Getting your home ready for the colder months

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Paul Hope of Consumer Reports shares tips on how you can get your home ready for the winter season,  including how you can prevent bursting pipes as well as insulating your home from the cold air.

Transcript

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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