# How to Winterize Your Home in Louisville and Southern Indiana (Before the First Hard Freeze)

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Our winters are not brutal, which is exactly why pipes freeze here: nobody is ready. A checklist for Louisville and Southern Indiana houses, in the order to do it, from the first frost through the January ice.

By Roger Choate. Published 2026-10-07 03:18:41. Updated 2026-10-07 03:34:20 (UTC).

The short version: Before the first hard freeze (usually early to mid November here): pull the hoses, shut off and drain outside faucets, check the crawl space vents and pipe insulation, get the furnace serviced and the filter changed, test the CO detectors, and clean the gutters once the leaves are down. Then get ready for an ice storm, because that is the winter weather that actually hurts around here.

Louisville and Southern Indiana do not get a Minnesota winter. We get a mild one with two or three cold snaps that drop into the single digits, a wet one with a lot of freeze-and-thaw, and every few years an ice storm that takes the power out for days. Houses here are built for that, more or less: a lot of crawl spaces, a lot of ranches with exposed pipes, and furnaces that run hard for twelve weeks. Here is what to do and roughly when.

## Late October: outside water

- Disconnect every hose. A hose left on a frost-free spigot traps water in the pipe, and that is how "frost-free" faucets freeze and split inside the wall. Drain the hoses and store them. 
- Shut off and drain the outside faucets if yours have an inside shutoff (common on older houses, look in the basement or crawl space near the foundation on the same wall). Close it, then open the outside spigot to drain the line and leave it cracked open. Frost-free spigots without an inside valve just need the hose off. 
- Insulated faucet covers are \$5 at the hardware store. Worth it on spigots on the north side. 
- Irrigation systems need a blowout with compressed air before the first hard freeze. If you do not own a big compressor, this is a \$60 to \$100 call to a [landscaping or irrigation company](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/landscaping/), and cheaper than a cracked backflow preventer.

## Early November: pipes, crawl space, water heater

- Crawl space vents. Houses across Clark and Floyd County sit on vented crawl spaces. Close the vents (or install foam plugs) for winter so the air under the floor stays above freezing. Open them again in April. If the crawl space is encapsulated, leave it alone. 
- Pipe insulation. Foam sleeves on any water line in the crawl space, garage, or an outside wall, especially the run to the kitchen sink if it sits on an exterior wall. Our [pipe insulation guide](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/insulate-pipes-prevent-freezing/) covers it. In a real cold snap, open the cabinet doors under exterior-wall sinks and let a faucet drip. 
- Know where the main shutoff is before you need it in the dark. [Find it now.](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/find-water-shutoff-valve/) 
- Water heater. Flush a few gallons out of the drain valve to clear sediment, and check the temperature setting is around 120 degrees. A tank in an unheated garage benefits from an insulating blanket. 
- Sump pump. Our wet winters and the February thaw are when basements flood. Pour a bucket of water in the pit and make sure the pump kicks on, and check that the discharge line outside is not going to freeze shut (a frozen discharge line burns up the pump). If the house has had water before, a battery backup pump is the single best winter purchase.

## Early November: heat

- Furnace tune-up. Have an [HVAC company](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/hvac/) check the heat exchanger, burners, ignition and blower before the first cold night, not during it. A tune-up runs about \$80 to \$150 locally and most companies are booked solid by the first freeze, so call in October. 
- Filter. Change it now and every one to three months through winter ([how to change an HVAC filter](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/change-hvac-filter/)). 
- Heat pumps. If you have one, do not panic when it runs "emergency" or "aux" heat on single-digit nights; that is the electric backup doing its job. Do panic at a bill that doubles, which usually means the heat pump is not working and the backup strips are carrying everything. 
- Thermostat. Set a schedule. A setback to 62 or so overnight and while the house is empty is where the savings are. A [smart thermostat](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/install-smart-thermostat/) does it for you. 
- Space heaters plug straight into the wall, never a power strip, and get three feet of clearance. They are the leading cause of winter house fires.

## Safety checks

- Carbon monoxide detectors on every level, especially near bedrooms. Gas furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces and generators all make CO, and winter is when the house is sealed up. [Test and replace them.](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/test-replace-smoke-co-detectors/) 
- Chimney. If you burn wood, have the chimney swept and inspected before the first fire. Gas log fireplaces still need the flue checked for nests and blockages. 
- Dryer vent. Lint plus cold air plus a long run through the crawl space equals a slow dryer and a fire risk. [Clean it.](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/dryer-vent-cleaning-warning-signs/)

## Late November: gutters, roof, drafts

- Gutters, after the leaves are down. Around here that is Thanksgiving week. Clogged gutters freeze into ice dams that push water under the shingles and into the soffit. [How to clean them](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/clean-maintain-gutters/), or hire one of the [gutter companies listed here](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/gutters/) if the ladder is a problem. 
- Roof. From the ground with binoculars: lifted shingles, missing flashing around the chimney, debris in the valleys. Fix it now; nobody wants to be on a roof in January. 
- Drafts. Weatherstripping on exterior doors, caulk around window trim, foam gaskets behind outlet covers on exterior walls. [Sealing gaps](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/seal-gaps-windows-doors/) is the cheapest heating-bill fix there is. Reverse the ceiling fans to clockwise on low to push warm air down. 
- Trees. Dead or overhanging limbs come down in ice. Get a [tree service](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/tree-service/) out before it is their busiest week of the year.

## Get ready for the ice storm

Ask anyone who lived here in January 2009: the storm that matters in Kentuckiana is ice, not snow. Power was out for a week or more across the area. Winter prep is not done until the house can go a few days without electricity:

- Flashlights and batteries, a battery or crank radio, phone power banks charged, a week of medications. 
- Water: a few gallons stored, and if you are on a well, remember the pump dies with the power. 
- A plan for heat. A gas fireplace or gas logs with a standing pilot usually works without power. A kerosene or propane heater rated for indoor use works with ventilation. A gas furnace does not run without electricity. 
- Generator safety: outside only, 20 feet from the house, never in the garage even with the door open. People in this area have died from exactly that. If you want a generator that powers the furnace, have an [electrician](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/electrical/) install a transfer switch or inlet now. [Generator safety guide.](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/generator-safety-power-outage/) 
- If the heat is out and the temperature inside is heading toward freezing, open cabinet doors, drip the faucets, and if it goes on long enough, shut off the main and drain the lines.

## Who to call before it gets cold

In order of how booked they get: [heating and cooling companies](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/hvac/) (October), [gutter cleaning](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/gutters/) (November), [tree services](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/tree-service/) (before the first ice), [plumbers](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/plumbing/) for outside faucets with no shutoff or pipes you cannot reach, and [electricians](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/electrical/) for a generator inlet. Everything on this list that is a phone call is cheaper in October than in a January emergency. The [year-round maintenance checklist](https://www.kentuckianahomepros.com/blog/seasonal-home-maintenance-checklist/) picks up where this one leaves off.

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