Do you experience winter in your country? The weather is usually very cold.
These extreme cold temperatures can in many ways affect the condition of one's home.
Many expenses can be incurred when your house becomes damaged by these harsh conditions.
Research shows that every one of ten homes in winter experiencing countries faces the risk of suffering from this harsh weather although they are not aware of it.
How do we prepare then? Let me give you some tips and then together we see how we can save heat energy using the heat exchanger.
Clean the house gutters.
Debris left in the gutters can cause problems especially if it happens to freeze damaging the gutters.
This debris can also force any freezing water up the roof shingles damaging the roof.
People with covered gutters should not see this cleaning as unnecessary as there may be grit and other fine materials on the roof which may end up in to the gutters system.
Protect the air conditioning system.
The air conditioning system should be protected from ice and snow in case it is located under trees where ice and snow might fall.
This should be done by placing a plywood sheet above it but care must be taken to avoid full enclosure of the system which might tarp moisture or become home to rodents.
Replace air filters and wicks in the house's humidifier.
The wicks of the humidifier should be replaced every month for at least twice.
The humidifier should be cleaned frequently to keep away bacteria and mineral deposits so that it functions maximally in mitigating heating drying effect.
Insulation of pull-down staircases should be done.
Openings in this staircase can cause a lot of heat loss during winter.
An insulating cover can be bought for covering the opening.
Check for floor dampness.
This can attract termites which can destroy any wooden furniture in the house.
Cleaning and putting away garden and lawn equipment.
A lot of snow is usually formed during winter.
This snow can damage this equipment hence they should be brought into the house before winter falls.
The lawn mower should be used until the tank runs empty.
If this is not done it can undergo degradation and lose its combustion ability.
Any moisture condensing inside the tank can lead to rusting which will block fuel lines.
A stabilizer should be added to the any fuel not used up before winter if it is to be left inside the fuel tank of the lawn mower.
Hose irrigation systems should be disconnected before winter.
Any water left in these pipes can lead to their freezing and bursting of the pipes.
You should make sure that all water in the hose irrigation scheme is drained before the first freeze.
Sometimes a professional will be needed to do the work at a fee.
Enough wood should be cut and stored before the start of winter.
Fire wood here in Canada is very expensive during winter time costing double the amount it costs during other seasons.
Make sure you do not buy green wood as it may take long before drying which will force you buy dry wood during winter leading to double costs.
Have some of the wood placed near your house for easy access in case the snow becomes a lot.
Make sure that the snow shovels are okay.
The shovel handles should be checked for breaks or cracks and be replaced.
The demand for them is usually high during winter leading to rise in their prices hence early purchases should be made Make sure that the heating system is properly checked.
A regular maintenance check by a professional should be done to avoid heating system failures during winter.
Any dust in the system should be cleaned.
Many people here in Canada nowadays do prefer using pellet stoves to electricity for heating during winter time.
These pellets stoves should be cleaned well before the fall of winter so that they work well without failure.
If a kerosene heater is used as a backup then it should be made sure that enough kerosene is available for the winter.
Are you now fully prepared? No my friend! We have now seen from the above tips that above all keeping your house warm is mandatory during winter.
You need to save energy when heating the house.
Heat exchanger equipment needs to be bought for use in heat recovery ventilation (HRC).
It employs a counter current heat exchange between the outbound and inbound air flow.
This improves climate control and provides fresh air and at the same time saving energy through reduction of heating requirements.
There are air-to-air, earth-to-air and earth-to-water air heat exchangers but for a HRC, one of the following can specifically be bought for the purpose: cross flow, recuperator, countercurrent, thermal wheel or fine wire heat exchangers.
The Eta heater-exchange pot has been recommended by many to be the best.
To prevent house repairs in cold weather, the above measures will adequately mitigate this thus preventing these extra costs involved.
Try them and believe me they will never regret!