Welcome to Metro Property Inspection’s De-Winterization series, showing homeowners how to best prepare their homes for the spring weather and Kansas City real estate market. If you’re a homeowner looking to sell their home this spring, this series is for you; but even if you’re not a Kansas City homeowner looking to sell their home, this series will also teach you how to best prepare your home for spring and achieve optimal efficiency. Watch Mike Pelliccia, a certified Kansas City home inspector, show you how to prepare your home for spring in 2021.
Replace The Batteries In Your Smoke Detector
Replacing the batteries in your smoke detector seems simple, but not only can it save you from frantically replacing your batteries in the middle of the night, but it can also save your and your family’s lives.
We often encourage homeowners to replace the batteries in their home’s smoke detectors at Day-Light Savings Time, but if you forgot (like Mike did), this is your friendly reminder for 2021 to replace your smoke detector’s batteries today! As simple as this first tip is, it’s important when you prepare your home for spring.
Adjust The Dampers On Your HVAC Unit
Our first of two home spring preparation tips regarding your HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) is to adjust its dampers. This tip will only take you several minutes to complete but will allow your HVAC unit to run more efficiently, saving you money this spring and summer.
The HVAC system in your basement is responsible for all heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in your home, and in the wintertime (if you followed our homeowner winter preparation list) you adjusted your dampers to send the majority of the heat to the first floor of your home, letting the heat rise to the second floor and beyond; this spring we encourage you to do the opposite. Because heat air rises and cold air drops, we want to send the majority of the cold air from your HVAC unit to the second floor of your home, allowing it to naturally drop to and through the first floor of your home.
Clean & Replace All Of The Filters In Your Home
If you’re a first time home buyer, learning how to best prepare your home for spring, make sure to ask your Kansas City home inspector or real estate agent where all of the most important filters in your home are located, in the home Mike is currently inspecting, he is encouraging the home buyer or owner to replace and clean the furnace/HVAC filter, microwave filters, and your home’s indoor and outdoor lint and dryer vents.
In most HVAC units, the filter will be located at the side of the unit where the return-air ventilation system is located. This is a very easy filter to replace, but we encourage all home buyers to make sure their home inspector informs them of where it is on their unit. At Metro Property Inspection, these simple yet important questions are always answered during our home inspection walk-through.
The filters in your home’s microwave and the vent hood above your microwave that need to be replaced periodically. These filters are responsible for filtering our steam and smoke, and should easily be replaced periodically throughout the year during seasonal changes.
As simple as cleaning your dryer’s lint filter is, it is incredibly important. Many homeowners clean their lint filters after every drying cycle, but many homeowners don’t ever clean their lint filters. Not cleaning your lint filter is a fire hazard, and does not allow your dryer to run efficiently.
The final vent cleaning tip is to check the outdoor portion of your dryer vent. The outdoor portion of your dryer vent is where all of the hot air, remaining lint, and small debris get filtered out of your home. As Mike explains, cleaning any remaining lint or debris out of your dryer vent is easy to do with a shop-vac or household vacuum.
Inspect The Outdoor Portion Of Your HVAC (Air Conditioner)
The second homeowners’ spring preparation tip regarding your HVAC system is to check the outdoor portion of your HVAC unit, the air conditioner. For most Kansas City homeowners, our air conditioners haven’t been turned on since Fall, so inspecting your air conditioner for debris, damage, and efficiency is an important spring preparation step for all homeowners.
When inspecting your outdoor air conditioning unit, check these areas:
- check that the insulation on your cooling lines hasn’t been damaged
- make sure the seal connecting the air conditioner to your home has not been compromised
- check to make sure there is no debris accumulated around the outside of your air conditioning unit
- make sure the coils inside your unit haven’t been obstructed with pollen, dust, or lint.
If your air conditioning coils have been obstructed with debris, the solution is simple. As home inspectors, we encourage homeowners and buyers to clean their air conditioning unit with a hose by spraying down from the top, letting the water run through the unit, and out at the bottom and the sides. Make sure to not spray from the sides, but rather from the top down.
Check Your Gutters & Downspouts For Debris And Blockage
If you’re anything like Mike, you probably still have some leaves from Fall on the ground surrounding your home (even home inspectors don’t love leaf raking). Just know that if there are leaves and other tree debris on the ground around your home, there is most likely the same type and amount of debris in your gutters and roof drainage system.
Another tip regarding your gutters and downspouts is to check to see if they have pulled away from the base of your home, as Mike shows in the video above. Improving the connection-point between your home and your downspouts will ensure a longer lifespan for your drainage system and, most importantly, your home’s foundation.
Spring Preparation Tips For Kansas City Homeowners (Bonus Tips)
Thank you for watching and joining Mike as he demonstrated some of the most important de-winterization tips Kansas City homeowners should take now that the snow has melted, and the weather is getting warmer. Whether you’re looking forward to selling your home this spring or just wanting to learn how to get the most efficiency out of your home this spring, Metro Property Inspection is here to help. Home inspectors aren’t just here to help you find your next dream home, but make sure you’re getting the most out of your current home every day this 2021.