Looking ahead to the new year is always an exciting time as we challenge ourselves with monumental questions like "What will I be?", "Will I be pretty?" and "Will I be rich?". However, once the New Year's sparkle wears off you might start thinking pragmatically about the year to come. For homeowners, you'll have one thing on your mind: how much time, energy and money you'll need to pour into your house this year.
If we could answer that question with any precision we'd be famous, pretty and rich. Unfortunately, the best we can do is offer our list of 5 best practices to minimize your home maintenance expenses for 2016!
1. Furnace Filter (Every 30 - 90 days)
Furnace filters play an important role in keeping the air in your house clean as well as preventing damage to your blower motor. As the air enters the furnace, the filter removes airborne particles ensuring that the air that blows through your vents is clean. Eventually the dirty particles saturate the filter, leading to poorer air quality in your home and potential damage to your furnace.
2. Eaves Cleaning (Before winter)
For less than $150 annually you can have your eaves cleaned and avoid running the risk of clogged gutters causing water to sneak into your home through your roof or foundation.
3. Plumbing Fixtures (You'll hear it!)
Sick of hearing that running toilet, sink, or shower head? If only the nuisance of that drip, drip, drip was the worst part of leaky plumbing fixtures. Water loss through these fixtures can increase your water bill by as much as 30%! Replace leaking faucet valves and toilet parts ASAP instead of throwing money down the drain (literally).
4. Appliance Maintenance (Quarterly)
We get more appliance repair service calls than almost all of our other service categories. The one message we constantly hear from technicians is that the expensive problems are preventable. Simple things like not overloading your washing machine, dryer and dishwasher can go a long way to avoiding costly repairs. If you don't have the time to read through the manuals for each of your appliances, next time you have an appliance repair technician at your house make sure to ask them how to care for each of your appliances!
5. Smart Home Products (When they go on sale!)
Smart thermostats (like the ecobee3 made by ecobee) allow you to program the temperature in your home in ways you would have never thought possible. Beyond smart thermostats, companies have developed smart smoke detectors, door locks, security systems, etc... all with the intention of making home maintenance easier for you!
