00:00Paul Hope is Senior Home and Appliances Writer
00:02with Consumer Reports.
00:03Thanks so much for joining us, Paul.
00:05Happy to be here.
00:06All right, Paul, let's start inside.
00:09What should you do now to get your pipes
00:11ready for the colder weather and avoid
00:13any kind of water damage?
00:15So right now is the time that you really
00:17want to be looking for any of those pipes that run along
00:20exterior walls, especially.
00:23If you have any that are exposed,
00:24it's a great time to buy some pipe insulation at a home
00:27center or hardware store.
00:28Wrap it up, it'll cost you only a few cents a foot.
00:31And if it prevents a burst pipe, it
00:32could end up saving you thousands.
00:36Paul, how do you make your home more energy efficient?
00:45And what tips can you have to save some money
00:50and also keep your home more warm, I should say?
00:54Sure.
00:55So it really runs the gamut.
00:57At the really easy level, one of the cheapest things you can do
01:01is just look for draft guards, draft stops,
01:03and look to seal up any leaks in and around the home.
01:06Little things like a tube of caulk
01:08can seal up any loose gaps around windows and door frames.
01:11You can also buy those draft guards
01:13that you can install on the bottom of your door
01:15or even run underneath a front entry door
01:17to keep those drafts out.
01:18Those can really go a long way, and they're
01:20very easy, simple DIY fixes.
01:22At the higher end of things, you really
01:24want to maybe consider upgrading your insulation.
01:27The vast majority of the heat that escapes the house
01:29escapes through the ceiling or the attic crawl space.
01:33So that's a great place to start.
01:35Work your way down from there.
01:37Good tips.
01:37OK.
01:38How about the exterior from your roof, which you kind of mentioned,
01:41to the foundation?
01:42What can you do to get ready for this cold season?
01:45Absolutely.
01:45So this is really the time you want
01:47to find any issues with your roof
01:49and address them before they become
01:50a bigger problem in the winter.
01:51So an easy, no-brainer thing to do
01:54is make sure that you clean your gutter pipes out
01:56one final time after the leaves have fallen.
01:58That'll help you avoid ice dams over the winter.
02:00But it's also a great time to just look,
02:02even using a pair of binoculars from across the street.
02:05Look for any loose, damaged, or missing shingles
02:07on your roof line.
02:08Look for any cracks along areas where maybe pipes exit the roof.
02:13If you're unsure, you can hire a licensed roofing company
02:17to do an inspection that's a little bit more thorough.
02:19But fixing those things now will really
02:21help you avoid any costly repairs during the winter.
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