Weekly Maintenance for your Home

September – Week 36

Just like preventative maintenance on your car, if you take care of a few small items around the house every week, you can avoid many emergency breakdowns and expensive repairs.

Heating

Oh no, not the heating season already! Well not quite yet, but it is time to get it all inspected, tuned up and ready for that first frosty morning.

Book your annual professional tune-up for oil furnace or boiler. Gas tune-ups should be done every 2 years. Right after a tune-up, put a sticker right on the furnace indicating the date that you need to do it again. That helps to avoid confusion since time always goes by so quickly.

Check condition of all flue pipes and chimneys. If you can't see inside, at least be sure that they are not disconnected or broken.

Inspect the oil tank for leaks. Feel the bottom of the tank for cold spots about the size of a quarter. If you feel some, it means that the tank is rusting through from the inside out. Call a professional.

Inspect for water leaks in hot water or steam heating systems. If you are not sure if water marks are recent or 20 years old, cover them with white chalk. Any new leaks will cut through the chalk and guide you to the source of the leak.

Lubricate the circulating pump on hot water heating systems if it has a lubrication cup. Just a few drops of oil are all it needs.

Turn ON the gas furnace pilot light. You don't want to try and remember how to do that on a freezing cold morning.

Open the furnace humidifier damper on units with central air conditioning. This damper should always be closed before using the air conditioner, and open before using the furnace. Clean humidifier. If it is in bad shape, consider buying a modern one that does not hold standing water.

For lots of details, look up the keyword "Heating" in the Search tab above.