Gutter Cleaning
If you haven’t yet cleaned your gutter yet this fall, it’s time to clean out all of the leaves that have fallen from nearby trees. Even if you’ve already cleaned it once, you may need to clean it again if you have a lot of deciduous trees nearby. You can borrow a 16-foot extension ladder from the Tool Library to help you get onto the roof, and we have gutter scoops too.
A Clean Furnace Filter
Make sure to change your furnace filter if it needs replacing. Remember if that furnace filter is not clean, it’s like shutting off the flow of air to your furnace. It needs air just like we do to breathe. There are a wide variety of furnace filters, most of them under $5. You can even get a washable furnace filter and save yourself a trip to the store when it needs to be cleaned. Just hose it off, let it dry, and put it back in your furnace.
Preparing for Freezing Temperatures
We experienced our first freezing spell of the winter two weeks ago, and we are likely to experience a couple more before this winter is over. It’s important to remember that water expands when frozen. This can cause some major damage to anything that contains water when the temperature goes below freezing.
- Unhook and drain your garden hoses. You won’t need them again till next summer and it will save you a plumbing job for broken pipes. Your local hardware store sells those nifty hose bib covers to keep them from freezing for about $2.00.
Hosebib covers cost about $2 at any hardware store.
- Similarly, if you have a rain barrel collection system, it’s important to drain it off in the winter so that it doesn’t freeze and split. There will be plenty of rain in March to refill them, and you won’t need the water till at least May.
You can find more tips on preparing your home for the winter at the links below, or just drop by the tool library and ask Tom, our resident expert.
- Winterizing your water pipes
- Winterizing your wood deck
- Preparing your garden for the winter
- Home energy audits from the Energy Trust of Oregon
See you at the tool library!