As fall sets in, there are a number of things that you need to do in preparation, some of which don’t involve spending money. These measures should help you ensure that your home is not going to fall into disrepair as you stay warm in the cooling months. That said, here are some of the ways in which you can get your home ready for fall and enjoy a beautiful and appealing home as the seasons change and come with new home needs.
Clean and Store Your AC Unit
Your AC unit does a lot of work all year long to help you keep your home within a safe and comfortable temperature range. This means that if you’re not careful, it could get damaged and leave you at the mercy of extreme temperatures. This is something that many homeowners will agree with, since three-quarters of all homes in the United States have air conditioners, according to the United States Department of Energy.
In order for you to keep getting the best service out of your unit, it needs to be kept clean and serviced regularly. Keep in mind that air conditioners use around 6% of all the electricity that is produced in the United States. This is at an annual cost of around $29 billion to homeowners. With proper maintenance, this figure could drop considerably, and this is the reason why you should not delay cleaning, servicing, and storing your AC unit.
Fix Any Drafts
Next, if there are any drafts in your home, this is the time to stop their flow through your house. This is because you can lose anywhere from 25% to 30% of the warm air in your home through a drafty window. Clearly, it’s a good idea for you to make sure that this doesn’t become an issue right around the time when you’ll need to start working actively towards keeping your house warm. If the drafts are a result of small, negligible cracks, you can seal them easily with some caulk from your local hardware store. More serious ones will call for you to engage an expert to make sure there’s no air leaking into and out of your home.
Insulate Your Pipes
Don’t forget to insulate your home’s pipes while preparing your home for fall. This is the way in which you’ll protect them from the cold and avoid ending up with burst pipes that you’ll have to replace when the weather warms up again. You need piping for tasks like watering your lawn or even supplying water to a water feature in your yard. In 2021, spending on home improvement went up by 19%, which may be a result of people spending more time at home and realizing that there are various things they need to do towards proper home maintenance.
Work on Your Lawn
Last but not least, remember to set up your lawn for the fall. This involves repairing it after the extreme heat of summer, coupled with the effects of having the lawn walked on a lot and the soil compacted as a result. Some of the things that you need to do to rejuvenate your lawn include doing an aeration treatment, such as spiking, and overseeing the lawn so that it grows back thick and lush in the following summer. When you do this, you’ll give your lawn a much-needed break and improve its nutrition. This will help it bounce back green and healthy when it’s the season to spend time outdoors again.
These are some of the tasks you need to do to get your home ready for fall. Getting these tasks out of the way can save you a lot of money and hassle when the weather warms up again. You’ll be prepared to tackle the needs of the new season without having to catch up with things you could have gotten underway in the previous season.
