Pre-winter prep: seven September jobs that make a cold, dark week easier
September is a good month for the unglamorous jobs that make winter easier: a heating service, draughts, loft insulation, smoke and CO alarms, your energy tariff, a few basics and a warm-room plan. None of it is urgent, and all of it is easier before the heating season starts.
Published late. This briefing was due on Thursday 3 September.
The September window
September is not an emergency month, and that is the point. Booking before the heating season usually gives you more choice of dates, shops are not yet busy with winter buying, and nothing has to be done in a hurry. ENTSO-E, the association of Europe's electricity transmission system operators, publishes its Winter Outlook late in the year, but you do not need a forecast for any of the jobs below. They make sense in any winter.
Seven jobs, roughly in order of value
1. Book a heating service
If you have a boiler, a gas heater, a heat pump or any appliance that burns fuel, book its annual service now. A service before the heating season can catch faults before the coldest weeks, when engineers are busiest. It is also a safety check: a faulty fuel-burning appliance can produce carbon monoxide.
2. Seal the draughts
On a windy day, walk around your home and feel for moving air at window frames, the bottoms of doors, letter boxes and loft hatches. Foam strips, sealant and a draught excluder for the front door are cheap. Sealing draughts is one of the cheapest ways to cut heat loss and make rooms feel warmer.
3. Look at the loft
An uninsulated home can lose around a quarter of its heat through the roof, according to the UK Energy Saving Trust. There is no single EU rule on how deep loft insulation should be, so check your national guidance; in the UK the recommended depth for mineral wool is 270 mm. If there is little or none, topping it up is usually one of the better-value improvements.
4. Test smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms
Many EU countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, require smoke alarms in homes; check the rules where you live. Press the test button on every alarm this week, and replace any alarm that is more than ten years old. If you have any fuel-burning appliance, fit a carbon-monoxide alarm marked EN 50291. Carbon monoxide has no colour and no smell, which is why the alarm matters.
5. Check your energy tariff
Your supplier's standard tariff is not always the cheapest offer. Under EU rules you can switch supplier at any time of year (a fixed-term contract may carry an exit fee), and every member state must give households free access to at least one comparison tool, such as the CNMC comparator in Spain. Ten minutes with your latest bill is enough to see whether a better offer exists.
6. Buy a few winter basics early
Batteries for the torch, a spare bulb, grit or salt for icy steps and a couple of hand warmers. Items like these can sell out during a cold snap, so buying early avoids the rush.
7. Plan a warm room
If the heating or the power fails in cold weather, the simplest plan is one room everyone gathers in: ideally a smaller room you can close off, with warm layers, blankets or sleeping bags. Talk it through once with your household so nobody has to work it out in the dark.
What this is not
This is not a warning about a hard winter. It is ordinary maintenance that is easier in September than in January.
One thing this week: book the heating service. One phone call, and the most common winter breakdown is less likely to find you in the first frost.
Systems Fail Lab