Home-Tech, Southwest Florida’s leading air-conditioning and major appliance sales and service provider, is urging Southwest Florida residents to prepare your Florida home for winter now. Seasonal residents, in particular, should check all of their homes’ systems and appliances before the busy holiday season to be sure everything is in working condition before it’s actually needed.
“Ensuring that the air-conditioning and heating system is up and running properly is the most important factor to consider for the winter-ready home,” said Thom Rohde, service manager at Home-Tech. “There’s no better time to check the status of your heater than before you need it.”
Table of Contents
Prepare Your Florida Home for Winter One Room at a Time
Kitchen
- The beginning of December is a good time to check all of your appliances. If you notice something is off while cooking, contact Home-Tech. Specifically, inspect your oven’s heating element for issues and clean your oven using the self-cleaning feature. Clean the filter on your range hood, make sure your disposal is running smoothly, check to see that your fridge is cooling properly, and that your dishwasher is in top shape.
- Sharpening knives is something we often don’t think about too often. But with all the cooking coming up, it’s a good idea to set aside time to do this mildly inconvenient task.
- Check any appliance that receives or lets out water. You specifically want to check for leaks. If you see any water coming out of your dishwasher, refrigerator and washing machine, contact Home-Tech.
Bedrooms and Living Areas
- Change your air filters to ensure your utilities run efficiently this winter. A dirty filter makes your heating and cooling system work harder, which uses more energy. Replacing your filter every few months saves energy and also reduces dust around the home.
- To prepare your Florida home for winter, reprogram your thermostat by turning it back 10 to 15 degrees for eight hours a day. This can result in savings of approximately 10 percent on annual heating and cooling bills. If your thermostat is difficult to program, ask a Home-Tech expert to install a programmable thermostat that makes it easy to set specific temperatures automatically for different times of day.
- Keep warm air flowing freely in the house by reversing the switch on your ceiling fans. By setting the fans to operate in a clockwise direction, you push warm air, which collects near the ceiling, back down into the room.
- Water your Christmas tree! Did you know that a dry Christmas tree can catch on fire in less than a minute? The National Fire Protection Association provides shocking facts surrounding live Christmas tree health.
Hallways
- Now is the perfect time to check and change your detector batteries. With all the cooking and potential cozy fires, it’s important to know that your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.
- Are there any funky smells in the hallway? Hallways seem to be a place where mold can gather, especially if it’s near a bathroom. We often don’t think about protecting our hallways, but they really should be looked after just as much as your other rooms.
Outside
- Dirty air conditioner coils and fans reduce the airflow through your heating and cooling system. Schedule an AC “Clean and Check” from a licensed Home-Tech technician to ensure proper maintenance. The call is complimentary for Service Agreement customers.
- Make sure your decorations comply with neighborhood standards and are not a fire hazard. While HOA rules can be daunting, they’re put in place for the safety of the community and environment. Whether you’re allowed to light your house completely or aren’t allowed anything with lights, understand it’s for your safety.
As Always, Contact Home-Tech
While preparing for a winter in Florida differs a bit from other parts of the country, the state faces at least a few days below 40 degrees every year. When residents are well-prepared, unnecessary costs and frustrations are avoided.
If you realize one of your appliances or your AC system isn’t working properly, don’t wait until Christmas Eve to fix it. You can contact Home-Tech seven days a week for fast, emergency repairs. If you do forget about your refrigerator until Christmas Eve, you can still contact us and we’ll help you out! Or, you can look ahead and prepare your Florida home for winter by purchasing a Home-Tech Service Agreement. You’ll give yourself the best Christmas present by protecting yourself against costly repairs.