Winter checklist

December

• Decorate by the fire officials' rules
• If the tree is real, water it every day
• The cold-snap routine, for the first real freeze
• Winter storm outages: the generator rules do not change
• Year-end: write down what is aging

January

• Test the house for radon
• Run the cold-snap routine when a hard freeze is forecast
• Watch the roof edge for ice dams
• Use space heaters by the three-foot rule
• If the heating system was not serviced in the fall, book it now

February

• Give the water heater its annual check
• Inspect the washing machine hoses
• Clean the refrigerator condenser coils
• Expect gaps in the wood floors, and do not fill them

Every month

• Look at the furnace or air handler filter.
• Press the test button on every smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm.
• Press TEST, then RESET, on each GFCI outlet, and the TEST button on any AFCI breakers in the panel.
• Run water into any sink, tub or floor drain that does not get used.