Prep your home for winter
Have a qualified technician inspect your gas furnace and appliances. For a fee, our service technicians can perform the inspection.
- Caulk around windows and doors to prevent air leaks.
- Replace furnace filters every month during the heating season.
- Install carbon monoxide detectors outside each bedroom and install smoke alarms on each level of your house and inside every bedroom. For both types of devices, check batteries monthly and replace them at least twice a year.
- Never use your oven or range top to heat your home.
Learn how to improve the comfort of your home in winter
In partnership with Superior Water, Light & Power, Focus on Energy helps single-family homeowners, renters, and property owners make energy related improvements to their homes. See if your electric and/or natural gas utility partners with Focus on Energy.
Protect your pipes
Damage caused by burst pipes can cost thousands of dollars. Here’s how to prepare pipes for winter.
- Disconnect and store outdoor hoses. Cover outdoor faucets with foam insulators.
- Inspect pipes and have any leaks repaired before winter sets in.
- Protect your pipes in unheated areas of your home with heat tape or pipe insulation. Protecting pipes this way is especially important for mobile homes, basements, attics, garages, crawlspaces and pipes that run against exterior walls with little or no insulation.
Attention snowbirds!
Be sure to shut off the water in your home before you head south for the winter and consider having the pipes drained. Any water left in your pipes is at risk of freezing, causing pipes to burst and damaging your home.
Help! I don’t have water.
Call SWL&P at 715-394-2200 if you’re without water service. We’ll send a technician to your home to look for the cause and if your service line is frozen, we’ll thaw it once for free. You will need to pay for any additional thaws.
