5 Ways to Winterize Your Home

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Days are shorter during the winter, which means you’ll likely use more lighting to increase visibility. Similar to programming your thermostat, you can purchase timers for your lights so they will turn on and off at scheduled times each day. This means you can have outdoor lights turned on when you arrive home at night, without leaving them on all day.

This becomes especially relevant during the holidays, when neighborhoods see an increase in outdoor lighting usage. Timed lights are also useful for home security, as it provides the appearance that people are home and awake to deter burglars.

When choosing the bulbs for your indoor/outdoor lighting, consider energy-efficiency. You’ve probably already heard of the energy (and cost) benefits of compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs), and there are also light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs and halogen bulbs. These bulbs lose much of their effectiveness if turned on/off repeatedly, but set on a timer these bulbs should last longer than incandescents.