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In this week’s issue of 52 Ways To Love Your Home let’s talk about labeling the expiration dates of the important parts of your home. Why? Just like food, many parts of your home expire, or require replacement, after a certain amount of time. If we don’t regularly check or replace these items it may contribute to improper functioning, or worse. According to the US Fire Administration, over 2,900 fires are started in residential driers each year, the peak of this being the month of January. Failure to clean the dryer vents was the largest contributing factor in these fires.
Trying to remember all the expiration dates, or dates to maintain things, may sound daunting especially for those parts of the home that aren’t seasonal. Can’t remember if you’re supposed to change batteries on Daylight Savings Day? Are the air filters changed twice a year? I have an easy way for you to keep yourself, and your home, organized.
The best way to attack this project is to go through your whole house once, it should only take a short amount of time. If you have a label machine, simply print out the dates at one sitting and start labeling. If you don’t have a machine then just use a permanent marker. Here’s another tip: while you are physically labeling, use the calendar function in your phone (or a scheduling app like Cozi) to set reminder dates. That way if you don’t remember to physically check the expiration date of your air filter, you’ll get a notification on your phone.
Use this list below as a guide to the most important things to update regularly.
Smoke detector
If your detector runs on a 9 volt battery or if it’s hardwired in your home, replace the battery once a year. If your detector runs on a 10 year lithium battery, you’ll need to replace the detector according to the manufacturers directions. Changing the batteries on a regular basis is very important. More than one-third (38%) of all home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms, while one-quarter (24%) resulted from fires in homes in which smoke alarms were present but did not operate, according to the National Fire Protection Agency.
Carbon monoxide detector
Just like your smoke detector, don’t wait for the “chirping” to alert you to a battery change. Replace the batteries once a year.
HVAC filters
The frequency of air filter replacement depends upon the size of the unit, the size of your home, if you have pets, if your home is occupied full-time, and other factors. When you have an HVAC inspection, that is the best time to get accurate frequency advice. A good rule of thumb is to replace the air filter about every 30-60 days (more frequent if you have more than one pet or severe allergies, less frequent if you don’t). Consider buying a year’s worth of filters from your service technician and labeling each of them by month.
Water filters
For whole-house water filtration systems, check with your technician for the suggested replacement schedule and consider purchasing a year’s worth of filters and labeling the replacement date on each box. Usually this type of system should be replaced every 2-6 months. Refrigerator filters should be replaced about every 6 months. Pitcher-type filters should be replaced every two months. This website can offer more specific product information as well.
Humidifier filters
Usually portable humidifiers need a filter replacement every 1-3 months. Again, this varies depends upon how much you use it and what the manufacturer recommends.
Flipping your mattress
If you own a newer mattress you may be instructed to not actually flip it but rather rotate it every 3 months. This will help extend the life of the mattress. If your mattress is older then you’ll want to both rotate and flip the mattress every few months. Figuring out the month to flip, and which direction, is easy with this tip from Martha Stewart. Take an un-needed rag and cut it into two squares. Using a marking pen, mark one square with “January” on top and “April” upside down. Safety pin this to the foot of the mattress with the starting number facing up. Mark the second square with “October” right side up and “July” upside down and safety pin this to the top of the mattress, “October” facing up. Your box mattress also receives a lot of wear and tear so rotate this every 6 months but do not flip it.
Dryer vents
Lint is a flammable material so thoroughly cleaning the dryer vent (the flexible tube connecting your dryer to your exterior vent) is very important. Experts recommend cleaning this vent once a year. If your washer and dryer are regularly serviced, make sure this is part of the maintenance. Label the date to clean this in an easy-to-spot location like the wall above your machines or directly on the dryer itself (use an old magnet and put a white label over it with the date).
For a full list of what to do when, use our Maintenance Guide.