4 Things You Need to Know About Preparing for Cold Weather
Is your church prepared to handle the colder weather this year? If not, we’ve prepared four helpful tips to get you started. Get a head start on preparing before you’re left out in the cold.
Remove Snow and Ice
Accumulated snow and ice create a major slipping hazard for visitors to your ministry. Have your parking lots plowed, walkways shoveled, and ice removed to help make your property safe for visitors. Removing snow and ice can also help reduce the damage caused by the freezing and thawing of winter.
Remove Icicles and Ice Dams
While icicles might look interesting hanging off the edge of buildings, they can be a potential hazard for anything beneath them, and they can also lead to major damages to your buildings. Ice dams are another thing to be aware of this winter. They form when your building has poor insulation, and the escaping heat melts the snow trapped on your roof. The melted snow has nowhere to go, and it begins finding its way in between your shingles and causes leaks within your buildings.
To try to help prevent this, consider installing roof heating systems. They can help reduce the formation of icicles and ice dams by melting any snow or ice that accumulates.
Prevent Frozen Pipes
The exterior of your buildings isn’t the only area at risk during the winter. The pipes within your buildings can freeze and burst if the temperatures inside get too low. To help prevent this, insulate your pipes so decreasing temperatures will have less of an effect on your pipes. Additionally, leaving the tap dripping on your sinks can help reduce the chances of pipes becoming frozen.
Maintain HVAC Systems
Your HVAC system or furnace may be the most important system within your ministry during the winter. Regular maintenance is always a good idea to hopefully prevent any issues from arising during the winter. If regular maintenance isn’t something you’re able to do, you should at least have a trained technician service your system before winter and make sure there aren’t any immediate issues.
