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How to Reduce Home Maintenance Costs

Have you ever seen The Money Pit, a movie starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? If so, you watched an extreme and not terribly realistic way in which a new home – although not one newly built – can eat away at your money like a hungry tiger.

Still, even in the real world, there’s almost always something that needs tending to. Certain things like painting a bedroom, re-caulking your windows, planting shrubs, or replacing your mailbox can wait. Others require immediate attention – like no hot water or tree damage to your roof.

Here are several examples of home maintenance tasks with advice on how not to overpay.

Ignoring the small stuff. Life gets busy, and that can lead to putting certain tasks on hold. But that slow leak, while seemingly insignificant, wastes gallons upon gallons of water each month and can lead to significant damage that will cost a pretty penny to repair.

Even If it ain’t broke, you still might want to fix or replace it. An aging refrigerator, washing machine, water heater, or HVAC system not only works less effectively over time, but it can also become quite the energy hog which translates to higher utility bills. Consider updating major appliances to new, energy-efficient models.

Using incandescent light bulbs. It might seem silly to replace perfectly fine light bulbs, but LEDs and CFLs, while costing more upfront, are far more energy efficient and have a significantly longer life span.

Not taking the DIY approach. As the saying goes, time is money. And sometimes your time is better spent elsewhere. But here’s another perspective – maybe it is worth making the time to do it yourself so that money can be better spent elsewhere.

Buying extended warranties on major purchases. If you’re investing in a suite of kitchen appliances or a new living room set, it might be tempting to go for the extended warranty. But after reading the fine print, you may find that after all the exclusions and exceptions, it may not be worth it.

Paying to store excess possessions. Unless you’re storing something you plan to use down the road, you’re likely paying to store items you will never drag out of storage. A good rule of thumb is: if you haven’t needed it in the past year and haven’t missed it, it’s time to let go.

Setting the water heater temp above 120 degrees. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, most households can function perfectly fine with a water heater setting of 120 degrees. Anything higher and your energy cost go up while family members incur an increased risk of scalding.

Not changing HVAC filters. If you can’t remember the last time you replaced your furnace or air conditioning filter, it’s probably been too long. A clean filter helps an HVAC system run more effectively and efficiently and helps maintain cleaner air indoors.  Replace yours every 6 to 8 weeks, or as recommended by the manufacturer.

As much as you might hate even thinking about it, sooner or later the need to maintain becomes the need to repair or replace. When it comes to all things heating, cooling, plumbing, and water filtration, Messmer Mechanical is the only resource you need- now and going forward. Contact us today for a guaranteed price quote.