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Here are some tips for preparing your home for wintertime:

Furnace inspection

• Call an HVAC professional to inspect your furnace and clean ducts.
• Stock up on furnace filters and change them monthly.
• Consider switching out your thermostat for a programmable thermostat.
• If your home is heated by a hot-water radiator, bleed the valves by opening them slightly; when water appears, close them.
• Remove all flammable material from the area around your furnace.

Get the fireplace ready

• Cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep out rodents and birds.
• If the chimney hasn't been cleaned for a while, call a chimney sweep to remove soot and creosote.
• Buy firewood or chop wood. Store it in a dry place away from the exterior of your home.
• Inspect the fireplace damper for proper opening and closing.
• Check the mortar between bricks and tuckpoint, if necessary.

Check the exterior, doors and windows

• Inspect exterior for crevice cracks and exposed entry points around pipes; seal them.
• Use weatherstripping around doors to prevent cold air from entering the home and caulk windows.
• Replace cracked glass in windows and, if you end up replacing the entire window, prime and paint exposed wood.
• If your home has a basement, consider protecting its window wells by covering them with plastic shields.
• Switch out summer screens with glass replacements from storage. If you have storm windows, install them.

Inspect roof, gutters and downspouts

• Consider adding extra attic insulation to prevent warm air from creeping to your roof and causing ice dams.
• Check flashing to ensure water cannot enter the home.
• Replace any worn shingles or tiles on your roof.
• Clean out the gutters and use a hose to spray water down the downspouts to clear away debris.
• Consider installing leaf guards on the gutters or extensions on the downspouts to direct water away from the home.

Check foundations

• Rake away all debris and edible vegetation from the foundation.
• Seal up entry points to keep small animals from crawling under the house.
• Tuckpoint or seal foundation cracks. Mice can slip through spaces as thin as a dime.
• Inspect sill plates for dry rot or pest infestation.
• Secure crawlspace entrances.

Service weather-specific equipment

• Drain gas from lawnmowers.
• Service or tune-up snow blowers.
• Replace worn rakes and snow shovels.
• Clean, dry and store summer gardening equipment.
• Sharpen ice choppers and buy bags of ice-melt/sand.

Install smoke, carbon monoxide detectors

• Buy extra smoke detector batteries and change them when daylight saving time ends.
• Install a carbon monoxide detector near your furnace and/or water heater.
• Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they work.
• Buy a fire extinguisher or replace an extinguisher older than 10 years.

Prevent plumbing freezes

• Locate your water main in case you need to shut it off in an emergency.
• Drain all garden hoses.
• Insulate exposed plumbing pipes.
• Drain air conditioner pipes and, if your AC has a water shut-off valve, turn it off.
• If you go on vacation, leave the heat on, set to at least 50 degrees.

Prepare landscaping and outdoor surfaces

• Trim trees if branches hang too close to the house or electrical wires.
• Ask a gardener when your trees should be pruned to prevent winter injury.
• Plant spring flower bulbs and lift bulbs that cannot overwinter, such as dahlias in areas where the ground freezes.
• Seal driveways, brick patios and wood decks.
• Don't automatically remove dead vegetation from gardens as some provide attractive scenery in an otherwise dreary, snow-drenched yard.
• Move sensitive potted plants indoors or to a sheltered area.

Prepare an emergency kit

• Buy indoor candles and matches/lighter for use during power outages.
• Find the phone numbers for your utility companies and tape them near your phone or inside the phone book.
• Buy a battery back-up to protect your computer and sensitive electronic equipment.
• Store extra bottled water and nonperishable food supplies (including pet food, if you have a pet), blankets and a first-aid kit in a dry and easy-to-access location.
• Prepare an evacuation plan in the event of an emergency.

-- Sources: homebuying.about.com,

U.S. Department of Energy