Prepare yourself and your home for this winter season now and focus on the fun later! 🥰🤗 If winter isn’t your favorite season (or not even close) try going through it in the smoothest possible way by being prepared. If you’re not sure how to prepare other than buying a million blankets, keep reading for our tips and ideas on how to make the best out of this weather! Who knows, you might even enjoy winter this year?!  ❄☃🥶🤧🧡😉

First Things First

Prepare your vehicle.

If you can, it’s best to have a mechanic take a look at your car and make sure that everything is ready for the freezing temperatures. If you can’t get a full check-up, here are some things you should focus on:

* antifreeze concentration in your car’s coolant system (there needs to be more in the system during sub-zero weather).

* car battery (if it’s older than 5 years, you might want to replace it before it freezes or ask your mechanic to perform a load test)

* tires (if you are nervous about driving in the snow, you can get a set of studded snow tires which will help your car in being more stable)

Also, while you’re prepping your car, don’t forget to make an emergency kit for the inside! It should include:

Car ice scraper

  • An emergency thermal blanket

  • A compact snow shovel for the car

  • A hand-crank torch

  • Non-toxic ice melter

  • Jumper cables

  • First-aid kit

  • Extra fuel container

  • Tow straps

  • STA-BIL, coolant, and car tools

  • Snowbrush

  • Security Chain Snow Chains for car wheels

Next – Outside

Outdoors and Garage…

Now that you have your escape car ready, let’s take care of everything else. For the outside, you should focus on your hoses and sprinklers to make sure that there is no water left inside that could freeze. You should also store away your patio furniture and outdoor grill. If you decide on storing everything in the garage, you should take the time to organize all your tools and store everything in a way that still allows you to easily park your car inside on the colder days. Here are some tips to maximize your garage space!

Inside

Your home sweet home!

It might seem like there is not that much you can do inside of your house, but little things go a long way! 🤣 One of the tricks that you might not know is that switching all your ceiling fans on “reverse” can help you with the heat efficiency! They are shaped so that if they run in a clockwise direction, they will push the heat down in the room instead of allowing it to naturally rise. Also, you should just walk around your doors and windows and make sure that there are no gaps. Lastly, make sure that all your heaters and humidifiers are clean on the inside and out so the risk of a spark is minimal.  You might even want to think about placing them around your home in strategic areas for more heat efficiency!

Lastly

Prepare yourself and your best friend!🐾

Don’t forget about yourself! Go through your closet and find the warmest blankets, sweaters, and socks to keep you warm 😉😊 Stock up on extra tea and soup recipes and don’t forget about an inspiring book for those snow days! Oh, and one more thing! Please don’t forget that animals get cold in the winter just as we do. Make sure that your furry best friend is comfortable, warm and safe this winter!

Wishing you tons of snowball fights and warm nights by the fireplace from the Beth & CJ Stein Team. If you have any questions on any of these events or are interested in buying or selling your home, give us a call.