Preparing Your Air-Conditioner for Winter

Winter and preparing for winter -- the two seasons in Minnesota and other northern climes. In fairness, you could also go with winter and road construction, but this is a blog about homes, not roads, so there you go.


An important place to start is understanding that air conditioners are meant to be outside and are designed to do that with very little winterizing needed.

I've noticed that many homeowners feel compelled to wrap their air conditioner for the winter months -- something like a swaddling baby -- and some just don't want to hear about how that could cause some bad things to happen.

What bad things, you ask. Well wrapping your air conditioner cause a pocket of air to be trapped around the unit which causes humidity to stay in the unit and this causes the electrical components to corrode and fail.

If you are still feeling resistance to leaving the air conditioner uncovered, you may be thinking about all the rodents that you wanted to house over the winter. They love the protected space and will make some fantastic rodent housing and as an added bonus, they may even eat through the wiring inside your air conditioner.

Do you have additional tips? Share them in the comments.

Energy Assistance - Minnesota

We really have two seasons here -- winter and getting ready for winter. Every year it gets harder to love living here: snow, wind, cold, below zero, ice...

Winter can be really daunting, especially if you are struggling to make ends meet and you see winter rapidly approaching over the horizon.

The Energy Assistance Program can help you pay energy costs-- like your heating bill-- between Oct 1 and Sept 30 each year. If you qualify, you could receive a grant to cover some of your energy expenses and the grant is paid directly to your energy provider, to reduce your energy bill.

Additionally, if you receive Energy Assistance, you may qualify for weatherization services. These services can improve your home's energy efficiency and lower your energy bill.

Furnace repair or replacement assistance is also available.

Please share your energy saving tips in the comments. 

Links:
Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin - Home Rehab Services 
Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin - Energy Assistance Program 
Minnesota Energy 
Minnesota Energy : Low Income Assistance 
Community Action Partnership of Ramsey & Washington Counties
Minnesota Energy Assistance (EAP) Service Provider List 

Image: Riley

Polishing the family silver

Winter is approaching and yet I still have no desire to polish silver... weird isn't it? In my quest to always find things that work well and are simple, today I'm sharing a silver polishing recipe from Aggie's kitchen.

• 1 quart water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• Small piece of aluminum foil

1. Place the water in a glass container. 
2. Mix in the baking soda and salt. 
3. Add the small piece of aluminum foil.
4. Soak your silver in the mixture until the silver is clean. Soaking time will depend on how tarnished the silver is. 
5. After soaking, wash the silver with soap and water and dry well.

Do you have tips for cleaning silver? Share them in the comments.

Basic Home Inspection Items

Photo: Flickr/kimubert

These are things a home buyer or seller will likely see inspected -- there will be variables depending on inspectors and locations.

• Structural Elements - this looks at the construction of walls, ceilings, roof and foundation. Your inspector does not have X-ray vision, so don't anticipate that they will be able to see through solid surfaces. 
• Exterior - landscape, grading, elevation, drainage, driveway, fencing, sidewalks, fascia, trim, doors, windows, lights and finally siding or exterior of the house. 
• Garage - standard items to evaluate include slab, walls, ceiling, vents, entry, firewall, fire door, garage door, automatic openers, lights, receptacles, exterior, windows and roof. We check to be sure the auto-reverse on the garage door works and doesn't require too much pressure to go back up. 
• Roof and Attics - your inspector will look at framing, ventilation, roof construction, flashing and gutters. In Minnesota, we look at how much insulation is in the attic too. We also look at damage from incorrectly vented fans, plumbing and more. 
• Plumbing - Check to make certain metal matches and there are no other dissimilar materials that would be a problem, evaluate pipe materials for potable, waste, vent and drain pipes. Check toilets, sinks, showers, faucets and traps. Don't expect that your inspector will be inspecting sewer or septic, those, like swimming pools and spas, are usually not covered.
• Mechanicals - this means the water heater, furnace, air-conditioning, duct work, chimneys and fireplaces. Some inspectors will inspect sprinklers, but many do not.
• Electrical system - your inspector should look at and evaluate the main electrical panel, circuit breakers, type of wiring, if wires are grounded, receptacles and switches, permanent light fixtures and ceiling fans. We also inspect bathroom fans which would be considered an electrical element.
• Appliances - it will depend on your inspector on whether these are looked at. Dishwasher, range, oven, built-in microwave, garbage disposal, some detectors and CO2 detectors. 

Our inspections start at $200, call for more information.

What Be Sure Inspections is Focusing On Now

 Image: Gari.Baldi/Flickr 

The "new economy" has made many businesses change their direction and focus. We are committed to focusing on the following aspects:

1. Customer Service. We want to help you by inspecting this house, your next house,  your family member's houses and your friend's houses. We are here to help you! 
2. Attention to detail. We will inspect the house your are looking at like we were going to buy it. You'll know everything we see and we are there to help you understand the inspection and answer your questions. 
3. Cleanliness at the Inspection. Rest easy, we will keep the house clean and won't leave behind anything like dropped insulation, tracks or debris. 
4. Marketing. You are here looking at some of our plan. We focus on word-of-mouth from satisfied customers, but we are here to answer questions too -- whether you are a client or not. 
5. Connecting with past clients. Like we said, we want to do every home inspection we can for you. We're here to help you. 
6. Thanking you for your referrals. Yes, you will get a thank you note from us for referrals. We really appreciate them and do drawings for gift cards to show our appreciation. 
7. Evaluating new opportunities. If there is a way for us to benefit our clients and generate additional income, we will look at the opportunity. Our goal is to keep our prices competitive and our service stellar. If you see something you think we should know about, drop a note. 
8. Networking. Do you think we can help someone or they can help us? If so, we would love to know about them. Have some tips for how we could network more effectively, please share them. 

Thanks for stopping past today!