As a responsible and concerned property owner, you will want to ensure your tenants can live comfortably in their apartments even during the severe winter. You will also not want your tenant or you to waste heat, given the prohibitive cost of gas. Some handy tips to effectively winterize your home to keep your tenants happy and save money, time, and stress:
Winterizing the Interior
Prevent water from freezing in the pipes: When the temperature dips, the water in the pipes can freeze and burst the pipes. The best way to prevent this is to set the temperature control to 60º F and above. You can also advise your tenant to keep a faucet to drip the cold water that would have otherwise frozen in the pipe. You can also wrap the pipes along the exterior walls with insulation foam to keep them from freezing.
Insulate the attic: You should know that much of the heat loss can take place from the attic. Accordingly, you must insulate it using 10-14 inches of foam insulation material, which will prevent the heat from escaping. The insulation material is easily available at the local home improvement store, observe leading Eugene managers of properties.
Test the alarms: With most people turning up the heat and closing all the windows to stay warm, there is an increased risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. To prevent your tenants from coming to harm, you should test all the fire alarms and carbon dioxide detectors to make sure they are functioning properly.
Clean the chimney: One of the most common reasons for houses catching fire in the winter season is the unexpected combustion of debris accumulated in the chimney and fireplace flue. According to Forbes, you must engage a professional chimney sweep to clean the chimney and fireplace before the onset of winter to prevent a fire hazard.
Winterizing the Exterior
Prevent water pipes from freezing: You must turn off all faucets and hose bibs outside the house because even though they are outside, they can cause joints inside the house to burst and leak when the water in them freezes and exerts pressure.
Service HVAC systems: With all windows closed during the winter, the air inside the house can become noxious if the HVAC system is not operating optimally. Fall is the best season for replacing the air filters and cleaning the condenser coils of the HVAC system. You should also check the air quality inside the home to ensure your tenants are safe from pollution says Chiang Rai Times.
Plug air leaks: You should identify and plug air leaking from around the frames of doors and windows to reduce the cost of heating. Lighting an incense stick and watching the smoke movement can help you to locate the air leaks you can plug with a sealant or caulk.
Conclusion
After checking and winterizing the exterior and interior of the house, you can also advise your tenant on the best ways of keeping warm and conserving energy. Simple steps like using curtains and closing off unused rooms can help a lot.