Preparing your home for winter
As we enter the winter months, it’s time to start preparing our homes for the colder months ahead. By preparing your home for winter, you can keep you warm, prevent cold-weather damage, and sustain your home.
Heating your home
Last winter saw a drastic increase in energy bills, so we know people may be feeling apprehensive about turning on the heating, however, it’s important for the structure and contents of your home. The recommended temperature is at least 18°C if you can.
Extremely low temperatures can harm your home and its contents. For example, freezing temperatures can cause pipes to burst, which leads to repairs. Keeping your home warm helps prevent such damage and extends the life of your home's infrastructure.
Review your energy provider
Energy prices have recently reduced from what they were 6-12 months ago, so it’s beneficial to review your current energy costs. Comparison sites can be used to make this process much easier and can result in substantial savings on your energy costs.
Checking your boiler
Your boiler is one of the most important appliances in your home, especially in winter, as it keeps you warm. If you’re a tenant with us, we’re responsible for checking your boiler annually. If you’re a leaseholder, you're responsible for the gas appliances in your home. Our approved Gas Safe Registered contractor is K&T Heating.
A boiler service will help to ensure the boiler is operating efficiently, which will help with reducing your energy bills. The service will also help to prevent the boiler breaking down. Therefore, it’s important to ensure you haven’t gone more than 12 months without a boiler check.
Taps
Report any dripping taps to us. Make sure that taps are turned off and ball valves and taps are repaired as they can cause waste pipes to freeze. If the weather is cold enough, drips can freeze before they drain away. If left for a long-time pipework can block and cause pipes to burst completely.
Damp and mould
As your landlord, tackling damp and mould is our responsibility, and we understand that issues of damp and mould are often multi-layered and complex. We will work proactively to identify prevalence of mould and damp in homes and take planned preventive measures in buildings more at risk. But we also want to make sure that residents know how to report cases to us, as well as receive helpful advice from us on how to combat damp and mould within their home.
There are some day-to-day steps that can help reduce moisture in your home:
- Cover boiling pans and turn kettles off quickly.
- Avoid drying clothes on radiators, or in front of fires or heaters.
- Open a window or use any fans in your kitchen and bathroom and leave them running after you leave the room.
- Keep a small window or trickle ventilator open in any room you are using.
For more helpful information about preventive measures for combatting damp and mould, visit our Damp and Mould page and our Safety at Home page.
If you need to report a case of damp or mould, you can report it to us either in person at our office, over the phone, via email, or by using our online form on our website. New reports of damp and mould will go through to our partners, ZapCarbon, who will visit the home and carry out a Healthy Home Inspection to assess the mould, apply any treatment and make recommendations.
If you have any queries or concerns about getting your home ready for winter, do not hesitate to contact us – we’ll be happy to help.