Winter Preparedness for your Anchorage Alaska home - A fall homeowners checklist
Anchorage real estate needs preparation for Old Man Winter. Although it's been a glorious fall, that lovely white stuff will soon start falling.
1. Have a licensed Anchorage HVAC technician clean and service your boiler or furnace. This should be done once a year and now is a great time as the tech will need to take the system offline for a couple of hours. Doing it now to determine possible problems will save you when it’s -20. An added benefit is you'll ensure your boiler is operating at peak efficiency. Make sure you remove everything from around your furnace to the air intake and surface air can access the unit.
2. Hire an Anchorage chimney sweep or buy a brush. If you're burning wood as a source of heat, make sure to only burn seasoned wood to reduce the amount of creosote building in the stack. No one wants a chimney fire in the dead of winter.
3. Change your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector batteries. Many Anchorage homes & condominiums have hardwired systems, but will have a battery backup. This is a great time to vacuum each detector to eliminate any dust bunnies or dirt that might interfere with the operation.
4. Clean out your septic tank. Admittedly, this is one job I would leave to the professionals.
5. Clean out your gutters and downspouts. You would be surprised to see how much stuff can accumulate in one season. You'll thank yourself in the spring the water is running down, and not over, your gutters. This will also help your Anchorage home with ice damming. Having proper runoff for water will help you avoid troubles.
6. Disconnect your garden house. Roll up your garden hoses and store them with your sprinklers and hose nozzles.
7. Cover and/or store patio furniture, grill and outdoor accessories. Unless, of course, you plan to have a cookout at -20.
8. Unpack everything for snow removal. Fire up the snow blower and make sure it's running and the blades engage. Don't forget to put your snow shovel(s) and ice spade where you can easily find them.
9. Weatherize your home. Seal up those areas around entry and garage doors and windows, add additional insulation in your attic and crawlspace. Anchorage homes with less efficient windows would benefit from a window film application.
10. Check your exterior outlets and invest in a timer. A well maintained car should only need 2-5 hours of heating to start (more for diesels). Over a 6-7 month winter the savings could easily be in the hundreds of dollars. If it's not already, don't forget to winterize your vehicle as well.
Preparing your Anchorage home now can help with the psychological affect when you look out the window in the morning or open the garage door and BOOOMMM! There it is.
Lonnie Logan
Anchorage REMAX Properties, Inc.
(907) 903-1244
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