Whitemore Home Decorating Society

Another winter is coming, the way winter comes each and every year. Some years, winter is not quite so bad, but it’s more likely the weather will turn harsh, cold and bitter as one calendar year ends and another begins. Now is the time to go through your checklist of preparing for winter. Even if you think you’re completely ready for winter, take a look through these items and you’ll be sure to find at least one you’ve neglected.

Take care of your home before winter arrives. Contact your local government offices to see if you qualify for subsidies or grants to improve your home heating situation, whether it be for insulation, weather-stripping or something more. Have your heating system serviced — remember, carbon monoxide kills, but then, you’d have no such problem with an electric heating system. Check that your water pipes are adequately and correctly lagged. If you have heating fuel deliveries, check with your supplier to confirm that deliveries for the winter are properly scheduled. Know where the stop tap or stopcock for your home’s water supply is located — there’s usually one just outside near your property’s boundaries and another inside your home. If you have a generator, test it now to see if it will support your electric heating system — check your supply of fuel for the generator.

Take care of your supplies for the winter. Fill your shelves with canned food and bottled water, but be sure you cycle through your stocks and use the oldest for your normal meal routines. Stop at your DIY shop and buy a bag or two of salt to de-ice your walkways when they get iced up. Pull your snow shovels out of the shed and replace if necessary. Check the expiration dates on your supply of batteries and test them in your radio and your torches.

Take care of your car with a winter health check. Check the tyres and the spare — think about switching to snow tyres. Test the car’s battery to see if it’s fully charged. Get any chips or cracks in the car’s windscreen repaired — frost can expand such defects and wreck the entire surface. If your MOT is coming due in the next few months, get it done early to ensure safety and road-worthiness. Make sure there’s a snow shovel, winter/waterproof boots, de-icer and thermal blankets in the boot of your car. Look into getting a car power inverter that will enable you to run or charge low-wattage devices off your car’s battery.

Take care of yourself too. Get your flu jab if you fit one of the categories for receiving same. Look at the soles of your walking shoes to make sure the tread still grips well. Check your wardrobe for a variety of clothing that you can wear in layers to stay warm. Talk with neighbours, friends and family members about how you will all coordinate your bad weather emergency plans together. Sign up on the official and media websites for the weather, road and school warnings.

Pull a suitcase or backpack out of the closet, designate it the emergency bag and fill it with standard stuff like batteries, torches, a radio, a first-aid kit, whistles and penknives. Put your spare keys for the car and the home in a plastic bag and tape to the inside of the bag. Have a folder with copies of IDs, your insurance policy and a list of contact phone numbers for emergencies — add an envelope with cash sufficient for several days of emergency travel. Have a grocery bag in your pantry filled with toiletries, small bottles of water, plastic-ware, napkins and several packets of long-life food and Meals-Ready-to-Eat. Buy one of those pre-paid mobile phones and keep it charged.

If all this seems a bit too much to you, remember that being prepared puts you one step ahead of harsh winter weather. An electric heating system for the home will be yet another efficient step that will make your home warm and snug for the entire season.