What New Homeowners Need to Know about Home Maintenance

Buying your own home is a great investment. When you make your monthly house payment, you’re buying a valuable asset that you can use for the rest of your life, and one that is likely to go up in value. But buying your own home also comes with some additional responsibilities, the primary responsibility being home maintenance.

When you’re renting, you don’t need to think about how you’re going to pay for a new roof if there is some storm damage, or a new HVAC system if the heating or air conditioning stops working. The additional responsibilities of home maintenance is something that a lot of new homeowners don’t give a lot of thought to when they are househunting, but if you don’t consider these things, it can cost you a lot of money.

One tip we would give to new homeowners is to set aside some money each month for home maintenance. A new roof, or a new furnace or air conditioner is very expensive, so it’s good to be prepared to deal with these types of things before they happen. There are a lot of other, less expensive things that you’ll have to deal with as a homeowner as well, so it’s good to ready for that.

Now we would like to share with you some additional, money-saving home maintenance tips. One of the biggest expenses for homeowners is their utility bills, but there are some easy things you can do to save energy, and in doing so save money.

One easy way to save energy is to lower the temperature on your water heater to 120°F. Your water heater is working 24 hours a day to maintain a certain temperature, even when you’re at work, sleeping, or just not using any hot water. So setting it to a lower temperature means that it won’t have to work as hard. If running out of hot water is a problem, it’s better to just budget the right amount of time for things like showers, laundry, washing dishes etc.

To make your water heater more efficient, you can also wrap insulation or a blanket around it. This is a very small investment that will save you money over time.

Keeping your air filters clean is another great money-saving tip. The air filters for your HVAC system should be changed every month or two. When the filters are dirty, the system has to work harder to force air through the system. That not only takes more energy but also puts more strain on your equipment, shortening the useful life of your HVAC system. Keeping the filters clean means that the system will run more efficiently, and it will last longer.

In addition to the tips listed above, there are a number of other simple things you can do to save energy and money. Turn off your lights when you’re not in the room. Use CFL or LED light bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs. Make sure you fix those leaky faucets and/or toilets.

One final tip we would like to share is that if you do find something in your home that needs to be fixed, try to take care of it as soon as possible. Little problems have a way of becoming bigger problems, so take care of the small issues before they become bigger and more expensive.