Indoor Home Maintenance Tips for Spring

5/5/2017 (Permalink)

It's important to keep up on home maintenance to avoid mold, water, or fire damage. With better weather, Spring is the perfect time to work on home improvements. Travelers Insurance Company gives us a list of indoor maintenance tips.

Electrical Outlets and Cords: Check electrical outlets and cords throughout your home for any potential fire hazards such a frayed wires or loose-fitting plugs. Outlets, fuse boxes and extension cords also should be checked to make sure they are not overloaded.

Fire Extinguishers: Check your fire extinguisher at least once yearly, including the hose, nozzle and other parts, to make sure they are in good condition and that the pressure gauge is in the "green" range. If necessary, move your fire extinguisher to an accessible place.

Air Conditioning: Before turning it on for the season, have your air-conditioning system inspected and tuned up by a professional.

Water Heater: Check for leaks and corrosion.

Furnace: Clean or replace your furnace filter.

Dryers: Dryer lint can build up inside the vent pipe and collect around the duct. Clean both the clothes dryer exhaust duct and the space under the dryer. Use a specialized brush to clean out the vent pipe. Lint can also build up inside the dryer enclosure and should be cleaned and serviced by a profession.

Smoke Detectors: Daylight savings time is the perfect time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Inspect each smoke detector to ensure all are in working order, and make sure to test them monthly. Ideally, there should be at least one smoke detector on each floor of your home, including the hallway or area outside of each set of bedrooms, and one within each bedroom itself. If necessary, install additional smoke detectors as needed.

Light Bulbs: Check each light bulb in every fixture for the correct recommended wattage and replace any burned out bulbs. Also, consider replacing all high-intensity bulbs with fluorescent or LED bulbs to reduce energy and the amount of heat produces.

https://www.travelers.com/resources/home/maintenance/spring-home-maintenance-tips.aspx