Comments on: Six Maintenance Lessons I’ve Learned During My First Month As A Homeowner

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:22:06 +0000

Thanks for all the great tips. I found this page because our hot water heater was making that noise. I just finished draining it and the noise seems to have stopped.

Thanks again.

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:40:54 +0000

Thanks for the reminder to drain the hot water heater. There was no visible gunk in the water I drained into the bucket so I mixed plant food with it and used it on the flowers.

By: JRMan

JRMan — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:37:00 +0000

Forced air furnaces (gas or electric) have furnace filters; hot water boiler systems do not. So on your steam furnace, you will be looking all day!
Here’s what Energy Star says about CFLs:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls
A link about disposal is found toward the bottom of the page.

By: rhbee

rhbee — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:24:06 +0000

Geez, I feel like one of the three princes of Serendip. Yesterday, before leaving to go inspect a rental property that had just cleared escrow, I read this post. So I jotted down check the filter, and when I got there took a look. Ugh. The inch thick filter was two inches deep in dust and the whole unit looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. And bye the bye, Kenny, I had had the owner pay for a HUAC firm to come out and check the whole unit so I guess I was just lucky not to have been there and learned from his or her example. Anyway, thanks Trent for the timely stuff.

By: Deb Coyle

Deb Coyle — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 23:20:17 +0000

Hey Dorky Dad, thanks, but I cannot find a filter on my natural gas steam furnace. Thanks.

By: Dorky Dad

Dorky Dad — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 19:23:25 +0000

When it comes time to replace the water heater, go tankless.

And yes, Deb, a gas furnace does have a filter.

By: Deb Coyle

Deb Coyle — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:35:54 +0000

I have a natural gas furnace. Does this type of furnace have a filter?

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:55:22 +0000

Don’t forget to have your AC checked once a year and renew your termite bond…it’s just worth it!

By: viola

viola — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:31:53 +0000

Also you can buy the better furnace (or AC) filters that last 3 months & save yourself the headache. I have to buy these anyways since they help my allergies & control dust in the house better. The cheap-o blue ones that you replace every month are useless..you can throw sand through them.

I buy the cheaper version of the good ones (white accordian looking) in a 3 pack, I think by 3M. The “Filtrete” Brand is way more expensive & I couldn’t tell a difference.

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:29:13 +0000

Make sure to turn off you water heater before draining it.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:27:10 +0000

Furnace filters are cheap. One other good idea is to pay a professional to “maintenance” your heater element and/or cooling element. Watch to see how he does it (they love the attention usually), then you can do it from then on out!

Keeping the heating elements clean as well will keep things more efficient.

I am slowly making the switch to CFLs and noticed my electric bill is much less than usual. It’s a curse, really, becaus enow my wife wants to turn the AC on more to keep the house cooler since we’re spending less than we expect each month!

By: Jared

Jared — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 04:46:10 +0000

@Jess: Damnit, that was my comment! I was so excited no one had mentioned it yet…

If you’re a little suicidal, you can flip the switch on and use a pair of needle-nose pliers. :D

By: kazari

kazari — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:53:30 +0000

Well Brent,
http://www.flylady.net has routines for the inside of the house, and a home maintenance journal for the outside.
it’s based on the idea of one weekly clean (for about an hour) and then 15 minutes every day, with a focus on a different room every week.
hmm. that sounds much more complicated than it actually is.

By: brent

brent — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 03:17:02 +0000

that’s just the beginning.

when do you mow?

do you need to get the leaves out of your gutters?

what condition are your fences in?

what’s your plan of attack in the garden? are you gonna let it wither and die this summer or try to make it through the ‘drought’?

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:52:57 +0000

Random suggestion: if you ever run into a problem with a broken bulb that’s still stuck in the light socket, cut a potato in half and stick it on the broken bulb. It’s big enough that it should hold all the broken part and still give you enough to hold onto so you can unscrew it.

By: thordora

thordora — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:56:50 +0000

We try and stick to a cleaning routine, and we find it helps-that way no ones getting a nose out of joint about someone doing more. Our problem with two small kids and only one day off together is getting the actual home maintance done-yard work, home improvement, etc. Almost impossible!

And CFL’s have helped in our house-and I was under the impression that there are disposal methods for these?

By: Angel

Angel — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:50:39 +0000

In regards to the CFL’s I was reading some information about CFL’s and the amount of mercury they contain and it is only 5 milligrams (approx. the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen). Of course any amount of mercury is dangerous but as Bill had stated in his comment coal burning releases mercury into the air. Coal fired power generation accounts for 40% of mercury emissions in the US. Use of CFL’s reduces power demand which helps reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

For me the good for the environment out weighs the bad- (a chance that I may drop a bulb, which can be cleaned up).

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:32:48 +0000

CFLs are not a danger to you. It’s just an urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

I’ve used them for over 2 years now and haven’t broken (or had to replace one yet). They are a great value over the long term.

By: David

David — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:24:33 +0000

getting into and planning a cleaning routine is great, and definitely a good idea to do a little bit everyday so you aren’t bogged down on the weekends. Just beware that it can be hard to keep up with this while working and taking care of your children.

Make it a point to set a half hour a day to do some chores around the house it will pay off on the weekends.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:35:33 +0000

You probably need an expansion tank on your hot water heater (”gurgling”)

Draining will not get as much stuff out as once every year or socutting power, draining the tank, taking off the drain valve and using that as access for your wet/dry vac in order to suck sediment out of the bottom (check the anode as well)

I trust the first 2 comments are a joke – a single CFL saves several times the mercury it contains.

In a hot climate like mine, you save even more electric power by avoiding the heat generated by traditional incandescent bulbs.

In the U.S. at least, coal is THE fuel for electric power.

Unfortunately, burning coal releases large amounts of mercury (and no, buying renewable credits doesn’t change the base-load generation mix)