Winter is coming. Here's how to get your home ready for it 

Our guide to the tasks you should complete in the house ahead of a season that will see us indoors even more than usual

Alert and prepared for anything that the darkest, dankest days have to throw at us? Ensure your domestic shield is up to the challenge.

BOILER SERVICING

Whether you have an air-source heat pump or use fossil-fuel central heating, take an hour, and turn the CH system on to check the dry (boiler/fire) and wet end (UFH/radiators and pipes). This does not stand in place of a full annual, professional check appropriate to your fuel and system type and sweeping flues and chimneys. Don’t skimp now and end up cursing your inaction in the depths of December.

Notice any odd noises from the boiler or radiators. Are any of the radiators cool to the touch, top or bottom, or simply not coming up to temperature? ASHP systems will be cooler — they should be. Bleeding out air-locks is a simple business, here’s a little B&Q guide: youtube/TuGIebYijcA. Your heating engineer can advise you if an old system needs a power-flush — where the rads are cleaned out and refilled with corrosion inhibitor and clean water.

Bleeding the central heating radiators is a handy skill to know. Pictures: iStock

The boiler’s outdoor, plastic condensate pipe should be insulated, look for it. Are any TRVs on the radiators working? Give them a tweak to check the screws/pins are working properly, finessing set temperatures. They sometimes just need to be removed and the pin given a confident tap with the handle of a screwdriver. If you have a sealed central heating system (under pressure), the gauge should read in the area of 1-1.5bar.

Go through the heating controls and scheduling. If you set the thermostat to minimum, it should effectively shut down your heating. Think about a set-back temperature if there’s any chance you might be away from home unexpectedly — this will stop the house getting unduly cold. Download the PDF guide for your smart thermostat if you don’t have one — there are all sorts of tricks to enhance its performance.

If you notice any sooty deposits around the boiler, the flues, or anywhere where combustion happens call in a heating engineer. Finally, try keeping the back of your sofa at least 10cm off the radiator to allow the heat to convect fully around the room. If you’re not in a vulnerable group, consider living at an air temperature of 18C/19C — a money and Earth-saving change.

DRAUGHT-PROOFING

Even where you cannot afford to seal the house up in a full insulation retrofit at a professional level, there is plenty you can do to stem uncontrolled air exchange. Basic draught-proofing can cut your kWs for heating by as much as 15%, saving 145kg of CO2 a year.

Recognise the problematic places. These tend to be where different structural materials meet (or rather, don’t quite meet) and where there are openings from letter-boxes to simple drilled out conduit holes for services and utilities. Try a wet hand, or my incense hack, to track the problem. Don’t overlook exterior doors, windows, light switches, letterboxes, floorboards, skirting boards, attic hatches, where floor joists meet external walls, and where pipework penetrates external walls and suspended floors.

The convection currents of CH in a draughty house can actually pull draughts around the rooms, so get it sorted. See my full draught-dodger guide here: www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20419223.html

If you’re on certain social benefits, you may qualify for an SEAI grant for these small projects (installed). Keep in mind, there is €400 up for grabs, also from the SEAI, towards the installation of the modern standard of 300mm of blanket insulation to the attic. Check out the T&Cs in the grant section at seai.ie.

VENTILATION

Ventilation is not a draught, but a controlled air exchange.

Healthy, appropriate air exchanges through mechanical or passive ventilation elements designed into the house (wall vents and trickle vents) are not something we want to interfere with.

A suspended floor requires free, constant ventilation to keep the timbers healthy and to whip away radon gas. It’s the other, unintended, sneaky, small breezes stirring through the house we have to plug up.

Go outside and look for piled-up leaves or other debris blocking vents or air bricks at ground level. Are all grilles that are meant to be open, open? Change the filters in your HRV or mechanical ventilation devices if required (bathroom/cooker/kitchen). Change the battery in your CO/smoke alarm, and test it today. If you don’t have one, get one. My choice would be the Nest 2nd Generation Protect Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm; from €100, from multiple suppliers including Harvey Norman.

If you use gas from any supplier, please read the safety guide from Gas Networks Ireland at www.gasnetworks.ie/home/safety/gas-safety-in-the-home. The 24-hour emergency line 1850-205050.

RAINWATER SYSTEM

We’re trying to whip the rain down from the roof as efficiently and directly as possible and to keep the moisture off vulnerable elements of the house, including wood fascias and soffits and the render (which, with a few discreet cracks, are a lot more permeable than you think). Pooling, cascading water escaping a blocked gutter can do a surprising amount of damage, and once frozen, ice can expand to flip off render.

At the very least, if your gutters leak or overflow, the dirty stains produced by the build-up on the exterior finish will be truly depressing by next April.

Proper high-work is best left to a seasoned tax-registered professional.

Don’t hire a “knocker”. With a pair of binoculars, take a look at the roof as a whole, then take in the gutters, downpipes and the condition of the walls. Can you see dislodged slates, damage to flashing, and any marked build-up of algae and moss? Are there any cracks in the render bigger than a few millimetres? If so, it’s probably worth investigation by a structural engineer.

If you’re fit and able and living in a bungalow, cleaning the gutters is completely doable in a well-dressed, careful team of two with good ladder skills. Being up there, you can look for other issues such as gutter joints sprung open by the heat of the summer sun in 2020.

Cleaning your gutters not only ensures that water gets off the roof and down to the drains efficiently — it clears out the expansion gap of mouldy silt which can clog, and push the sections of gutter apart. Here’s a handy guide from Woodie’s to tackle a leaky gutter: with Tec7 sealants that work even in a water-filled gutter (from €16 a tube): youtube/cFWlJwPfaeQ.

OTHER JOBS FOR OCTOBER

• Check the paving of your approach paths is level and not likely to cause stumbles
• Cut back overhanging branches on approaches, check trees near the house
• Test the home security system and check that all your locks are in working order
• Install extra outdoor lighting
• Add thermal interlining to existing curtains to warm up windows that you cannot fully draught-proof
• Insulate your outdoor tap against freezing
• Ensure the attic hatches are insulated with a good hank of blanket material on their top face
• Learn about what pipes — hot and cold — should be lagged and installed, using split-sided insulation sleeves where needed
• Store dry goods away in tins and lidded boxes to dissuade weevils and mice
• Clip back climbers that vermin may use to reach your attic
• Buy a bird table that drains freely. Hang it well out of the way of predators
• Check your insurance cover for your home. Switch if it saves you money while preserving the details you need