Get More From Your HVAC System

Your HVAC system works hard throughout the year to make sure that your home stays comfortable. During the chilly months of winter, it pumps hot air through the home to keep things toasty and warm. Once summer rolls around, cool air circulates to keep things from getting too hot within the home. When it’s operating at its best, you likely barely notice that it’s doing anything at all; the climate of your home remains so consistent that all of your HVAC system’s hard work just seems to happen in the background. Could it be even better, though?

There are usually things that you can do to improve the efficiency of your HVAC system even more, helping it to run better while also saving you some money on your heating and cooling costs. The specifics of how you accomplish this depend largely on your home’s layout and the sort of HVAC system that you have, but there are generally at least a few improvements that you can make. Here are some suggestions to help you head in the right direction so you can get more from your system.

Optimizing Air Flow

One big thing that you can do to get more from your HVAC system is to make sure that the airflow for your system is unobstructed. There are a few ways that you can do this. Periodically check your vents and vacuum or clean them as necessary to make sure that there aren’t any obstructions or dirt deposits in them. Check your cold air return to ensure that there isn’t any furniture or other large items blocking the free flow of air and that proper clearances are being observed. Check your filters to ensure that they’re clean, or install an electrostatic filter that you can buy once and then periodically wash to keep it in peak operating condition. Basically, the goal here is to make sure that there isn’t anything that’s going to interfere with the flow of air through your HVAC system.

Assisting Your HVAC System

Once you’ve got air flowing without issue, there are other things that you can do to make sure that your HVAC system isn’t working harder than it has to in order to keep your home comfortable. Consider installing a new thermostat, especially a smart thermostat that uses multiple sensors around the home to check temperatures in different locations, to ensure that the entire house is comfortable. A house fan installed in the attic can also be beneficial during certain times of the year, helping to control the buildup of hot air and making the house easier to heat and cool overall.

Another big thing that you can do to help your HVAC system is to inspect your windows and search for signs of damage or leaks. If your windows are letting air leak freely into or out of your home, your HVAC system will have to work that much harder to keep the temperature where you want it, because outside temperatures will have a much greater effect on what things are like inside. While damaged windows are often easy to spot, be sure to periodically check for breezes or other signs of air leaks while the HVAC system is off to make sure that you don’t have any unwanted air exchanges going on.

HVAC Maintenance

Nobody wants to have to call out an HVAC technician on an emergency call because their system has gone out, especially during the coldest part of winter or the heat of the summer months. To help avoid this, periodic maintenance of your HVAC system is essential. Fortunately, many HVAC pros offer seasonal or yearly inspection services to keep your system in top shape throughout the year.

 

What Causes Ice Inside Windows?

When temperatures drop in winter, it’s not uncommon to see ice and snow outside and maybe even a little bit of frost on the outside of your windows and storm doors. Occasionally, though, you might notice a bit of ice building up on the inside of your windows as well. It’s easy to overlook this as just a sign that the temperature has really dropped outside, but that can be a mistake.

Ice appearing on the inside of your windows is usually a sign that there is something going wrong in or around your windows. At best this can drive up your heating costs during the winter, sometimes significantly. At worst, you might be looking at leaks or other damage that could lead to significant repairs down the road. So if you notice ice on the inside of your windows, it’s important that you take action sooner rather than later.

Ice Inside Your Windows

When ice appears on your window interior, it’s typically a sign that moisture is condensing on the glass and then freezing as a result of cold air making it through the window barrier. This can occur in a few ways, including cracks or gaps in the window frame or damage to the window itself. The cold air cools down the window glass, making it cold enough for the water in the air to condense and freeze on the glass surface.

This can be problematic if the air leak is a result of cracks in the glass or window frame, as ice can build up within the crack as well. As the ice expands, the crack itself can widen. Multiple freezes over the course of the winter can cause increasingly worse damage, resulting in larger cracks or leaks by the time that spring rolls around.

Addressing the Root Cause

There are a few different ways that you can treat the problems that cause ice to appear on the inside of your windows. If you can’t find any signs of damage on or around your windows, it’s possible that the icy buildup is simply a result of your home’s humidity being too high and the windows themselves not being sufficient to keep all the cold air out. If this is the case, you can usually get rid of the ice by using a dehumidifier to reduce your home’s humidity or using home exhaust fans to circulate humid air out of the home. This will prevent ice from building up and potentially causing problems in the future.

If you do find potential gaps or cracks on or around the window, try sealing them with caulk to keep cold air from making its way inside. The caulk can be removed once warmer temperatures come around so that the window will be functional. Applying thermal plastic sheeting or other barriers over the windows may also help to control your icing issue since it will keep humid air in the house from coming in contact with the cold glass of your window. Other solutions such as putting towels or other cloth barriers in place over potential cracks or placing a small space heater near windows that have icing problems may also work. It’s worth noting that none of these are permanent solutions, though they may help you to avoid damage until better solutions can be enacted.

Fixing Your Ice Problem

In the end, the only way to really fix a problem with ice forming on the inside of your windows is to repair the problem. This could take the form of making repairs to your window frame, replacing cracked or broken glass in the window, or replacing the entire window itself.

 

Are Your Faucets Frost-Free?

Depending on where you live, this may be the time of year when you keep watching the mercury drop lower and lower as weather patterns come and go. Cold winter temperatures can be difficult for people and pets to deal with, but they can also be an issue as far as your home is concerned. Freezing pipes and faucets can be major hassles that cost a significant amount to repair, especially as they often require emergency service calls that cost extra. This is part of the reason that so much emphasis is placed on freeze prevention during the winter.

One thing that can make a big difference in the freeze safety of your home is the use of frost-free faucets on your home’s exterior. As the name implies, these faucets are designed to make it much more difficult for them to freeze and potentially crack or leak as a result of cold weather. If you aren’t sure whether your home has frost-free faucets installed and you think that you might need them, read on for more information.

What Are Frost-Free Faucets?

As the name suggests, frost-free faucets (which are also called freeze-proof faucets by some) are exterior faucets that are designed to prevent freezing around the valve and within the spigot itself. They do this by using a longer faucet neck and slightly different valve angle to place the shutoff valve of the faucet inside the house instead of outside, ensuring that the valve is in a warmer environment when the temperature drops and therefore the likelihood of freezing is significantly reduced. This protects the valve from freezing damage, but also provides additional benefits as well.

Because the valve is inside of your home, the spigot itself remains dry while the water is turned off. This eliminates one of the other major issues with freezing, damage to the spigot itself that can cause leaks. Since there isn’t any water in or near the spigot, there’s no water available to freeze and expand within the spigot and no way for the increasing internal pressure to cause cracks. It’s worth noting that having a hose connected during the winter can still cause water to be held within it, though, so disconnecting your hoses before cold weather moves in is still important when using frost-free faucets.

Frost-Free Faucets on Your Home

There are a few ways to tell if you have frost-free faucets already installed on your home. One way is to look at the orientation of the faucet itself; if it tilts upward at an angle, it’s likely not a frost-free model. Frost-free faucets have a longer screw mechanism that run the length of the faucet neck, so the faucet and valve control are almost certainly going to be situated straight out from your home and perpendicular to the wall.

Another key feature of frost-free faucets is that the neck of the faucet goes into the wall instead of simply being connected to a pipe coming out of the wall. While they may have mounting hardware that helps to hold the faucet in place against the wall, upon closer inspection you will likely be able to tell that the faucet and the “pipe” going into the wall are all part of a single piece of material. Standard faucets will have a separate pipe that will be obvious upon inspection.

Installing Frost-Free Faucets

Proper installation is important for frost-free faucets since even a small leak during installation can increase the chances of freezing during cold weather significantly. As a result, it’s generally recommended that you bring in a plumber so that the new faucets are installed professionally. If you aren’t sure which plumber in your area is the best for the job

 

Fix Your Yard’s Drainage Now

Drainage problems can be a major issue for homeowners. Not only does poor drainage cause standing water in your yard, but it can also lead to leaks and foundation problems with your house depending on where the water collects. As if that wasn’t bad enough, landscaping and lawn upkeep become a lot harder when your yard doesn’t drain well. Is there anything that can be done for these problems?

Fortunately, yes. There are actually a few different ways to treat drainage issues in your yard, and this is a great time to undertake a project to correct them. By taking action now, you can avoid problems that might arise from heavy spring rains. The exact solution to your drainage issues will depend on the cause of your problem, so here are a few different options to consider.

Grading Issues

One common cause of problems with drainage is inconsistent grading in your yard. This can cause problems if your home is at the bottom of a big slope across your yard, but it can also be an issue if the grading is inconsistent and as a result has one or more low spots in the yard. Water flows along the soil wherever the grade leads, so this can cause it to collect around your home or in low areas which can then become swampy and overgrown.

Regrading your yard can be done either with specialized tools that scrape soil from higher areas into lower ones, or by bringing in additional soil to completely change the grade. Each method has its advantages, with redistribution being favored when there are both high and low areas in your yard, and the addition of new soil being best when you need to change an otherwise mostly good grade. Once the regrading is finished you can seed the graded area and have grass growing by the time spring arrives.

Soil Penetration

Another big problem with drainage comes when water simply can’t penetrate down into the soil in time to be absorbed. This is especially problematic because you end up with way too much water in the areas where water collects but the soil in other areas might not get enough. Sometimes this is because the soil has too much clay in its composition so it’s difficult for water to penetrate, and sometimes it’s a result of other issues such as thick thatch. In some cases, it’s even just a matter of the soil being too compacted by traffic and time. Regardless of the cause, though, there are solutions.

Clay-heavy soil is the most work-intensive to correct, but the solution is also pretty simple. You simply need to break up the clay and add soil or sand into the mix to make it easier to drain. Sometimes this is as easy as adding a few holes in the clay-heavy area and mixing it together, especially if the clay is in a relatively small area. In some instances, though, you may need to do some tilling or other heavy mixing to break up larger clay beds.

Other issues can be fixed by using a dethatcher on your lawn to break up the thatch buildup or running tools over the ground that punch small holes to break up overly compacted topsoil. Dethatching and aerating the soil like this are often done together, as the loosening of soil is good for the growing grass as well even if it wasn’t excessively compacted.

Fix Your Drainage Problems

Correcting drainage issues can be a big job, but your yard and your home’s foundation will thank you. If you’re in need of a landscaping pro to get the job done, HomeKeepr can help with that. Creating a HomeKeepr account is free, and once you’re a member you can connect with a wide range of pros in your area to help with this and other tasks around the house.

 

Is This the Year You’ll Add a Home Gym?

Winter and early spring are typically great times for construction projects around the house. Not only do materials tend to be a bit cheaper due to reduced overall demand, but some labor costs may be reduced as well. Because of this, some homeowners tend to start looking for add-on projects or major remodels to undertake so that they can take advantage of lower prices and faster project starts.

One popular home project in recent years is adding a home gym, often converting a largely unused basement or garage space into an area for a wide range of workouts. It’s possible that you’ve considered adding a home gym yourself, either as a room conversion or in an exterior building or add-on. Let’s look at this project a little more closely to determine whether this is the year you should let those home gym dreams come true.

Home Gym Basics

When you think of a home gym, you might think of some big elaborate space with big, bulky equipment and mirrors hanging everywhere. Sounds intimidating, right? Not only is something like that probably more than you need, but having such an over-the-top gym area in your home could actually make it harder to sell since it’s such a specialized room. This is why most home gyms are generally much simpler affairs, and really only require a few things to make them truly functional.

The basic things that you’ll need for your home gym are floor space (obviously), good ventilation, some storage areas, and access to electricity. In a pinch, you can even make do with a small shed or room corner that has some storage totes and some foam padding on the floor. Even when you go for a full-room conversion, these basics will generally remain the same.

Designing the Gym

If you want to convert a room into a home gym, start with adding some impact-absorbing foam panels or something similar on the floor where you’ll be doing a lot of your workouts. Plan out where you’re going to place treadmills or any other equipment that you’ll need to plug in and see if there are outlets nearby; if not, you’ll need to bring in an electrician to add some. You’ll also need an area to store exercise equipment, either in cabinets or totes, and possibly a laundry basket for dirty towels to keep the sweat contained. For ventilation, you’ll either want the room to connect to your heat and air system or to have fans and windows that you can leverage to circulate the air around.

If you want something smaller, take these same basics and scale them down. Instead of plotting a full-room floor plan, arrange your storage solutions along the walls leading into a corner. A small TV in the corner can also help you to access exercise videos and other content to help you with your workouts. A standing fan can help with ventilation, and so long as you make use of your storage you should be largely good to go. Even with minimal changes to the house, it should still be an effective workout area.

Building Your Home Gym

A home gym project can be as big or as small as you need it to be. Even if your plans are relatively minor, though, you may still need to make a few changes to your environment or bring in a decorator to help you arrange things in a small space. Fortunately, HomeKeepr is here to help you find the pro that you need for your home gym design no matter how big or small the project is.

 

Home EV Charging Stations: The Basics

Electric vehicles are increasingly popular, and many EV owners enjoy the fact that they don’t have to hit the gas station every week to stay on the road. These cars still need fuel, however, and that means that access to a charging station is very important. While there are adapters available that let you charge an EV using a standard outlet, the charge takes a significant amount of time because the adapters provide current at the lowest level that the cars are able to accept.

Because of this, an increasing number of EV owners are installing their own charging stations in their homes. This allows for a much faster charge, getting them back on the road sooner and making it much easier to top off a charge in between trips to town. If you own an electric vehicle or are even considering one for the future, it’s important that you understand the potential benefits of a home charging station to determine if one is right for you and your home.

Home Charging Basics

Unlike the standard outlet adapter that you would use to charge your EV from existing electrical receptacles, a home charging station contains a specialized charging cable and the technology that’s needed to perform a quick charge of your vehicle. Depending on the vehicle you have, the charging station may have a generic EV connector on the charging cable or might have a specialty connector designed for a specific make or model of vehicle. When choosing a charging unit, it’s important to consult your vehicle’s documentation to find a unit that will charge at the highest possible speed for your EV.

In most cases, home charging units are installed in the garage and connected to the home’s electrical wiring. This allows you to park your car, plug it in, and have it ready to go without worrying about weather or other issues that might affect your charging connection. For homeowners who don’t have a garage or who have other vehicles or items within their garage space, charging units connected to the side of the home are also somewhat common.

Solar-Powered Charging

An increasingly popular option for homeowners with electric vehicles is to set up a solar-powered charging station by installing solar panels and batteries that connect to the charging unit directly. This keeps the EV from running up the electric bill while still ensuring that there’s plenty of juice available to top off your car when the charge is running low. Even homeowners with no other solar equipment on the home sometimes opt for this sort of charging, installing the solar panels on the garage roof and mounting the solar battery units on an interior wall of the garage.

This can also be a good starting point if you are interested in cutting down your overall dependence on the electrical grid and shifting to solar. Once you set up a solar system to power the EV charging unit, it can be expanded to provide additional power to the house as well. When doing this, it’s typically best to set up separate home batteries to ensure that your home and EV aren’t competing against each other for power.

Charging Station Installation

In order to make sure that a home charging station is properly installed so that it won’t damage your home or your vehicle, it’s important that you bring in professional help to get the unit connected to power and set up. This is especially true if you plan on using solar energy to power the charging station, since the solar system will also need to be set up and connected to the charging station. Finding an electrician who’s experienced with charging station installation can make a big difference in getting a unit installed quickly and correctly.

 

Getting Ready for a Bathroom Remodel?

When it comes to redoing the various rooms in your home, the bathroom is often overlooked. Some homeowners won’t even touch the bathroom unless a leak or some other problem makes it necessary. This is a really poor way to look at it, however, especially given how much time we spend in the bathroom, between bathing, getting ready to face the day, and a few other things. Your bathroom is just as deserving of attention as any other room in your home.

Of course, the why doesn’t really matter; whether you’re remodeling your bathroom because you want to change its look or you’re doing it because you’re already making repairs, the time to start is almost here. The question is, how do you get ready to remodel your bathroom? Here are some things that you should keep in mind before the remodel actually starts.

Prepping for the Remodel

The first thing that you need to do is get the bathroom ready for the remodel. This means getting all of your stuff out, and that may end up being a lot more than you expect. Set aside all the things that you use daily, then start packing up less-common items and organizing them by category. This way all your makeup, your hair care products, your bathing products, and everything else that you use in the bathroom will all be kept together so that you can put everything back up more easily when the remodel is done.

This is also the time when you should make plans for what you’re going to do while the bathroom is inaccessible. If you have another bathroom in the house then you can obviously use it, but if you don’t, then you might have to talk with a neighbor about using their bathroom, or even rent a portable toilet until the remodel is finished. Not all bathroom remodels will make the room completely inaccessible, of course, but it’s good to keep in mind just in case your plans will take the bathroom offline for a day or two.

A Clear Remodel Plan

Once you’ve packed everything up and done any contingency planning that you require, double check your remodel plan to make sure it’s all in order before the work starts. This includes choosing paint colors, showerheads and fixtures, countertops, and anything else that might be needed for the remodel. The last thing you want is to have to spend even more time halfway through because you realized that no one had decided whether to replace the bathroom wallpaper or not.

This is also when you should decide if you want any construction changes or bathroom additions so that they can be planned for accordingly. This can include anything from new cabinets or additional closet shelving to built-in shower nooks or other accents that will be built directly into the walls. These items generally aren’t that big of a deal if you plan for them in advance, but deciding that you want to make big changes to your bathroom closet halfway through the job can be a major inconvenience.

Remodeling Your Bathroom

Depending on the specific plans you have for your remodel, there’s a good chance that you’re going to need some help. Maybe you’ll require a plumber to implement your plans, or need to get a contractor involved because you want to make major changes to the interior. You might even need an electrician to help change up the lighting in your bathroom and make sure that all of the wiring is safe for a more humid environment. No matter who you need, HomeKeepr is here to help.