KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The crazy weather came sooner than many thought. While you're at home and inside, you can get your home prepped ahead of the next snow storm.
"It's all simple stuff, you just have to think ahead," said Bob Hamilton, owner of Bob Hamilton Plumbing, Heating AC and Rooter.
Hamilton's team of plumbers and HVAC techs and many other companies around the metro were responding to more calls Monday.
Hamilton gave us some tips about how to winterize your home:
1. Check your filters
"We're getting a lot of calls that my furnace is rumbling, and it's just trying to get all this air inside of it and all you got to do is replace your filter."
2. Clear the snow away from your garage door so the door shuts all the way.
"It might not typically freeze, but if your garage door is open, then all that cold air is in. Your furnace just can't get to it, and it'll freeze your pipes and cause a problem." Hamilton said that's actually a fairly common issue.
3. Put your outdoor hose away.
"You got to make sure that you take that hose bib off because it doesn't allow it to drip all the way out. Then it'll freeze internally and then break inside. And you won't know it right away until spring when you turn the hose on and then it'll be a gusher inside."
4. Pay attention to the pipes under your sink.
"If it's super cold, keep your cabinet doors open because these are not letting warm air in. If it's extreme cold, like five degrees, let some water run and put it right between hot and cold. Just get it a little more than a drip, about a pencil lead drip, and that keeps the water running so it doesn't have a chance to freeze."
5. Make sure your furnace exhaust isn't covered by snow.
"If you have a 90 percent furnace where it's exhausting out the side, it can clog the intake and now it can't get air, so now your furnace shuts off."
In addition to the last tip, Hamilton suggests checking the batteries on your carbon monoxide detector. If your furnace exhaust comes out of the roof, the snow might be blocking it, causing carbon monoxide to build up inside your home, which is a big danger.
