• 

  Holiday Lighting Safety Checklist

  Before you plug in and light up for the holidays, run your decorations through this quick safety check. Read

Steps
1. Test your thermostat to be sure it’s reading the correct temperature. First, tape a paper towel to the wall next to the thermostat and then tape a thermometer to the paper towel (the towel keeps it from taking the wall’s temperature). After 15 minutes, read the thermometer. If the thermostat reads a different temperature, it needs maintenance. Leave it in place while you do the following steps so you can tell which step corrects the prolem.

2. Shut off the power to the thermostat at your electrical supply panel. To test, set the thermostat to Fan. If the fan doesn’t kick on, you’re safe.

3. First, clean the thermostat. Remove the cover and then rub a piece of adhesive shelf-liner paper or a crisp dollar bill between the thermostat’s contact points to clear away dust. Repeat the thermometer test to see if the thermostat is now reading correctly.

4. If your system still isn’t reading temperature accurately, change the batteries. Check your product manual to find out which batteries to use and how to change them. Repeat the thermometer test.

5. If your heater or air conditioner keeps turning off and on, check the heat anticipator, which shuts the system off when your room reaches a set temperature. While the cover is removed, locate the center disk and move the lever towards “longer.”

6. Replace the cover and tighten the screws. Wall screws can loosen over time, making it hard to get an accurate reading from your thermostat. Use a level to make sure that the thermostat unit is square against the wall. If not, adjust the placement of the unit with your hands and then use a screwdriver to tighten its screws.

7. Seal the wall around the thermostat. Just like your bathtub, your thermostat may need to be caulked. Buy the caulk in a color that matches your unit or wall, and seal the area around the edge of the thermostat unit to ensure unwanted air is not affecting your temperature reading.

Tips & warnings

Stay Warm!!

Paul Wallin
Idaho Realty Info at Group One
208-288-2976
paul@idahorealtyinfo.com

I passed on this information to a recent homeowner whose house sold in less than 60 days in Meridian Idaho… he was amazed what a difference the kitchen looked after a little effort.

Here’s what I told him;
Inevitably, sugar, grease and skin oil collect on your cabinet faces and shelves. Not only does the dirt mar the beauty of your cabinets, it can deteriorate the finish and harbor germs. Follow these steps to safely scrub them away.

Steps
1. To clean your cabinet hardware, unscrew the knobs and pulls from your drawers and doors.
* Soak plastic hardware in warm, soapy water.
* Clean metal hardware with a mild metal polish, following label directions.
* Wash wooden knobs and pulls with oil soap, following label directions. Don’t soak them.

2. Dilute oil soap with warm water according to label directions and then wipe each door and drawer thoroughly, using a dishrag or sponge. Dry each area before moving on to the next one.

3. Dip a scouring pad in warm, soapy water, then gently scrub stubborn grease spots.

4. To clean the shelves, first remove all dishes, glassware and packaged goods from the shelves. Then use a dishrag to wipe shelves with warm, soapy water.

5. Rinse the knobs and pulls that have been soaking and then dry them with a clean cotton dishrag. Reattach the hardware to the drawers and doors.

Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Expertise: None
Frequency: After every heavy snowfall

Snow that falls, drifts or is shoveled can block the vents the supply air to and remove air from your furnace. When the sensors detect the lack of air, they shut off the furnace.

After every significant snowfall, check the heating intake and exhaust vents. Gently clear away any snow or ice.

Time: 2 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Expertise: None
Frequency: Periodically throughout the winter

The gas meter has a regulator to ensure that excessively high-pressure gas does not enter your home. Ice can obstruct the vents on the regulator, causing it to malfunction.

If the meter is iced up or buried in snow, contact your gas utility. Do not attempt to chip the ice off the meter, which could damage the meter and cause a gas leak.

Humidity makes your home more comfortable in winter, but you can have too much of a good thing. When you see condensation on your windows in wintertime, it’s a sign that you should lower the humidity level in your house. Otherwise, the water that condenses on your windows – not to mention inside your walls – can cause damage over time.

Try these suggestions for reducing humidity levels.

1. Reduce moisture sources within your house:
   • Don’t store firewood in the home.
   • Repair foundation leaks.
   • Turn your humidifier down or off.
   • Cover any exposed earth floor in a basement or crawl space, as well as sump pits.
   • Don’t hang laundry to dry inside your home.
   • Limit the use of vaporizers or steam generators.
2. Ventilate your home:
   • Vent your dryer to the outside.
   • Use exhaust fans when showering or cooking.
   • Install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) to exhaust warm moist air from your house and replace it with dry, fresh air from outdoors.
3. Adjust the humidifier on your furnace, based on the outdoor temperature:
   • -20 degrees F. — 15%
   • -20 to -10 degrees F. — 20%
   • -10 to 0 degrees F. — 25%
   • 0 to +10 degrees F. — 35%
   • +10 and above degrees F. — 40%

Picking a tree and keeping it FRESH!

If you plan to buy a cut Christmas tree, there’s no need to wait to buy it – even if you don’t want to put it up yet!  Because the trees are already cut, they will not be getting any fresher!  So go out and buy your tree, take it home, and put it in a bucket of water on the north side of the house (shade side).

When you’re ready to bring it in and decorate it, cut an inch off the truck and immediately put the tree in water in a tree stand.  Never let the tree be out of water after this point (check on it a few times a day for the first few days!).

How to Select a Fresh Tree?
Hold a branch between your thumb and forefinger and pull it toward you.  Very few needles should come off in your h and if the tree is fresh.  Or, shake/bounce the tree on its stump.  You should not see a lot of green needles fall to the ground, though interior brown ones most likely will.

When you bring a tree into the house, put it in a cool a spot as possible!
Avoid areas near fireplaces, wood-burning stoves, heat ducts and television sets.

Don’t let the tree go without water!
Make sure the tree stand’s reservoir stays filled with water.  If the water level ever falls below the bottom of the trunk… you’ll have to re-cut it in order to keep it fresh!  Check – check – and check the water level!!

Keepin’ it Fresh!
The ‘ole home readies really don’t work;  Aspirin, copper penny, soda, sugar, or bleach have all been shown not to help extend the freshness… sorry!

Is Bigger Better?
Figure the height of your ceiling, minus the height of your tree stand and the size of your top ornament to determine the maximum height of your tree.  Do the math ahead of time!!

Want to cut your own tree?
Permits are available for Boise and Payette national forests up to Christmas.  They are available at national forests district offices and local vendors throughout SouthWest Idaho.  Each permit allows one tree to be cut, with a limit of three permits per family.  Permit cost is $10, and maximum height of a tree cannot exceed 12’.  Read the brochure you’ll get with the permit.  There is a right and WRONG way to cut down trees.  Safety is a concern… please be concerned!  For more information, call 208-373-4007 or go online to http://fs.usda.gov/boise and click on “passes and permits”.

In older outdoor faucets, water fills the pipe that goes through the foundation wall.  In winter, that water can freeze, expand, and split open the pipe.  By turning your outdoor faucet off, you prevent that pipe from bursting and possibly dumping water into your basement.

You can skip this job if you have frost-proof outdoor faucets — most newer homes do. These faucets are very long and have an equally long valve stem. When you turn the handle on the outside the house, you’re actually operating a valve on the inside of the house, so you won’t get frozen or burst pipes.

Steps

1. In the basement, find the pipe that feeds each outdoor faucet in the basement. The top has a shutoff valve.
2. Close each shutoff valve and open the drain cap on the side of the valve by turning it counterclockwise.
3. Locate all your exterior faucets — don’t forget the one in the attached garage, if you have one — and turn their handles counter clockwise to open them so they can drain.

Door and window tracks have drain holes to let rainwater or condensation flow out. When these holes get plugged with debris, the water comes inside your house and can damage adjacent floors and walls. 

Cleaning the tracks unplugs blocked drain holes. While you’re at it, lubricate the tracks so doors and windows open and close more easily.

Steps

1. Slide all sections of the door or windows to one side or remove them entirely, if possible.
2. Vacuum the tracks.
3. Use a wire to clear the drain holes on the exterior walls of the tracks.
4. Rub a lubricant stick or candle back and forth along the tracks a few times.
5. If you did not remove the door/window, slide the door/window sections to the other side and then clean and lubricate the remaining section of the tracks.
6. If you removed the door or windows, put them back into place.

_____________________________________________________________
Green alternatives
To save energy, use a rag instead of a vacuum cleaner.

Continue your summer watering schedule through this September. This month also begins the rebuilding season for Southern Idaho lawns. The cooler nights let the grass breathe a sigh of relief from the heat. This is the most important time of the season for fertilization. We recommend two end-of-season lawn feedings. The first in September and the second six weeks later in either October or November. Fall is the ideal time to also feed the trees in your yard. Long before the leaves change color they stop taking up nutrients and take in less water.

• Check for lawn thatch build up. If there is over ¾ inch, it is time to de-thatch.
• Reduce mowing height down to fall leaves and continue mowing frequently to recycle organic material back into the soil.
• Fall is also the best time to reseed grass. If you have bare spots from the summer, put down a seed mix that matches the yard during the first 15 days of September. Yards with crabgrass will notice the patches turn purple with the first frost. It is important to thoroughly seed and water those areas.
• During the first 10 days of October, take care of those pesky weeds and dandelions. Spray a liquid broadleaf herbicide over the yard. Weeds germinate in the fall, so by treating the problem in October, there will be fewer dandelions in the spring
• It’s important to get those leaves off the ground as to not suffocate the lawn. But a better option would be to grind up the leaves and mulch them back into the yard. Most lawnmowers have blades designed for mulching. This provides natural nutrients and can be an organic weed controller — particularly maple leaves, which are a natural herbicide toward dandelions.
• Play with the fall colors. Display potted mums. Think red. Dogwood bushes are cold-weather hardy and have red or yellow branches. Holly is another great way to decorate the outside of a home, where the bright red berries on the branches can standout.