Is your Cold Climate house ready for Winter? part 1

There are many things you should do to prepare for the harsh cold of winter in the colder climates. I remember them well after living in Massachusetts for many, many winters. Snow and sleet down the back of your neck while shoveling at 5 am so you can get to work, so long as the roads got plowed! Ahh yes, I love my Florida winters now! Cold, snow, ice, wind chill, sleet and the worst of them all - Black Ice! These can all be overcome except the black ice. For those of you that have never experienced this kind of ice, your lucky! Black ice gets it's name from the thin layer of very slick ice on asphalt roads, mostly highways. You can travel 5 mph and lose control of your car in an instant. Without chains or studded tires you are at the mercy of Mother Nature because once the car starts to slide, in ANY direction, it won't stop until it feels like it. Brakes and steering are useless, you just have to get past that area until you get to ice free highway. Enough of cars, I went over the basics of cars a couple of posts ago. Your home has winter needs too. First thing you need to do, if you don't have an automatic plan, is to have your heating contractor (oil man, gas co., chimney sweep) come to your house and service your heating system. I can't tell you enough how important this one step is because a repairman may not be able to get to your house in a storm if your system fails and it's very cold out. If you use a wood burner (stove, furnace, oven) I do recommend getting your chimney cleaned out in case you have a creosote and/or ash build up. I covered this in my 9/07/08 post called "Fireplace Fireworks". If you have one of these items I recommend that you read it! Another thing is to check ALL your windows for drafts and seal them with a good quality caulking material, I recommend paintable latex caulk. The old way to check for leaks was with a candle but that isn't safe, why not try holding a piece of toilet tissue by the top and see if the paper fans away from the window, if it does you have air movement. Sometimes some foam or felt weatherstrip can be most effective. On north facing windows I would use a plastic sheet barrier to create an air chamber between the house and the outside. Stors sell kits but they aren't too cheap. North facing windows are always the coldest and will draw heat radiantly out the window. You don't need to heat the trees and grass! The space under doors can be addressed using fancy bead filled tubes. Right? Wrong, use an extra bath towel and cover the entire space under the door but don't pack it tight, someone may need to use the door in an emergency!