Helpful Hints For The Winter Season

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To help you prepare for the colder weather, we have put together a few suggestions for maintaining the heat and comfort level in your new home. We have also noted a few other areas in your home, which will require your annual attention.

  1. Maintain your furnace with a yearly cleaning.
  2. Be sure to clean and replace your furnace filter regularly.
  3. Be sure to wash the HRV filters every 4-6 months. Central humidifier filters should be replaced yearly.
  4. The cooling system should have an annual inspection (much the same as the furnace).
  5. Vacuum inside registers to prevent any blockage of air. Remove any furniture from in front of registers and cold air returns, and be sure to allow for adequate air circulation around the windows. Adjust the air flow in unused rooms as required, however, please be sure not to entirely close off the register of the air control flap in the ductwork itself.
  6. Check and close windows to prevent drafts.
  7. Keep your garage door closed when not in use. This is especially important when you have living space over the garage.
  8. Turning the furnace down at night or during the day when you are not home will save costs. However, we would recommend not turning the temperature below 15˚C.
  9. During extremely cold spells, you may find it necessary to keep the temperature set a little higher than usual.
  10. We recommend that you keep the furnace fan on all the time in order to maintain even heating in your home.
  11. To ensure the proper function of your furnace and to prevent the furnace from shutting down, it is absolutely imperative that snow or other objects do not drift up to and around your exterior intake and outtake. This will smother the airflow, which will cause your furnace to shut down, leaving you with no heat.

If there is an emergency after hours, please call our 24-hour service department telephone number. Before calling for service, please check there are no obstructions to the exterior intake and outtake, check that the switch for the furnace is turned on, then check the breaker in the electrical panel to ensure the service has not been tripped.

Hose Bib Winterization Tips

To prevent damage to your home and belongings, all residents must drain the exterior hose bib, including the one in the garage during the winter months. Turn off water outside otherwise, you run a risk of water freezing in the pipes inside the walls of your home. Please take the following steps to shut off your outside hose bib before the temperature dips on the freezing mark.

  1. Disconnect all hoses from the outside lawn faucets
  2. Turn water valve off inside the house
  3. Open hose bib outside the house (you should get very little, or no water at all)
  4. Open bleeder cap on valve (have a cup or towel ready to catch any water) close cap and leave until spring