. The window sheets are sold in packs at the hardware store, and installation is pretty simple: After measuring your window, cut the sheet to size and use double-sided tape to hold it in place. Then, using a hair dryer, seal the sheet in place. Be sure to buy sheets that are proportional or bigger than the windows you have.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not into plastic, hanging thick curtains over the windows and keeping them drawn when there\u2019s no direct daylight will help to keep out the cold.<\/p>\n Adding insulation is a tried-and-true way of trapping in heat. Applying more in your attic, around your vents, and pipes provides a pillowy place for warm air to rest, and for cold condensation to stay out.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way insulation works is that it has these air cells in them. As each air cell goes from the outside to the inside, the different pockets of air change into the warm and that stops the condensation coming in,\u201d says Monteith.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t want those air pockets to collapse, so Monteith says not to squeeze your insulation too tightly so these pockets disappear.<\/p>\n\r\n SEE ALSO:<\/span>10 home improvement projects that make homeowners happier<\/a><\/strong>\r\n <\/div>\nThe TP test<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nStop breathing in dust<\/h2>\n
\n\u201cOn a furnace, if I was going to start it for the first time, I would make sure that the filter is clean. You don\u2019t want to have an old filter in there and push old air through your house,\u201d says Monteith.<\/p>\nTreat yo\u2019 windows<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nAdd extra fluff<\/h2>\n