If you only do 5 maintenance tasks for your home during September, here are the ones that we recommend that you should do. And for each of them this article and video discusses what the task is, and why and how you should do it.

The top 5 tasks are:

1) Furnace and Water Heater Annual Service

2) Testing GFI outlets

3) Covering outside AC unit

4) Outside lighting inspection

5) Smoke detector inspection

FURNACE AND WATER HEATER ANNUAL INSPECTION

This task involves scheduling a trained service professional to do a thorough inspection, cleaning and adjustment of your furnace and water heater. There are two important reasons for having this done each year:

1) safety, and
2) it helps maintain the energy efficiency of these appliances.

This is a task that is best left to a trained professional, but if you saw the article in ourSeptember 2010 newsletter, we suggested several questions that you will want to be sure to discuss with your service provider. And lastly, we suggest that you do this task in September for two reasons, first because if a problem is found, you will have time to get it remedied before the heating season, secondly, your service provider will likely get very busy as the heating season approaches.

TESTING GFI OUTLETS

Have you ever noticed that the outlets in your bathroom, kitchen and outdoors have little “test” buttons on them? These are special outlets called “ground fault interrupters” or “GFIs.” They are placed in locations where there can be water present, and their purpose is to automatically shutoff if there is a potential of an electrical shock. So for example, if you are using a hair dryer and you are on a wet floor, then rather than shocking you, the GFI will trip off. The problem is that over time, the mechanism inside of the outlet can stop working. So it is very important to test each of these outlets to be sure that they are working properly. To test a GFI outlet, just plug a small electrical appliance into the outlet, and then press the “test” button on the outlet. The appliance should immediately shutoff. If it does not, then this outlet should not be used until the GFI has been replaced.

COVERING OUTSIDE AC UNIT

If you have air conditioning, then you will want to protect the outside unit over the fall and winter when it is not being used. Covering the outside unit helps to keep this expensive piece of equipment clean from leaves, dirt and debris. And as such, helps to extend its useful life. To cover your outside condenser unit, you can use a tarp or heavy plastic. Or better yet, you can purchase a cover that is specifically sized for your unit. Before you cover the unit, you will want to  turn off the electrical switch or breaker that controls the unit, and you will want to clear away dirt and debris.

OUTSIDE LIGHTING INSPECTION

If any of your outside light fixtures have bulbs that have burned out, then September is a good month to replace them before the weather gets bad, and daylight hours start getting shorter. While you are checking your outside lighting fixtures for burnt out bulbs, you should also take the opportunity to: clear away any dirt and debris; check for any broken connections or fixtures; and clean the glass fixtures so that you get the most benefit from the light bulbs. One last tip is that you might want to consider replacing your bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.

SMOKE DETECTOR INSPECTION

At least once a year you should clean, test and change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Smoke detectors can only protect your family if they are working properly, and cleaning them, testing them and replacing their batteries is how to ensure that they will be working properly to alert your family in case of a fire emergency in your home. To clean your smoke detectors, gently use an extension attachment for your vacuum cleaner to remove dust and cobwebs. Next, if your smoke detector uses a battery, then at least once a year you should open the detector and replace the battery. And finally, you should be test your smoke detectors each month by pushing the button on it to see if the alarm sounds. But never use a match or smoke to
test your detector, as this can shorten its life.

In addition to these 5 maintenance tasks, here is a list of other tasks that you might also want to consider doing in September:

- Doing the routine care for your home computer.
- Rotating and re-stocking your inventory of emergency supplies in preparation for winter.
- Arranging for snow plowing service, if you live in a cold climate.
- Inspecting the trees around home to be sure there are no limbs at risk for falling onto your house during winter storms.
- And finally, checking the weather-stripping and caulking around your doors and windows.

You can learn about each of these tasks at the home-wizard.com website by clicking on the links shown above.

SUMMARY

We hope this article and video has helped you to understand the 5 most important maintenance tasks that you should do in September . . . what they are, why they are important, and how you should do them.