WINTERIZING YOUR HOME

Dennis Coomer with Coomer's Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning cleaned and adjusted a furnace. Coomer recommended that the service costing about $50 should be preformed each fall.

Jesse Bollinger, a student at Cape Girardeau Vocational Technical School, installed insulation on a new home. Insulation is the best way to winterize a home.

Foam tape for sealing windows and doors available at most hardware stores is one of the many things homeowners can do themselves to prepare for winter.

It's easy to take home for granted. However, for home to be a place of warmth and security, the house must be maintained.

Autumn hours spent winterizing the home can pay off in dividends of warmth and comfort.

A homeowner's check of the outside of the house can reveal areas that need attention, just as inspections of attics, basements or crawl-spaces may make apparent other winterizing jobs that need to be done, explained Bud Thompson, building and trades instructor at Cape Girardeau Area Vocational Technical School.

Likewise, scheduling a visit for a professional heating technician can ward off a need for an emergency request.

"You need to have your furnace checked and serviced every fall," advised Dennis Coomer of Coomer's Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning in Cape Girardeau. Those checks should be made by qualified people.

Coomer estimated that 50 percent of furnace owners have their furnaces inspected annually.

"Some people are religious about that, other people won't look at it at all until it quits on them," he said.

Furnaces are an oft-overlooked item, agreed Tom Strickland of Strickland Engineering in Jackson.

"Generally, it would pay not only in energy savings but safety to have someone knowledgeable adjust the furnace and make sure it is properly cleaned and the burner is operating efficiently."

Furnaces should be inspected regardless of their type, Coomer noted. "Anything that's mechanical needs service."

Likewise, chimneys used within a main heating source or that are otherwise used frequently should be inspected annually, noted Kathy Trimble of Jeepers Creepers Chimney Sweepers in Burfordville.

"Any kind of chimney should be checked periodically, especially if you don't have a chimney cap," she explained.

People who burn wood as their home's main heating source, "absolutely should have their chimneys cleaned yearly," Trimble stressed. The numbers of people taking such precautions are higher than they used to be, she speculated. "In comparison with 15 years ago, people really are a lot more wood smart," she said.

Additionally, Trimble noted, "gas flues need to be checked to make sure they are clear so that carbon monoxide can escape."

Coomer advised that people with gas or oil heating systems install carbon monoxide detectors. He and Trimble each stressed the importance of making sure that smoke detectors are operating properly.

Plus, they both noted, the area around any heating system must be kept free from flammable materials.

Thompson explained that a kind of audit of the home would be well advised. Walk around the outside of the house and look for broken glass or storm windows left open, he said.

Apply caulk or weatherstripping as needed around windows and doors, threshold seals effectively close gaps beneath doors. Caulk may be needed in areas where two building materials meet to form a joint.

Thompson stressed the value of insulation in crawl spaces, basements and attics.

"If you have any unfinished basement areas, go ahead and insulate exterior walls up to R-19 if you can," he advised. Vapor barriers -- plastic sheets applied over the top of insulation -- provide added protection against air infiltration. Electrical wiring must be complete before insulation or vapor barriers are installed.

A trip to the top of the house may reveal other areas where insulation could be beefed up. "Most houses that are 20 years old-plus will not have adequate insulation in them," Thompson said.

"You can gauge just how much insulation is up there just by taking a ruler and measuring," Strickland explained. "If you have less than six inches, you definitely ought to be thinking about adding something."

"While you're in the attic, check the ventilation system; you need ventilation in the attic in summer and winter," Thompson noted.

People who winterize their home will continue to benefit from their efforts when the weather warms next year, he pointed out.

Here are some additional home winterizing tips:

-- Repair driveway cracks with concrete driveway crack filler. Apply driveway sealer every few years.

-- Clean gutters after last leaves fall from trees.

-- Remove hoses from outside faucets.

A brochure called "Audit Your Home for Energy Waste," available through the University of Missouri Extension Service, details areas to check on the interior and exterior of the home and advises corrective actions.