5 Winter Plumbing & HVAC Maintenance Tips
Preventing Plumbing & HVAC Emergencies
Low hours and a pandemic never-ending can make a disaster even more devastating. When it comes to home disasters, prevention is key to save you thousands and mountains of stress! Furthermore, it is especially important to take measures to protect your home from Mid-Michigan Winter’s blistering cold wind chills. Frozen and burst pipes are among the most common plumbing emergencies in the Winter. Follow the five simple steps below to help protect your home and prevent flooding or costly damages.
Seasonal maintenance can be a daunting task if you haven’t done it before but follow these few steps and you’ll be on the road to keeping your house running like new for years to come.
1 Change Furnace Filters
You’ll hear me nag often about changing your furnace filters and for good reason! Keeping clean filters in your furnace helps maintain the air quality in your home. It also helps prevent debris from getting into your furnace. You should change your furnace filter about 3-4 times per year, more often if you have pets or live in a dusty area.
2 Getting Your Ducts Cleaned
Getting your ducts cleaned twice yearly to clear and remove any pet hair, debris, dirt, or gunk that builds up. The less build-up in your ducts, the less that goes to your furnace!
3 Insulating Water Lines
Water lines that are in exposed uninsulated areas like crawlspaces, basements, or garages are most susceptible to freezing and bursting. Having a licensed and insured plumbing contractor, like Three T’s Plumbing, come out and insulate your pipes will help prevent your pipes from freezing nights ahead of us.
**PRO TIP**
**Leave your faucets dripping if you can’t have your pipes insulated right now, on especially cold nights, or if you lose heat. This will help prevent freezing and therefore bursting. The flooding and damages caused by a burst water line is one of the most costly and common plumbing emergencies.
In the event of an emergency – shut off the water supply and call Three T’s IMMEDIATELY!
4 Schedule Your Yearly Furnace Inspection
Getting a yearly inspection of your furnace system can catch damages before they become a problem. Which can extend the life of your equipment. To make your life easier, you can join our bi-annual furnace inspection plan! CLICK HERE to learn more!
5 Invest In A Nest Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat
Investing in a smart thermostat can help cut down your bill and keep you comfortable all day long. Your new smart thermostat can even be free with rebates from Consumers Energy! A smart thermostat can be set to a pattern and automatically adjust to keep you comfortable all day long. Set your new Nest thermostat to be cooler at night and warm up just before your alarm goes off. Never wake up to a cold house again! You can even set it to be cool while on vacation and make it just right before arriving home.
I like what you said about insulating your pipes. My pipes always freeze in the winter. I’ll have to hire a plumber to insulate them.