Winter Is Upon Us...Make Your Home Safe
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
When the temperature starts dropping many people begin to re-winterize their homes. And well they should, in order to get through the cold weather as cheaply as possible. Unless you are Al Gore where the amount of fuel you use means nothing. But, this article is not about winterizing, but rather, making it safer. I have an article here on Searchwarp concerning winterizing. It is number swa420110.
(1) For those of you who are unfortunate enough to have an in-ground swimming pool, you know that it must be drained for the winter months unless you live in an area where the temp never drops down to freezing. But you also need to put a fence around it, if you don't have that already, then lock the gate. This will eliminate some child or other person who might come across your property and fall into the empty pool. Stop a lawsuit before it has a chance to come. You might also stop some animal from falling into it.
(2) Inspect the outside surroundings. If you have trees, make sure there are no dead limbs on them. Or if the tree itself doesn't appear strong and sound, and it is near enough to your house that it might fall on it, or onto some wires, cut it down or have it done. Much damage can occur from falling trees and/or limbs during a wind storm, or snow and ice storm.
(3) Be sure outside steps are sound and sturdy. It may be that you would consider putting treads on the stepping surfaces which will help you when they are wet or have frost or light ice. Be sure to keep some kind of melting agent to put on your outside walking surfaces when you have ice or snow.
(4) If you have a fireplace or a wood burning heater, be sure to use only well dried hardwood for fuel. It creates less soot and tars than softer sappy wood such as pine. But even then, check your chimney or flue frequently and clean any buildup out often to avoid a chimney fire, which can ignite the woodowrk of your home.
(5) If you have portable heaters for supplemental heat, use strict precautions. Regardless of the type (electric, gas, kerosene, etc.) be sure not to place them within 3 feet of any flammable goods. Do not run electrical cords under rugs, cushions or other such materials.
(6) Be sure you have operable smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in any section of the house which is even semi-closed off from another area. Check their batteries regularly.
(7) Do not pile newspapers, old clothes or rags in a corner of the basement or anywhere they might get ignited or be subject to spontaneous combustion.
(8) Check your electrical appliances frequently, making sure the electrical cords and plugs are in good condition and fit snugly when plugged in. Also check for any leaks and perhaps most importance of all, keep the fuzz and lint build-up cleaned from the coils of your cooling systems.( Refrigerator, freezer, dehumidifier, and air conditioners. I would like to expound upon this one for your benefit.
I spent several years working in my spare time as an air-conditioner and refrigeration repair man after having taken training at a technical school. I have long since, left the work, but I recently had a call from a lady who knew that I had once worked on them and she asked me what might be wrong with her refrigerator. She explained that it was running constantly but not keeping the two compartments nearly as cold as they should and she said that the wall around their refrigerator door was actually hot to the touch. Fortunately, I had seen this happen before and I asked her to let me speak to her son, a big fellow and I gave him the following message:
Pull the refrigerator out of it's slot from the cabinets so he could get behind it, Get down and look underneath and he would likely see a build-up of lint and fuzz which would have the coil completely embedded, and the compressor and fan motor would be very hot. When he did this, he reported that I was exactly correct and he said that the compressor had been so hot, there was light charring of the floor just beneath it. I then told him to unplug the refrigerator and get some type of blowing apparatus, air tank with nozzle, a vacuum cleaner which could be used as a blower, or even a small leaf blower, and blow that accumulation out from under there. The lady said she had never moved the refrigerator out since purchased, years before. Fortunately for them, the refrigerator had not suffered any noticeable damage and is now working well, though the compressor possibly received some internal damage and may not last nearly as long as it might have.
Folks, I realize it is true that some women, especially older ones, are physically unable to pull a refrigerator out and clean from beneath it. But doing so regularly is absolutely essential! The incident above could have caused the refrigerator to completely lock up and be totally worthless. AND, some of that fuzz could have ignited and burned the house to the ground! If anyone of you has a refrigerator and are not able to get it out and clean it, get someone else to do it. It should be done ever six months, and never more than a year.
When doing this, never try to use a broom or any object which might brak a copper tube. If you cannot get a blower of any type, use a brush or swab on a stick. Then, be very careful never to force iit in between things or or put any other pressure on any of the wires or coils under there. A broken copper tube will bring a large repair bill...and they are easy to crack or punch a hole into. Play it safe.
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