Five ways to avoid a mid-winter meltdown, from the experts at Climate Plus
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Winter is officially here, but the real freeze is yet to come.
Waiting until the depths of the season to discover your heater is broken, your drains are blocked or your electricity bill has doubled is a recipe for a mid-winter meltdown. The smartest way to keep your home cosy (and your wallet happy) is to get ahead of the frost.
We sat down with Matt Jones from Climate Plus to get his essential, hassle-free checklist for tuning up your home this winter.
1. Give your gas heater a health check
Nobody wants to wake up to a freezing house in the middle of a Canberra frost. But booking a professional gas tune-up before winter peaks is about far more than just staying warm – it’s a critical safety measure.
“A comprehensive check tests for dangerous carbon monoxide leaks, ensuring your system is safe for your family to use,” Matt says.
“Efficiency is the next big factor. If your gas pressures are running too high, you’re burning excess gas and wasting money. Our technicians adjust these pressures and clean out blocked filters. Left unmaintained, a clogged filter forces your system to work double-time, pushing dust, dirt, and skin particles back out through the ducts into your living spaces.”
Matt says a team member will also jump into your roof space or check under the floorboards.
“In about one in five Canberra homes, a piece of ductwork has slipped off due to poor initial installation or tape breaking down over the seasons,” he says.
“This means homeowners are accidentally heating their roof spaces without even knowing it!”
Matt says it’s vital to clean your filters every three months – or once a month if you have pets or active kids tracking dirt inside – to keep lungs healthy and ward off asthma triggers.
2. Clear out drain blockages
We all hear about clearing gutters, but your ground-level lines need love too.
“Your home runs on two systems: sewage and stormwater,” says Matt.
“In older Canberra suburbs, tree roots love to break into stormwater lines, causing hidden blocks. When a heavy downpour hits, that water has to escape somewhere, and if the drain is blocked, it can back up all the way to your gutters and flood your yard or home.
“Your sewage line is just as critical. If it isn’t draining efficiently, debris and toilet paper sit stagnant. Routine inspections and cleanings eliminate unpleasant hygiene issues, nasty odours coming up through your kitchen sink and the nightmare of a toilet backup.”
3. Beat energy bills with solar
Winter heating drives power bills through the roof, but Matt says upgrading your solar setup can eliminate up to 80 per cent of your winter energy costs.
“While solar panels pound out energy during the long days of summer, winter brings shorter daylight hours and a lower sun. A seasonal maintenance check ensures your panels are clean, your inverters are performing perfectly, and no local wildlife has disconnected your cabling,” Matt says.
“If you’ve been considering a battery, now is the absolute best time. Excellent government rebates are currently available to offset the initial outlay, but these incentives will depreciate over time. Locking in a solar and battery system now protects your wallet before future rebate drops make it more expensive.”
4. Consider upgrading your appliances
Ageing, inefficient appliances are likely costing you more to run than they’re worth.
Swapping out the old for sleek, new tech (like a heat pump hot water system or an induction cooktop paired with rooftop solar and a battery) can be a total game-changer.
“Upgrading can drastically shrink your household carbon footprint, reduce gas costs and move toward all-electric, self-sufficiency,” Matt says.
While the team at Climate Plus have a “fix first” philosophy, they can bring an entirely in-house team to the job when it’s time to upgrade.
“With dedicated, licensed electricians, solar and battery gurus, refrigeration technicians, plumbers and gas experts all under one roof, you don’t have to manage multiple trades to get a premium system installed,” Matt says.
5. Trust top-rated local experts
When household appliances break down in winter, the last thing you need is the stress of unreliable tradies or getting ghosted by a contractor.
Matt says Climate Plus was founded to bridge that gap, operating under a simple slogan: a tradie for every job.
“As a 100 per cent locally owned business run by Canberra-born-and-bred locals, we have a team of 20 tradies along with administrative staff who will always pick up the phone so that you’re never left waiting,” he says.
“With over 2,000 Google reviews, we hold ourselves to an extremely high standard, and if something isn’t right, we return to make it right.”
