By Laura Hipshire
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

“Be prepared.” The age-old Boy Scout motto is particularly fitting when it comes to readying for Michigan winters.

Mark Ialapi, owner of Apollo Heating and Cooling, in St. Clair Shores, advises running the furnace briefly in the fall, before it’s so cold that you’ll be without heat until it’s repaired. While you’re at it, he says, have a professional perform an annual safety check on it. Ialapi also recommends replacing the furnace filters and humidifier pads.

Other priorities include installing and weatherstripping windows and doors, checking and cleaning gutters, and insulating water pipes.

Stuck in the middle of winter
But people who have waited until January or February may have a cold couple of days in front of them before a repairperson can fix the furnace or the drafty windows.

Ialapi says every year around this time he receives calls from customers who discover their furnace isn’t working—after the bone-chilling winter weather has already set in.

“The first time they turn it on, they call—and they wait, of course, until it’s 20  degrees out,” he says. And if waiting for a repairperson isn’t enough, people who use natural gas to heat their homes will likely see their winter heating bills go up 17% to an average of $700 for the season, according to the U.S. Energy Department. During the October to March heating period, electricity costs are estimated to go up 12%, and heating oil costs are expected to go up 42%.

Local solutions
A local retirement community, Henry Ford Village, has found some alternatives  to help the people who live there avoid worrying about winterizing their house.

It provides all apartment home maintenance repairs at no extra cost. From snow removal to salting and checking furnaces to windows, the skilled maintenance staff covers everything.

The community’s architectural design allows people to access everything they need without having to brave icy roads and blustery Michigan weather.