Home Tips: Off-season maintenance that could save money.

Home Tips: Off-season maintenance that could save money.

A presentation of Century 21 Bayshore Real Estate.

While some home maintenance projects — those such as tuning up your furnace in the fall and cleaning up your lawn in the spring — are directed by the seasons, other home maintenance projects are better completed off season.

Performing select maintenance projects off season can save money — whether it’s a few hundred bucks on replacement parts or thousands of dollars in disaster prevention.

Here are some off-season home maintenance projects to consider looking at now:

Perform sink disposal maintenance: Your garbage disposal gathers gunk and food buildup over time. You should clean it regularly to prevent problems. According to a recent HuffPost article, one of the quickest ways to clean your disposal is to drop lemon or orange peels down your drain, run the disposal, add some ice cubes and run it again. Next, fill the sink with water and drain it through the disposal. It should be good to go — and fresh smelling, too!

Clean out the range hood filter: Over time, your range hood filter collects debris from everything you’ve cooked on the stovetop. It will look pretty nasty if you’ve never cleaned it. Mix a degreaser intended for cleaning auto parts with hot water and let the filter soak for a few minutes. If you don’t have degreaser available, you can scrub the filter with a non-abrasive brush, dish soap and a lot of elbow grease. The debris will lessen with regular maintenance and your filter and fan will work more effectively.

Check carbon monoxide and smoke detectors: You should test your carbon monoxide and smoke alarms on a regular basis. Press the test button. If you get a long, loud beep in response, you’re good to go; if you don’t, you probably need to replace the batteries. If your alarms begin to chirp at any time on their own, they are notifying you that your batteries are low. It’s not advisable to wait for the chirping to replace your batteries. They should be swapped for new ones every six months.

Test the garage door’s auto-reverse: An automatic garage door stops closing and goes back up if something’s in its way. If the auto-reverse feature fails, the garage door may injure you or your car. Test this feature once a month by putting a 2 x 4 plank on the ground where the door sensors will detect it. If the door doesn’t go back up during one of these tests, you’ll need to have a garage door repair pro come fix it.

Suck up dust around fridge coils:  Your refrigerator uses almost 10 to 15 percent of your electricity, and the coils behind it are a major source of its power. Because it’s these coils are not generally included in weekly or monthly cleanings, they build up dust and debris — making it harder for electricity to run through to the refrigerator. You can use a vacuum hose to clear the coils once every other month or so. You’ll increase your refrigerator’s efficiency as a result.

Century 21 Bayshore Real Estate is located at 325 S. Brye Road, Ludington and can be reached at 231-845-0363, office@c21bayshore.com; www.Century21Bayshore.com.