Plunging temperatures do not have to mean a slumping bankbook for homeowners, who can do a lot to ensure they avoid paying costly repair bills typically brought on from winter weather.

Homeowners can make sure they get the most out of the fuel they burn this season by scheduling a professional furnace inspection.

"A preseason checkup on your heating equipment is one of the most important things you can do. It will likely save the most money," says David Specht, president of The Waterworks, Central Ohio's largest full service plumbing and drain cleaning company, with a heating and cooling division known as Comfortworks. "This usually can be done for less than $100 by most service contractors."

To guarantee a furnace is working as efficiently as possible, homeowners should also change the filter no less than twice a year. Specht recommends that those living in Ohio should replace the filter in their heating and cooling systems up to four times a year to compensate for how often residents use such devices.

"A lot of time we'll go on service calls and this is the problem, the filters are so clogged no air is blowing through, thus, not heating the room properly," says Specht. "The filters are very easy to remove and something homeowners can take care of themselves. We tell homeowners to take a Sharpie pen or pencil and mark the date that you change the filter, as a way to keep track."

Homeowners should do some research as to where they can purchase a filter for their particular furnace, but most are available at local hardware stores. According to Specht, the way to save money is to solve any heating issues, but "the things that will give you headaches have to do with plumbing problems. The pluming problems themselves are not that expensive to attend to, but the damages caused by them could be."

Homeowners should look to see if water lines are exposed and protect them from freezing. Also it is important to detach all sprinklers and hoses from the yard and properly store them. This is because most hose spickets are self draining, but when the hose remains screwed on during the winter, water gets trapped and starts to freeze. This could cause the pipes to break from the pressure, as water expands when frozen.

If homeowners do invest in winterizing their home now, it can save a lot of time and resources down the road.

"The worse thing is when people let their furnaces run inefficiently for two to three months causing a breakdown. In this case, you've been paying for it to run efficiently and now for a repair," Specht says.