Helpful Tips for Winterizing Your Home

As temperatures drop, your utility bills go up!
To combat high-cost energy bills, use these
effective winterizing tips:

• The clothes dryer exhaust duct is frequently the reason that the laundry room is cooler than the rest of the house when the dryer is not in use. Check the vent outside to make sure the trap door has not gotten stuck in the open position. Worn vent covers can be replaced at a reasonable cost by calling R&D Real Estate Services.
• After dark, turn on a light in your attic, and then close the access from below. If light is coming through, so is the cold! R&D Real Estate Services can add weather stripping to the edges of the access doorway to help. And if there are not fold-up stairs in the way, adding insulation to the inside of the access panel is also a good idea.
• Check the weather stripping around all exterior doors to see if it is worn out. If you can pass a piece of paper through the cracks around the edges, you may need R&D Real Estate Services to replace your weather stripping.
• If you have a fireplace, be sure to close the damper when it is not in use so your warm air is not going right up the chimney.
• If you own an irrigation system, check with R&D Real Estate Services about having your system winterized. Freezing temperatures can damage systems that have not been winterized, so this preventive measure could save you huge repair costs down the road.
• Have your heating system tuned up about once a year to make sure that your heating system is running as efficiently as possible. Replacing the air filter once a month is something you can do yourself that will also aid in the efficiency of your unit.
• Close blinds/drapes during cold weather for added insulating power at the windows when the sunlight is not shining in through them.
  

R&D Real Estate Services would be happy to go through your home and give you a free quote on these and many other low-cost ways to reduce the efficiency of your home. We serve the Lake Norman and Charlotte, NC areas.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Newsletter Blog for R&D Real Estate Services. We've just launched our blog, but check back soon and we'll have helpful homeowner tips (and more!) in the coming weeks to help you get your home ready for the holidays!