It’s officially October! The air feels cooler and crisp in the morning, the leaves are starting to change colors in New England, fall activities have commenced and pumpkin-everything is in full effect. With all of that cooler weather settling in, it’s time to make sure the house is ready. Here’s a list of your monthly home maintenance tips for October.
October Home Maintenance Tips
1. Clean Gutters
The leaves are falling, which means it will be time to clean out your gutters again. This is a maintenance task most home owners will add to their to-do list at the changing of the seasons. Typically it is done at the end of spring and at the end of fall.
2. Shut off exterior water supply
Summer’s over, make sure you’ve turned off your exterior faucets and hoses. This will hopefully help prevent any damage that could happen to water lines during the cold weather months.
3. Change direction of ceiling fans
Yes, you read that correctly. This was an interesting tip that I had to read further about to truly understand the benefit (side note, recommend reading this article too. It had a great list of amazing home maintenance tips). When you change the direction of your ceiling fan to turn clockwise in the fall or winter months, it will draw the cold air up toward the fan and help disburse the hot air out throughout your home.
During the spring and summer months, it’s best to have your ceiling fans moving counterclockwise to create the opposite effect – bringing the cold air down and the hot air upward. This way you stay nice and warm during the fall and winter months and cool during the warmer months!
4. Change furnace filters
As a home owner, you’ll want to change out your furnace filters a few times a year. It might be the first time you’ve used your heat in awhile, think about all of the dust that probably has collected on the old one (gross!).
5. Change damper direction
Depending on where you spend most of your time inside, you may want to change your damper direction. For example, perhaps your porch doesn’t get a ton of use in the winter, therefore it might not be a room that needs the most heat flowing into it.
As always, I hope these tips were helpful! For more specific or detailed information and/or recommendations on home maintenance, I recommend reaching out to your local service providers regarding their respective areas.
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