One of the best investments you can make for both your home and health is to hire an HVAC technician during the fall to inspect your furnace or heat pump. The visit costs about $100, and they’ll make sure your system is working efficiently and is clean. They will also check to make sure there is no carbon monoxide leaking into your home. This autumn visit will pinpoint any potential problems that need fixing, and repairs now are better than breakdowns during brutally cold winter months, when getting your system fixed can mean a wait of several days.

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A classic tip to winterize your home is to use caulk to seal up windows and prevent cold air from seeping in. But for some people, using a caulk gun can be both messy and complicated, and it can create windows that are eyesores when you’re finished. For the less DIY-inclined, try Mortite caulking cord. It comes wrapped up like small rope, and you just unroll, press with your fingers and -- voila! -- cracks, gaps and holes are sealed up. It comes in a variety of colors to match the color of your windows, too. The best part: It never hardens, so if you ever want to remove it, you just peel it off.

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Preventing cold air from entering the house in the winter is essential to keep your home warm and to cut back on heating costs. One summertime staple -- a pool flotation noodle -- can be used to help block out drafts. For older homes that often have large gaps under doors, simply cutting open a pool noodle and sliding it onto the bottom edge of the door can do the trick. It’s soft enough to not scratch floors and flexible enough to slide back and forth so the door can be used. For exact instructions, look online for easy tutorials by searching “pool noodle draft dodger.”

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION