Fall is here, which means cooler winter temperatures are right around the corner, whether you are ready or not. Make sure your house is prepared for cool weather with these five tips.
Clean out your fireplace.
If you have a fireplace, you may already be feeling the pull to grab a blanket and read by a fire. Many newer homes have electronic fireplaces, which you don’t need to clean out. If you have a traditional fireplace, you’ll want to give it a good once over before roasting smores or chestnuts. Call a chimney sweep or examine your fireplace to make sure nothing is in there that shouldn’t be, like trash, leaves, or a bird’s nest. You’ll also want to ensure the fireplace is structurally sound with no cracking, which can cause issues with surrounding walls and insulation.
Check your seals, pipes, and roof.
With rising temperatures this past summer, many houses got put to the test. Seals can crack, roof tiles can get brittle, and pipes rust. Do a thorough inspection to ensure everything will hold up to colder temperatures. Check your windows to see if everything is shutting as it should. If you have wood in your home, it can expand and contract with varying temperatures. A small crack could become a significant issue if water seeps in and freezes within it.
Change your filters.
Houses often have more filters than you may expect. Change out all of them. Replace or deep clean the filters in your HVAC unit, car, (de)humidifier, air purifiers, vacuum, and even your dryer. Your items in your house should be able to do their job without doing extra heavy lifting through a filter that is not clean. Doing a once-over on all of your filters can make sure you didn’t miss anything over the past year.
Carry out the old.
In the enthusiasm of spring cleaning, you may get halfway through, and then the hustle and bustle of the end of the school year and summer travel can put the rest off to the side. Do you still have bags of donatable clothes you took out of your closet but never took to the thrift store? Go through your spring-cleaning list and see if there’s anything left that you want to do.
Call your insurance agent.
Depending on your last move, you may need to renew or purchase insurance. September is a pause before the Fall season gets busy; so this is a perfect time to see if you can get a better rate or a deal on multiple insurance products. Check out Armed Forces Insurance to learn more about their coverage for home, personal items, car insurance, etc. You don’t want to wait for a bad windstorm in the fall to realize you didn’t have the insurance you wanted. A quick conversation this month can give you peace of mind for this upcoming season.
This article is sponsored by Armed Forces Insurance Foundation. Since 1887, Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) has existed with a single, unwavering purpose: To protect the people who protect our nation. For more than 135 years, we’ve provided military homeowner insurance, military renter insurance, military auto insurance and much more to our members. Let AFI’s dedicated agents shop our network of national carriers to find the best value and options to fit your needs.
Written by Aj Smit
Aj Smit is the author of the book Red Thread: Weaving an Embodied Life of Joy, speaker, glitter enthusiast, and professional weaver of Joy. She is a military spouse in S. Korea with a pup and houseplants galore. Aj has led various Red Tents, retreats, and workshops internationally over the last ten years to help others discover how to weave creativity and curiosity into their lives. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram at @TheJoyWeaver and TheJoyWeaver.com