Summerizing Your Home

Spring is here, and it’s a good time to take a look around your house and plan for spring and summer conditions.

Here are three ideas to make the inside of your home more efficient:

• Check for cracks and seal weather stripping
• Clean water heater, set to 120 degrees
• Change air filters

“When you have soil in the air filters, then it makes your furnace work much harder to, to push the air through,” says Marilyn Albertson with Utah State University.

Another good idea is to pull out that refrigerator and clean out the coils behind. That dirt can really build up.

It’s also a good time to take care of things around the house that aren’t easy to fix in the winter.

Here are some good reminders about what to do around the house that will keep everything in tip top shape:

• Inspect your house, top to bottom. This is a good time to take an inventory of any needs, projects and issues from winter.
• Clean your gutters. There’s lots of rain and snow from the winter, and leaves and dirt built up. Don’t let this go!
• Check your roof. See if there are any missing or damaged shingles. And while you’re up there, change out any spot or flood lights.

Now as for the yard, don’t plant flowers until mid- to late April. But trees and shrubs are good to plant now.

Here’s what else you can do:

• Fertilize your grass.
• Clear out any branches or fallen limbs.
• Change oil in lawnmowers.