Heating
and CoolingYes, your home has its very own environment, and there are many things you must pay attention to - including heating and cooling, water, gas, electric, smoke and carbon monoxide detection. This section focuses entirely on the first and foremost concern in the house.
Your furnace is the hub of your household in a sense. It warms your home in the winter and cools your home in the summer (if you have central air). It also humidifies your home in the winter. All these items take some particular care. First, note that your furnace's lifetime is 20-25 years. If you're saying, "Well, that's not a problem, my furnace is only 15 years old," that might not be quite true. We all know the price of oil has gone sky high, and this affects your heating bills. Today's furnaces are incredibly more efficient. I just had a new furnace installed in my home two years ago. The most noticeable difference? There's no pilot light! That alone cuts down on your heating bill. Furnaces today are started by piezo-electronic starters that replace your pilot light. It also keeps you from having to go into the basement at 4 a.m. to relight the pilot light on a particularly windy night - if wind has come down the chimney and blown it out. We have all been there. The more efficient furnaces also deliver better-controlled heating. My bill has dropped at least 20% per month.
If your furnace has a humidifier, and most do today, be sure it's turned to the "on" position during the winter season. A humidifier is a virtual necessity in homes today for several reasons. First, it keeps your home "damp" enough so that your furniture doesn't dry out and crack. Second, and much more important, it keeps you damp enough so that you don't come down with change-of-season sinus infections, dry nose syndrome and a host of other seasonal illnesses. Mild though they may be, they are not something you want. I used to set a portable humidifier in the living room and ran it 24 hours per day all winter long. Those days are gone now. It is a very good idea, however, to clean the humidifier pads on a regular basis. Unless you want to replace them, merely remove them, soak them in hot water mixed with white vinegar, scrub them a bit and you're all set.
More important, be sure, especially during the winter, that your furnace filters are changed regularly. My serviceman told me to change mine monthly, which probably isn't a bad idea, especially if you have animals. I definitely would change it at least every other month.
Central air is a wonderful invention, and again one that you should take care of. There really isn't much to do with central air during the summer, other than turn it on when the temperature goes above 85 (for me). But there is one important thing to do before winter sets in. Somewhere in your backyard is the air-conditioner condenser. To prevent snow, rain and other such nonsense from getting into the condenser - cover it! BUT, don't, for instance, buy a canvas or plastic cover and put it over the entire condenser. That will trap dampness and ruin the condenser. Instead, try something like what I do. I take my bird bath, turn it upside down and place it on top of my condenser. It prevents anything from getting inside the condenser, but doesn't strangle it to death.
