How To Winterize Your Home’s Electrical System

Knowing how to prepare your electrical system for winter is the key to optimizing your home and electrical use. More importantly, this process ensures you prioritize safety above all else. Too often, when preparing for the winter, people miss out on taking the important steps needed to optimize their electrical systems.

Benefits of Winterizing Your Home’s Electrical System

Home electrical system winterization has many benefits that make this process well worth the time, energy, and money. When you winterize your electrical system, you spare yourself from drafty temperatures because you optimize your heat use. By maximizing the electricity you are using, you can also save money. Plus, this process allows you to safeguard yourself from structural damage and power surges that can result when you aren’t ready for the colder months.

Check Your Winter Electrical Appliances

When you bring out your heaters and other winter appliances, make sure you look at the cords and appliances to ensure they are still in good shape. You don’t want to miss any abnormalities that may exist.

Take Care of Trees and Branches

While steps that take place outside your home may not be what comes to mind when you think of preparing your electrical system, trees and shrubs with untrimmed and uncut branches can interfere with power lines and cause problems like outages, damage, or even fires. Cut any branches that hang near the wires and ensure no trees are putting you, your family, and your neighbors at risk.

Have a Winter Electrical Inspection

Getting an electrical checkup each season is the perfect way to ask about any electrical issues you may have and to make sure that everything is safe before you use a bunch of seasonal electrical items like space heaters or electric blankets. It’s better to be safe than sorry. People go to the doctor for checkups, and sometimes your home needs one too.

Reverse Your Fans

Many people don’t realize they can flip a switch on their ceiling fans to switch the blade direction. When you switch the blade direction, you can take the rising heat and push it where you are. Thus, in the cold months, you want your fan to go in a clockwise direction. In the summer, it should go counterclockwise.

Time for Surge Protection

Getting surge protection for your whole house is a great way to prepare your home for the cold. This surge protection connects with your breaker box, and it protects all things that have been plugged into your plugs. Thus, in the case of outages, you know everything will be safe.

Old Electrical Outlets Can Be Nefarious

While small, old electrical outlets can greatly impact your home’s electrical system. You can test your outlets by holding a stick in front of your outlets. If the smoke goes horizontally, your outlets are leaking air. You can then use gaskets to seal the outlets that are leaking air.

Insulation Is an Investment

Insulation is a great choice if you’re wondering how to winterize an electrical system. Many old houses don’t have the best insulation. Poor insulation can result in an endless struggle trying to heat your home. Attics, outdoor outlets, and breaker boxes often let air in, and you can seal these areas to reduce how much cool air gets in.

Some other insulation tips include:

• Put door snakes in front of doors
• Put heavy drapes in front of your windows (like blackout curtains)
• Use weatherproofing strips or caulk in vulnerable areas
• Plug your chimney if you aren’t using it using a chimney balloon
• Put film on your windows
• Add water pipe insulation
• Use a water heater blanket

With these tips, you can start insulating your drafty house.

Get Out the Caulk Gun

Don’t be afraid to get your caulk gun out. You can caulk any cracks in vulnerable areas like window frames. This keeps cold air from getting in.

Install a Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat is a great investment. These thermostats help you adjust your home to your behaviors so that you use your electricity as efficiently as possible. You can use your phone to adjust what’s happening in your house.

A Few Steps Go a Long Way

While preparing your electrical system for winter may seem overwhelming, taking just a few steps can go a long way in keeping your home safe and efficient this winter season. Make sure you take care of your home by using your electrical system as well as you can.

Categorised in: Residental Electricians

This post was written by admin