Fall Home Maintenance 2021

Fall Home Maintenance 2021

by | Oct 7, 2021 | Homes

Fall Home Maintenance
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A big part of preserving the value of your home, both enjoyment and monetary, is to maintain it at a high level of condition. This means setting aside time and money to keep all the working parts of your home in top shape.

Schools are back in session; family vacations are completed and there is definitely “fall” in the air. It is the time and weather to organize fall maintenance on your home.

Gutters and Downspouts

Keeping the gutters and downspouts cleaned out is crucial to performing as they are meant to, channel rain off your roof and away from the house.

Windows and Doors

Change out screens with storm doors and windows. Keeping your home ready for the seasons…cold air out in the winter and cool air in, in the summer. Also, a perfect time to wash the windows.

Furnace

Clean and check the furnace. Change the filter. Unless you are very knowledgeable about your furnace, it is a good idea to hire a professional. The will oil, clean, and keep your furnace in tip-top shape.

Chimney

Have the chimney inspected and cleaned.

Grass

Fertilize and re-seed your yard.

Whether doing these chores yourself or organizing tradesmen to complete them, preventative maintenance will keep your home safe and comfortable and the investment in your home, intact. Your insurance company might also recommend these things.

Phantom Power

by | Sep 24, 2021 | Homes

Phantom Power
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Phantom power, today known as “standby power”, is the term applied to electronic devices that use energy just from being plugged in, even when they are turned off and non-functioning. According to How Stuff Works this energy loss can account for 5% to 10% of your monthly electric bill[1].

We have known for a long time one way to save energy and curb electric bills is to turn off the energy source that fuels phantom power. A good example is your computer. Do you turn it off and unplug it from your energy source? Probably not anymore, now that we have sleep mode. But what about the printer, TV’s video game boxes and a plethora of other new electronics that may arrive under the Christmas tree this year. So many devices today have low-power consuming LED’s. Added all together, these devices can still consume a noticeable amount of power.

A smart power strip is an upgrade to a regular power strip that has been traditionally used to control phantom power. There is one “master” socket and multiple “controlled” sockets. When the electronic device is plugged into the master socket and is turned off, it automatically turns off the power source for that device AND the controlled sockets. On a traditional power strip, you would have to manually turn off the switch that controls all the sockets. The smart strip lets you organize the devices you use together and automatically control the phantom power for all the associated devices. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the most common culprit are power supplies, sometimes called “vampires”.

Computers and TVs with their accompanying support devices are great candidates for smart strips. Most smart strips also provide a socket for “always on” devices that have to stay powered on for function properly.

Another smart way to save money.