Getting your flat ready for winter
What to check before the cold: windows and doors, radiators and ventilation, dry air, lighting, seasonal clothes and an emergency kit for outages.

[ ] Check window pressure and seals
    Run your hand around the sash: a draught is felt immediately. Many windows have a seasonal pressure setting — check the manual.
[ ] Check the balcony door
    It loses pressure and seal integrity more often than windows do. Check it separately rather than in passing.
[ ] Inspect the front door and the gap beneath it
    The seal, the threshold, the gap underneath. Cold and smells come from the stairwell more than people think.
[ ] Check that radiators heat along their whole height
    A cold top with a hot bottom usually means air in the system. Raise it with the building management before the frosts.
[ ] Free the radiators from curtains and furniture
    A floor-length curtain or a sofa pushed against it noticeably cuts output. This is free extra warmth.
[ ] Check the ventilation draw
    Hold a sheet of paper to the grille. Without draw you get condensation on windows and damp in corners.
[ ] Deal with dry air
    Short bursts of ventilation, a humidifier if you have one, and clean its filters. Parched air is the classic winter problem.
[ ] Clean the humidifier and air-conditioner filters
    Before the season of heavy use. A dirty filter means worse performance and a smell through the flat.
[ ] Add light where you sit in the evening
    Local warm lamps instead of a single ceiling light. The dark season becomes noticeably easier.
[ ] Clean the windows before it gets cold
    Clean glass adds noticeable light on a short day, and washing them in frost is awkward and bad for the seals.
[ ] Get out and check winter clothes and boots
    Zips, linings, boot treatment, whether children's clothes still fit. Better discovered in October than in the first frost.
[ ] Put down entrance mats
    In winter you carry in water, grit and de-icer. A mat outside and inside saves cleaning and the floor finish.
[ ] Assemble a winter emergency kit
    A torch with batteries, candles and matches, a power bank, some water, basic medication. Somewhere everyone knows.
[ ] Make sure you know where the water shut-off and fuse box are
    Show everyone who lives there. Breakdowns are more common in winter, and hunting for a valve in the dark is the worst case.
[ ] Move plants away from radiators and cold windows
    Hot dry air and cold glass are equally harmful. Winter watering is usually less frequent — check the soil, not the calendar.
[ ] Do not forget the car and seasonal tasks
    Tyres, battery, screen wash, an ice scraper. If you have a summer place, it has its own winterising list.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/winter-home-prep