Winter is fast on its way. According to this article from ABC 5 Eyewitness News, snow began falling in Minnesota as early as the beginning of November:
Minnesotans are getting a sneak peek at winter. A November storm moved across the state Tuesday evening and dumped several inches of snow.
In southwestern Minnesota, a trained spotter measured 8.5 inches of snow about 6 miles to the east-southeast of Marshall.
The National Weather Service says a spotter estimated 8 inches of snow 5 miles north-northwest of Holland.
Other snowfall reports include 3.5 inches near Kingston and in Granite Falls and 3 inches in Sacred Heart.
A National Weather Service map shows reports of snowfall totals between 1 and 3 inches across parts of the Twin Cities metro.
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops lower each day, people are more likely to stay indoors. As such, it’s important that your home remains warm throughout the winter months to ensure your family’s comfort. To combat the cold, most homes rely on their furnaces. Certain changes and additions to your house, however, can help maintain comfortable indoor temperatures:
Replace Your Windows
Over time, your windows may become entryways for unwanted cold. Fortunately, windows nowadays are covered with heat-resistant glazes or else have inert gases between their panes that mitigate heat transfer, meaning the heat inside your home won’t escape as easily. Replacing your windows with EnergyStar-certified windows can also decrease your electric bill by as much as 15%.
Insulate Your Attic
If your heater is struggling to keep your house warm, maybe you should add more insulation to your attic. Insulation is measured as R-value, a material’s capacity to resist heat transfer. In general, attics must have an R-value of 38 (or roughly 10-14 inches of insulation material) to ensure maximum protection against the cold.
Add Siding to Your Home’s Exterior
Siding contractors in Minneapolis like Twin Cities Siding and Roofing can add fiber cement siding to your wall to clad it against the weather. Since the cold has an additional layer of material to go through, it will have a harder time penetrating your home. Fiber cement is also very durable and requires little maintenance so you won’t need to brave the cold just to inspect or clean it.
With the help of new windows, proper insulation, and competent Minneapolis siding contractors, your home can become even more comfortable during the cold season without your heating bills shooting through the roof.
(Article Excerpt and Image from November Snow Gives Minn. a Sneak Peek of Winter, ABC 5 Eyewitness News, 06 November 2013)
