Winter wellbeing – prepare your home for winter

Cheshire East Council is offering a range of advice and support to residents on how to keep warm, well and safe this winter.

Working with its partners, the council is reminding people that there are numerous checks that can be completed, which can minimise the effects of bad weather.

Dr Matt Tyrer, Cheshire East Council’s director of public health, said: “We know that winter can be a daunting time of the year for some people but there are simple things that residents can do themselves, to help them stay warm, well and safe.

“For those that do need a little extra help, emergency support is available for vulnerable people in the event of a heating failure or similar occurrence. Help can be requested through the council’s customer contact centre, via the online web page here or by calling 0300 123 5500.

“Throughout the pandemic, keeping an eye out for friends, family members and neighbours has been more difficult. During the colder months, an idea would be to drop a note through someone’s door to ask if they need any support and leave your contact details with them, so they don’t feel isolated – in addition to phone calls and online check-ins with friends and relatives. This winter, more than ever, it’s so important that we keep people feeling connected.”

The advice is:

• Insulate pipes and drain off outside taps to prevent frozen pipes;
• Know where your stop tap is and make sure you can turn it on and off with ease;
• Consider asking a friend or neighbour to check on your house regularly if you are going away
• Leave your heating on if the weather is forecast to be freezing;
• Insulate your loft or walls to keep the heat in. Free and impartial advice about energy saving measures, grants and discounts is available from the Cheshire Green Doctor on 0330 174 0863. You can also visit our help with heating page
• Fit draught proofing to seal any gaps around doors and windows;
• Get your boiler serviced regularly by a qualified engineer. Remember, for gas boilers, check that your engineer is Gas Safe registered. Oil-fired heating needs servicing too;
• If you don’t have central heating in your home, check to see if you are eligible for a grant on our help with heating page.
• Be prepared for clearing ice and snow this winter – have a snow shovel, brush and grit or salt ready;
• If a member of your household is of pensionable age, has a disability, a chronic illness, hearing and/or visual difficulties or you have a child under eight-years-old, you may be eligible for free or priority services (you can contact your energy supplier to check);
• If electricity supplies go down in your area, do not assume that your supplier knows – call them and have your name, postcode, house number and telephone number handy and;
• If you have a burst pipe, collect the water in a bucket and switch off your central heating. Turn off your stop tap and turn on your sink taps to drain your water system.

Do not touch wiring or switches, which you suspect may have been affected. If in doubt, turn off your electricity at the mains and call a plumber. For more information, contact United Utilities on 0845 746 2200 or visit the United Utilities website.

Advice on how to stay well this winter can also be found on our Facebook and Twitter

pages. Please help friends and neighbours unable to access the internet, by downloading and printing off information and giving it to them.