It's starting to get colder here in New England, and many of our summer residents are packing up and heading south. Whether you're a seasonal resident or you stick it out all year long here in the Lakes Region, we have a few tips to keep your homes safe and secure through the winter months.

1) Prevent a leak in the Spring: This one applies to all residents. Before the winter arrives, we recommend that you take the hose off from the sillcock outside your house. This will prevent it from freezing and causing a leak when you want to use the hose next spring.

2) Have Your Burner Serviced: Annual burner services are crucial to maintaining the efficiency of your burner and the safety of your home. We encourage you to schedule your annual burner service as needed. Proper service and maintenance will help decrease the chances that you'll lose heat this winter. As always, remember to hire a licensed technician.

At Thursty Water, we haver a 16 point checklist to ensure that your burner is properly serviced, including the cleaning, nozzle, electrodes and fuel filter replacements if needed. We provide you with a report of your burner efficiency test results, and if you worked with us last year, we provide a comparison with last year's test. Your information will stay on file in our office for reference in 2012, and we'll provide a courtesy call to schedule your next service.

3) Winterizing your home is not as easy as it may seem. As always, we strongly encourage you to hire a licensed technician for the job: We've run into many problems before when home owners decide to close down their houses in the winter. When it's time to open again in the spring or summer, there have been leaks, burst pipes, and problems that wind up being more costly than it would have been to hire a technician to close down the home in the first place. For your peace of mind and for the safety of your home, we strongly encourage that you hire a professional.

If you would like to call and schedule your home winterization with Thursty Water, we would be happy to help. With our licenses, certifications, insurance and numerous years of experience, we are a company you can trust.

4) Keep your home safe and secure with routine Home Checks: Whether you're planning on leaving for the entire season, or perhaps just one week for a vacation, you might be interested in having your home checked while you're away. Home Checks ensure that your home remains safe and secure both outside and inside, and that all systems continue to work properly. Also, with copper theft on the rise, residential homes have been prone to this theft as well. (Learn more at www.coppercoalition.com and www.coppertheft.info)

We offer home checks for a minimal fee, and all checks are scheduled in our routine maintenance each month. As always, you can call our office to learn more!