The coronavirus pandemic has forced most U.S. residents to stay at home. If you're a homeowner, you may be wondering how you can spend your time in quarantine productively.
There's a good chance that your home has become even more central to your daily life. When you're spending so much time in your home, it makes sense to take on some home projects that ensure your house is running efficiently, cleanly and effectively.
We've come up with a spring HVAC and electrical maintenance checklist that you can check off during the coronavirus quarantine.
Check and replace HVAC filters. HVAC filters ensure that you're breathing clean, germ-free air – and during the coronavirus pandemic, this is more important than ever. Normally, you should replace filters twice a year, but during the pandemic, our HVAC experts recommend replacing filters once a month to keep your home in tip-top shape.
To replace your HVAC filters, open up your filter cover. Typically, you can find a filter cover in a few places: the air handler or the air duct return. The air duct return vent is often located in a hallway, while the air handler is often located in a basement or attic. Once you've found the filter, remove it. You can do this with your bare hands; you don't need specialized tools for this process. It will be obvious if your filter is dirty; the filter will usually be gray or black. Once you've removed the filter, dispose of it in the trash and insert a new one, ensuring that the arrows on the filter face the air direction properly.
Vacuum floor and ceiling vents. During the coronavirus pandemic, you probably find yourself cleaning more than usual. That's a good thing! While you're at it, it's a good idea to vacuum floor and ceiling HVAC vents. Dust and debris accumulate on these vents, causing you and your family to breathe in dust and dirt. Vacuuming these vents regularly is a good way to maintain your HVAC system properly and promote healthy air.
Install LED lights. Another good home project on the spring maintenance checklist is to swap out your traditional lightbulbs to LED lights. When you're spending so much time at home, it's likely that you're using more electricity than you do on average. LED lights are more efficient; in many circumstances, they can use up to 1/70th of the electricity of a normal bulb.
There are three different hues for LED lights. We recommend installing the softest lights, the 2700 k bulbs, to simulate the lighting environment that you're most accustomed to. Otherwise, it might be an uncomfortable level of brightness meant for more commercial properties.
Install the lightbulb like you normally would, and make sure that your existing dimmer switches are compatible. Otherwise, you may damage the dimmer.
Check your thermostat's schedule. One more thing you should consider while you're at home more often is that your programmable thermostat (if you have one) may be running on a schedule that is no longer compatible with your current lifestyle. You should re-schedule your programmable thermostat so that the heat -- or AC, depending on the season – runs at a comfortable level all day. This keeps your HVAC system running consistently, and efficiently, while you're at home.