Sears Home Services has provided the useful checklist below for winterizing your home, if you haven’t already done so. You can visit Sears from this link.

• Maintaining Home Heating Systems
• Reducing Window and Roof Drafts
• Unclogging Gutters to Prevent Future Home Damage
• Prepping Water Heater and Pipes
• Utilizing ENERGY STAR® Qualified Products
• Tuning Up Snow Throwers

Maintaining Home Heating Systems

Now is the time to look at home heating systems—before sub-freezing temperatures become the norm. Clogged and dirty vents force heaters to work harder to warm the home, translating to higher heating bills. Sears customers can have their heating vents cleaned to help with air circulation and ventilation. This simple cleaning service will not only help keep homes warmer, it will also assist in keeping wallets a bit fuller, too.

Heating system preventive maintenance can also help ensure that your home heating system is running efficiently. A 20-point home heating preventive maintenance check prior to winter’s full force descending on homeowners will help safeguard against costly breakdowns in the future and in the midst of a winter storm when they can least repair it.

Additionally, for homeowners with aging heating systems that are 10 years or older, it may be time replace it with a more energy efficient option. To help determine if a new home heating system is needed, Sears customers can request a free in-home design consultation.

Reducing Window and Roof Drafts

An essential step to keeping cozy and saving energy is to inspect the home for leaks and drafts. Improperly sealed homes waste energy and reduce the effectiveness of home heating systems. Notable heat loss often occurs through windows and the roof, especially older ones.

A simple way to check for leaks is to hold a lit incense stick next to doorways and windows and watch the smoke. Sears Home Services can help improve the energy efficiency of your home through in-home consultations to help you understand possible window or roof problem areas and, if necessary, install new, more efficient options. Sears professional project consultants can provide installation estimates in advance to help customers plan ahead. Check for drafts before Old Man Winter arrives to stay snug and dry when it’s frosty outside.

Unclogging Gutters to Prevent Future Home Damage

While repairing current leaks in a roof should be considered a priority to help maintain heat in the home, customers should also take simple precautions to prevent future damage caused by freezing weather, such as cleaning gutters. Clogged gutters lead to ice dams in winter, which occur when water freezes near the edge of a roof and creates a dam that blocks the flow of water off the roof. This can lead to water from melting snow finding its way under shingles, causing new roof leaks and dripping into the house.

Prepping Water Heater and Pipes

If your water heater does not have an insulating blanket built into the unit, homeowners should be sure to wrap the pipes in advance of winter. These heaters are often the least efficient appliances in a home and have to work harder to provide homeowners with hot water on the coldest days if they aren’t insulated. Wrap your water heater and pipes in advance of winter to stay warm and reduce energy costs.
Utilizing ENERGY STAR® Qualified Products

There is still time to take advantage of tax credits from the government. Additionally, Sears encourages customers to consider ENERGY STAR-qualified products for all their home improvement needs and repairs. Through current ENERGY STAR government tax offers¹, customers can save up to $200 on qualified replacement windows and up to $300 on qualified water heaters installed by Dec. 31, 2011.

Tuning Up Snow Throwers

As snowfall starts to sweep the nation, now is the time to pull the snow thrower out of storage and determine whether it needs tuning up or repair services. In advance of the season’s heaviest snow storms, customers can bring in their snow thrower to a local Sears and have it serviced to help ensure it’s ready for the winter weather. For the do-it-yourself enthusiasts, SearsPartsDirect.com offers parts and accessories for snow throwers.

If you’re interested in here’s contact information for Sears Home Services: http://www.searshomeservices.com/ or by calling 1 800-4MY-HOME.

1. Tax offer ends 12/31/11. Qualified product(s) must be installed by 12/31/11. See http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index for details.

Therma Tru Doors – Therma – TRU, the nation’s leading manufacturer of Fiberglass and Steel Entry Doors systems, announced that they have taken care of homeowners by complying with Strict New Energy Standards set by the government through the ENERGY STAR program for the Door, Window and Skylight category. The company also promised that it will continue to improve energy-efficient consumer products available on the market today.

The company has homeowners covered when it comes to meeting the new criteria of the Energy Star program that became effective on January 4, 2010. The Energy Star program has changed their criteria for the Door, Window and skylight category to continue to raise the bar for energy efficient consumer products available on the market today,” said Steve Jasperson, code and regulatory compliance manager for Therma-Tru. “Even with the new criteria, almost all of Therma-Tru’s fiberglass and steel entry door systems meet these strict ENERGY STAR guidelines and are also National Fenestration Rating Council® (NFRC) Certified.”

ENERGY STAR is a government-backed program helping businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR program for window and doors uses U-values and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients to determine energy performance levels. In the new 2010 criteria, the Door category has eliminated climate zones and is now based solely on the size of the glass in the door. The Window category still uses climate zones. Therma-Tru fiberglass doors offer up to five times the insulation of wood due to their polyurethane foam core. This essentially creates an energy-efficient barrier in the door, stabilizing the interior temperatures and therefore decreasing energy costs.”