Here's how to prepare your home for cooler temperatures

TOPEKA (KSNT) - With temperatures dropping into the low thirties this week, that means people are starting to heat up their homes.

While Topeka didn't quite reach 100 degrees this summer, that doesn't mean your furnace wasn't working hard to keep you cool. So before you turn up the heat in your home, it's important to change your filter.

"(Not changing the filter could) Shorten the life of the furnace because it will overheat it," DeBacker's Inc. owner Greg DeBacker said. "It would be kind of like you're driving around town with one foot on the brake. It wears out the furnace quicker, and it will raise your utility bill."

With your filter changed, and your home heated, now it's time think about keeping warm air in, and cool air out.

"Some people put plastic on their windows, help keep the wind out and keep the cold out," DeBacker said. "Other than that, close your blinds, close your shades."

DeBacker tells 27 News it's also important to get your carbon monoxide detector tested as the odorless gas can be deadly.

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