In order to transition to the new season with a sense of ease, there are a few areas any homeowner should look at.

The whole nine yards
Perhaps the first, before the snow falls and the wind becomes especially cold, should be the yard and garden.

Don’t let your first task be to mow the lawn, though. As Peter Hughes, owner of Peter Hughes Landscape recommends, grass should be left a little longer than you would normally cut it over the winter. On top of this should go a good, organic, winter fertilizer (15-10-30).

“If you really want to bring some growth along in spring,” Hughes further explains, “Apply a very light top-dressing of a loam/sand/sheep manure mix in the late fall.”

Trees and shrubs are protected from winter extremes by a good soak—about one hour per tree and ten minutes per shrub, advises Hughes. This should be done as late in fall as possible, and can be repeated during prolonged chinooks.

In the garden, fall is the time to add compost and remedy poor drainage. Drainage can be improved using zeolite, alfalfa pellets or Coco Brick, a renewable alternative to peat moss made from the husks of coconuts, says Cathy Baceda, manager of Garden Retreat.

This is also the time to plant bulbs and spring flowers, including tuplis, alliums and crocuses.

Go green
If you have been considering investing in a greenhouse, this is also the perfect time for that, says Baceda. Plants that you wish to overwinter can be moved here.

Inside, safety should be first on the list. This includes fireplaces, furnaces and carbon monoxide detectors.

A good first step is to call ATCO for a gas appliance check (free for customers). Other steps that any homeowner can, and should take themselves, according to Andrew Fischer, retrofit installation manager at Central Aire are to check the batteries in smoke detectors and make sure that all carbon monoxide detectors are up to par (there should be one within five metres of every bedroom).

Pilot episode
Fischer recommends having the furnace cleaned and tuned up to ensure it is working properly. A clean filter should be installed in the fall and the filter should be cleaned or replaced monthly throughout the heating season.

As Kent Greves of Diamond Fireplace and Stone points out, most fireplaces in homes today run on natural gas. Many people turn off their pilot lights over the summer, which Greves explains can be very hard on the thermocouple of the fireplace—the thermocouple may even need to be replaced when the time comes to re-light the pilot light in the fall.

Greves says that many customers call in the autumn asking for help restarting their pilot light. “ People think it’s going to explode, but it’s not possible,” he says.

Whether the fireplace is gas or wood-burning, an annual service visit is not a bad idea. A wood-burning fireplace will need its chimney swept to prevent chimney fires caused by build-up from burning wood that was not properly cured.

Experts at ATCO EnergySense do not recommend using the wood-burning fireplace when temperatures outside dip below -7 C, because the cold air intake through the flue will more than offset any heat generated by the fire.

The glass front of a gas fireplace can be cleaned by a service technician or by the homeowner using a special creme cleaner, or soap, water and elbow grease.

When the time comes to turn up the heat, it is also time to turn off the air conditioning. Fischer recommends turning it off at the breaker. Although “any good company that installs (air conditioners) puts a low ambient safety on to keep it from running when not in use,” he believes it is always a good idea to turn the unit off at the breaker and put the cover on.

Don’t blow off steam
One often overlooked element of temperature regulation is humidity. As Fischer points out, keeping your home at the proper humidity (30 to 45 percent) can allow you to run the heat at two to three degrees lower than you normally would. He recommends a steam generating humidifier, which runs even when the furnace is not—a major plus here in Calgary, where a chinook can heat things up while the air remains dry.

Get your ducts in a row
Ugly weather can be an excuse to stay inside to clean and get organized for the coming season. Aaron Wymann, owner of Maid For a Day, reports that many clients want their windows cleaned before bad weather makes it too difficult to do so, and that furnace and duct cleaning are the big menu items for fall cleaning.

Cleaning house
Rogers expands on this with organizing, explaining that because the kids are back in school, this is the perfect time to go through their closets and purge items that are too small or not being used. She says it is also the perfect time to organize the summer gear before it gets stored away for the winter, repairing, cleaning and replenishing supplies as you go.

And of course, as Christmas looms closer, Rogers suggests getting a head start on organizing early in autumn. One action to take includes examining the home room by room, taking note of repairs that need to be made before holiday visitors arrive.

With a thorough once-over, your home should sail through the winter months, clean, organized and safe. NL