Preparing for Colder Weather
It's that time of year again. Schools are back in session, family summer vacations are starting to wind down and people are beginning to remove their AC's from their windows. Fall is here...which means old man Winter is just around the corner. I know for us in the property management world we are constantly preparing for Winter. Summer is so short here in Vermont that our whole summer (in between the rain showers and thunderstorms) was spent outside. Building porches, painting apartments, fixing gutters etc. But now that we have had some cold nights we are truly beginning to prepare for the long winter ahead. Here are some things that we do to help us prepare for winter.
1. Have your furnace/boiler cleaned.
-Call your fuel provider or your plumber and get this on the calendar ASAP- they tend to book up fast this time of year
2. Make sure any outside water lines are off and drained.
- Drain your hoses and bring them inside for the winter.
3. Check seals on doors and windows.
-Make sure you have weather stripping around your doors
-Recaulk around windows if necessary
-Put your storm windows down
4. If you have a digital thermostat- CHECK THE BATTERIES!
-You wouldn't believe how many no heat calls we get for the batteries being dead
5. If you pay for heat- get locked in at a good rate! Shop around to see who will give you the best deal
-Be on AUTOMATIC delivery! I'm telling you. Do. It. Not only will you pretty much never run out of fuel but it really feels like your bills are smaller! Silly I know...but wouldn't you rather pay a $100 bill every few weeks rather than a $500 bill...I know I would.
6. Have a fall clean up done
- Trust me. This will make your life SO much easier come Spring. Have your lawn care company (or you!) weedwack all of your gardens down. That way come Spring you will have a nice fresh bed.
7. Clean out your gutters
- Make sure that your gutters are free of leaves and debris.
8. LEAVE YOUR DARN HEAT ON!
- I hate that I even have to put this on my list. BUT I've had tenants go away on vacation and turn their heat off! They think that it will help cut their heating bill down (or the landlords) but it just ends up in a huge mess of frozen pipes.
Happy Fall!