6 Household Items You Should Replace Regularly—and What Happens If You Don't - Realtor.com News

Posted: 24 May 2019 06:41 AM PDT

Until Homeownership 101 becomes a prerequisite for obtaining a mortgage, most of us will learn how to handle many household tasks through trial and error.

And even though they say "One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning," there are certain tasks—like replacing critical items before they reach the end of their life span—that you don't want to learn the hard way.

We talked to experts to find out which household items you should replace on a regular basis, and what can happen if you fail to keep up with the required maintenance.

1. HVAC filters

When to replace: Every three months

It's easy to forget about the filter in your heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. It's not something you look at every day (or ever), but that filter works hard behind the scenes to keep the air in your home clean and your HVAC system running smoothly.

Replace HVAC filters according to the manufacturer's instructions—every three months or so, on average. Even if you're not DIY savvy, replacing the filter is a simple swap.

"Most homeowners can outsource it to their child, it's that easy," says Jonathan Faccone, founder of Halo Homebuyers in Bridgewater, NJ. "It's a must if you want to keep your furnace operating efficiently and preserve its overall life span."

And if you don't replace those filters regularly? Running your HVAC system with an old filter can hurt its performance—and it can also invalidate your system's warranty, Faccone warns.

2. Humidifier and dehumidifier filters

When to replace: Every one to three months

If you live in a climate that sees drastic temperature swings, there's a good chance you rely on a humidifier or a dehumidifier to keep levels stable.

"This is of particular concern in the northern regions, and especially the Midwest," says Kyle Larson, general manager at LGC, a home builder in Cedar Falls, IA. "Stability is key—failure to keep humidity in check can ultimately result in condensation, frost, mold, or other undesirable side effects."

But your humidifier and dehumidifier can't run on autopilot—you need to change each system's filters according to the manufacturer's instructions, which generally recommend every one to three months. If you don't, your filters can quickly become a hotbed for bacteria and mold, and you may notice that your unit is less effective.

3. Vacuum cleaner HEPA filters

When to replace: Every few months, up to every few years

Life would be a lot easier if it were #nofilter, huh? Alas, the high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your vacuum is another filter you should be replacing regularly. These filters help capture tiny particles like dust mites, allergens, and bacteria, but over time, they can get clogged and don't work as well. If you continue vacuuming with an old HEPA filter, your vacuum may lose some of its suction, and it's far more affordable to replace a filter than an entire vacuum.

Check with your manufacturer to see how often you should replace the filter; some suggest every six months, others say only once every two to three years.

If all this filter-changing is starting to feel like a drag, we get it. But clean filters keep your household equipment in tiptop shape, and they're also important from a safety perspective.

"If you put off cleaning vents or changing filters, it can be a fire hazard," says Becky Rapinchuk, author and founder of CleanMama.net.

4. Smoke detectors

When to replace: When they stop working, or every 10 years—whichever comes first

I'll never forget when my electrician father visited my first college apartment. I sat on the couch, mortified, as he tested each smoke detector, the shrill alarm piercing everybody's eardrums (sorry, roommates!).

In retrospect, Dad definitely knew best. Resist the urge to dismantle and abandon your smoke detector when it begins the end-of-life chirp. Keep fresh batteries on hand so your detectors are always in good working order, and test your smoke detectors once a month, Larson says. (Yes, really!)

If your smoke detectors are more than 10 years old, play it safe and replace them altogether.

If you can't be bothered with batteries, consider investing in a hardwired system for your home.

"Despite the cost, smart-home detectors like Nest, Kidde, and others with Wi-Fi connection are great, because they report their status in real time," he says.

5. Kitchen sponges

When to replace: Every two weeks

Your kitchen sponges do not have nine lives. They barely even have one life, it turns out—experts say kitchen sponges should be replaced every two weeks.

It makes sense, when you think about it: Your kitchen sponge endures a hard life full of daily, dirty use. It's easy for bacteria from food to get trapped in sponges, which is not only nasty but can create an unsavory stench in your kitchen. Stock up on this staple so you can swap in a new sponge at least once every few weeks.

6. GFCI outlets

When to replace: When they stop working

Outlets with ground-fault circuit interrupters—GFCI outlets for short—are a safety must-have in any room prone to dampness or humidity, like a kitchen or bathroom. These outlets cut the power in dangerous situations (say, if you drop your toaster in the sink).

But even if your house is fully loaded with GFCI outlets, you need to test them regularly to ensure they're working.

"I tell my clients to make sure to test them monthly to ensure they are operating correctly and don't get stuck, and to prevent serious or even fatal electrical shocks and electrical fires," says Jack H. Smith, a Realtor® based in Milwaukee.

Luckily, testing and replacing your GFCI outlets doesn't require the help of a professional electrician. This handy guide offers a step-by-step breakdown of how to do it yourself.

If air at home seems to bother you, try to remove the sources of irritants first - Washington Post

Posted: 29 Apr 2019 12:00 AM PDT

By Jill U. Adams

April 29

When spring arrives, it's a joy to open your windows and feel the fresh air. All too soon it will be summer and we'll shut ourselves in again.

This ritual raises a question: Which is healthier — outdoor air or indoor air?

They're related, of course. The air inside our homes originates from outside and can carry pollen or pollutants, such as those produced by combustion engines. Indoor sources might add to the mix with tobacco smoke, cooking, mold spores, dust and pet dander.

A tightly sealed home may allow this mix of particulate matter to become more concentrated inside than out.

For good health outcomes, "The key is to catch small particles," says Stuart Batterman, an environmental health scientist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

Particles that are 2.5 micrometers or smaller — called fine particles, particulate matter 2.5 or PM2.5 — are small enough to travel deep into the lungs and sometimes cross into the bloodstream. Fine particles are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency because they can cause health problems.

High particulate matter may be associated with serious outcomes, such as asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature deaths in people with heart or lung disease. Those affected may experience airway irritation, difficulty breathing and coughing.

The most vulnerable are those with asthma, particularly children because their airways are smaller, and elderly people who have respiratory conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema, or heart disease.

The first things you should do is try to remove the source of irritants, says Brian Christman, a pulmonologist and spokesman for the American Lung Association.

While air filters can be helpful, says Christman, who also is chief of medicine at Veterans Affairs' Tennessee Valley Health Care System in Nashville, "they're about number four or five on the list of things you can do about air quality."

"If you're allergic to cats, and have five cats at home, an air filter won't help," he says.

Short of getting rid of pets, you can keep them out of your bedroom. If mold is a problem, you'd want to dry out areas of dampness — whether that means fixing leaks or seepage or using an exhaust fan when you shower.

Use the exhaust fan over your stove when you're cooking with high heat, such as grilling or stir-frying. Reducing the humidity of your home makes it less friendly for mold and dust mites. Specialized pillow and mattress covers can reduce dust mite exposure.

Christman also suggests avoiding harsh cleaners such as ammonia and bleach. "Those things are hard on your airways, particularly if you have sensitive airways," he says. Stick to more natural cleaners such as vinegar and baking soda.

After you've managed source control, a good air cleaner may help filter out what's left.

Air cleaners can remove particulate matter from the air inside your home. There are two basic setups: a portable appliance or adapting a house- or building-wide HVAC system. The stand-alone appliances, also called air purifiers, circulate the air in a room and trap particles. If you have a forced air system of heating and cooling, that system does the same thing for all your rooms, and you can upgrade the system's filter to improve particle removal.

A 2012 study tested portable air cleaners in low-income households of children with asthma. Air cleaners, when used in the children's bedroom, reduced particulate matter by an average of 50 percent. But families didn't use the devices consistently.

Batterman, who co-wrote the study, says the portable air cleaners do produce some noise and people who use them do need to change the filters. "They do a reasonable job for a small area," he says, such as a bedroom.

Those with forced air should take advantage of that system to clean the air throughout the house, Batterman says. You already have a filter; for cleaner air, you need to upgrade it to better catch small particles. And you need to change it regularly — every three months is a common recommendation.

The cheapest filters are worthless for catching particles, Batterman says. He recommends a pleated filter with a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) rating of 13 or higher (so does the EPA). The MERV 13 filters cost about $15 to $20.

The filter works whenever the system's fan is running and the windows are closed. That means during heating or air-conditioning season; or you can turn on fan mode. Newer thermostats have a mode that cycles the fan on and off, so you get the benefits of filtering without running the system constantly.

"If you have a child with asthma or allergies, it's quite effective," Batterman says. And if you avoid one emergency room visit or a missed work day, then the more expensive filter has paid for itself.

A couple of things to watch out for: Don't use air filters that have an electrical field. Called air ionizers or electronic filters, these create ozone, which is harmful for health. (Slightly off topic, but another invisible health hazard is radon. It's best to test your home; the greater Washington area is in a high-risk zone for radon.)

Specific air-quality problems might provide additional reasons for filtering your home's air, such as wildfires. Air quality trouble spots can be viewed daily at an EPA website, AirNow.gov.

But unless you have a health condition that requires you pay close attention to indoor air quality, you really don't need an air filter.

Batterman says he's not a proponent of super clean spaces. Christman says regular dirt and dust are not bad for you. There's evidence that growing up in very clean environments is related to the rise in autoimmune and allergic disorders, although the precise culprits have not been identified.

Hospitals find asthma hot spots more profitable to ignore than fix

How many years do we lose to the air we breathe?

Search This Blog

Air Purifier Mold