How to protect your home during winter season
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Winter is right around the corner and many homeowners are taking steps to protect their homes from the cold and save on heating costs.
Craig Taylor has been a homeowner in Cherry Hill for almost 50 years. He understands the importance of winterizing your home.
A few decades ago, Taylor went on vacation and came back to a disaster.
"I forgot to turn off the outside water spigot that froze and broke and ended up pouring water into the basement," Taylor said. "And I had to call the fire department to pump out the basement. It was pretty embarrassing."
To avoid what happened in the past, Taylor turns off the valve to his hose line as soon as it gets cold.
Ed Kijewski, who owns Dilling Heating & Cooling, also has advice for homeowners.
"The biggest thing is making sure that any pipes that are exposed, outside, insulated, everything's closed off," Kijewski said, "because if you don't have that done, that's where it's gonna freeze and the water is gonna freeze back into the pipes."
He says maintenance is key and recommends changing your furnace filter on a regular basis to prevent damage to your HVAC system.
"The number one most important thing, you got to make sure your heating and air conditioning works," Kijewski said. "Want to make sure you stay warm when it's cold outside."
Funmi Williamson with PECO recommends weatherstripping your doors and caulking your windows to create a tight seal.
"Keeping your home at least one-degree cooler in the winter, for example, you can save, you know, up to 2% on your energy bill," Williamson said.
PECO offers a $49 video chat to help customers find areas of their home that are wasting energy. To learn more about how to schedule an energy assessment on your smartphone with an energy advisor, head to: https://www.peco.com/WaysToSave/ForYourHome/Pages/EnergyAssessment.aspx.
Experts also recommend that you clean the gutters so melting snow can drain properly, bring in outdoor furniture and grills because cold weather can damage them and cut back overhanging branches because heavy snow can cause them to fall and damage your home.