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Health & Fitness

3 New Years Resolutions for Homeowners

The start of the New Year is a fresh slate; free of guilt for unfulfilled resolutions in years past and looking for new challenges in the year to come. Did you plant your vegetable garden last spring? Or organize your attic storage? Is your DIY-finished basement your new favorite room? Sometimes yearlong projects can seem impossible, especially when you don’t know where to take the first step.

For this week's Homeowner Tip Tuesday, the Forest Glen staff has developed 3 things you can do this year to ensure safety, beauty and efficiency for your home in 2014:

Rely on technology. Everyone needs a reminder occasionally, so set an alarm on your phone for when home appliances need maintenance. Here are a few suggestions:

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  • Change your furnace filter every month during the heating season. Set an alarm for the following month next time you change the filter and make sure it repeats itself each month during the winter and every three months during the summer.
  • When you decide to turn your heat off, make it a two-step process and change the direction of your ceiling fan at the same time. During the summer, your fan should rotate counter-clockwise. In the winter, clockwise to redistribute warm air downwards.
  • When was the last time you changed your carbon monoxide detector or smoke alarm batteries? These need to be changed twice a year. Set an alarm on your phone for 6 months from the date you initially check them.

Clean out the clutter. Less is always more, especially when it comes to overflowing storage closets and old clothes. The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to tackle some of these organizing projects.Set a goal to take on one room each month, that way you can space out your purging and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

A great place to start is holiday decorations, if you didn’t use them this year, they're probably just taking up space. That strand of holiday lights that doesn’t work? Recycle them, don’t put them back in a storage bin.

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Lower energy bills and save money. This is probably always at the top of things-you-should-be-doing list, but did you ever consider how small, simple acts could get you closer to your goal than you realize? Here are a few suggestions:

  • Lower your thermostat overnight to 65 degrees this winter and turn off your air conditioner when you leave town in the summer.
  • Never start a less than jam-packed dishwasher.
  • Turn off the lights every time you leave the room, set exterior lights to a timer, or turn them off each night.
  • Next time a light bulb burns out, replace it with a compact fluorescent light instead of an incandescent – they last longer.
  • Reduce the length of your shower from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

What's your home maintenance New Year's resolution? Share with us on FacebookTwitter and Pinterest.

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