How To Keep Your Western Colorado Home Cozy All Winter Long

Winter can sneak up on us in Western Colorado, and if you have an older home, you know it can lose warmth quickly once the sun goes down. The good news is, the fix is not complicated.

If your heating bill makes you flinch, it is time to investigate sealing, tuning, and adapting to Grand Junction's dry high-desert climate. Keep scrolling for a few ways to help get your home ready for winter without spending a bundle.

Understanding the Winter Challenge for Grand Junction Homes

Winter in the high desert is cold overnight. At an elevation of 4,600 feet, the dry air in the Grand Valley makes your heating system work harder. GJ Appliances says homes lose warmth faster in part due to the stress placed on windows, doors, and insulation because of the wide day-to-night temperature swings. Keeping these places tightly sealed and lowering the thermostats to 68 degrees can help reduce strain and costs.

Life Hack #1: Seal the Envelope — Stop the Warm Air From Escaping

A home with an air leak is one of the worst winter budget busters ever. Challengerhomes.com says at-risk areas at home include windows, doors, attics, and crawl spaces, but the good news is that these areas are some of the easiest to fix.

Start by looking for daylight coming in around doors or cracks in the caulking around your frames. In some of Grand Junction’s oldest neighborhoods, single-pane windows or unsealed crawlspaces could be letting in cold air. Sometimes, a simple project of adding caulk or new weather-stripping can change everything. KOAA.com says insulated curtains can go a long way to trap warmth at night while allowing you to let the solar heat (sunshine) in the next day.

Warm Smarter, Not Harder — Tune, Adjust, and Shine

If you have not already scheduled a tune-up for your furnace (or checked it yourself), now is the time. Replace that furnace filter and make a call to a local HVAC expert (especially if you have an older system), and avoid a big problem in the mid-winter. According to dreamfindershomes.com, reversing the rotation of ceiling fans to push warm air back down into living spaces can make a big difference during the winter.

During the winter, remember to open the south-facing blinds to let in as much sunshine as possible. A humidifier (challengerhomes.com) can also make things more comfortable when the air is extra dry in the heart of winter.

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