DIY Furnace Repair Tips for Dads

A warm and dry home during a cold winter night makes a person feel happy, cozy and comfy. Imagine your shock when you come home to a cold house. What a shock. What happened? The most plausible explanation is that your furnace gave up the ghost. It is not working. Stare at it, curse it, and plead with it as much as you want, no reassuring sound from the burner, no heat.

This nightmarish scenario happens more often than people imagine. Why is it happening now in the middle of the evening when the family needs to stay warm and comfortable?

This question has a simple answer: Deferred or neglected maintenance of the heating system.

The furnace was quietly sitting there all summer long without complaining. Heating systems are easy to forget when they are not needed. If you do, you may well pay the price in winter when you desperately need to heat the house.

Dads can avoid many common problems with the furnace and the heating system with a little maintenance in fall. Basic maintenance keeps the heater healthy and can save on home heat as well.

Basic maintenance on your heater and heating system should not take much longer than about three hours. Most dads can do the job by checking a few parts for proper function and or replacing them. Check:

·         The burner flames

·         Clean dust from the burner

·         Remove dust from the blower blades

·         Clear dust from the pilot light (if any)

·         Clean the electric igniter from dust

·         Inspect belts and bearings

·         Replace the furnace filter

·         Examine air ducts for leaks

Everyone can perform these simple maintenance tasks. Doing so saves a lot of trouble and frustration during cold weather.

Here is some how-to information:

·         Burner flames

On a gas furnace they should be even and blue. Yellow flames indicate a dirty burner.

·         Vacuum the burner

Use a vacuum cleaner with a small flexible hose attached to it to get to hard to reach burner surfaces

·         Dust the blower and blower blades

Remove the blower from the furnace (you may have to remove its cage) and vacuum dust of it. Then gently brush the blades with a small brush. Be careful not to bend the blades or to disturb their counterweights.

·         Dust the pilot light

Use a straw to blow dust off the light. If your furnace has an electric igniter, clean it the same way.

·         Inspect the belt

Check the belt for cracks and fraying or other signs of wear. Replace it when needed.

·         Change the furnace filter

You should check and replace it every three months. You can use a cheap filter. They do a good job keeping dust and dirt away from the blower and blower motor. High-efficiency filters can impede air flow. Ask the manufacturer for a recommendation.

For any other heater problem or for serious repairs, consult with and hire a professional maintenance company. You will save on home heat.

Tips to Help You Stay Organized

Organizing your appointments and your belongings can be quite a challenge. Clutter seems to pile up quickly, and it can be difficult to keep everything in place. It is important to stay organized so that you can find items if you need them in a hurry. There are plenty of ways to make sure that you are keeping track of your schedule and keeping areas in your home clean.

Keep a Schedule

If you have trouble keeping up with tasks, then you may want to consider keeping a large calendar or a planner in a convenient location. For example, you can hang a calendar and a pen on the side of your refrigerator or in your laundry room. Having a calendar nearby will help you keep track of bills that are due and appointments that must be kept. You may want to keep all of your bills in one location, such as a basket or file folder. Filing mail as you receive it can also prevent pieces of mail from being lost.

Use Storage Bins 

slide top box- image:woodthings.com

Try to establish a routine of keeping items in an assigned place. For example, you may want to keep all of your household tools in one storage bin. Make sure that everyone in your home understands that items must be returned to the correct location when they are used. Keeping items in assigned places will help you avoid the frustration of misplacing objects that you need.

You can choose bins that coordinate with each other for an attractive storage option. Crates and baskets can be incredibly appealing containers to use for storing extra blankets, bedding and towels. These can be ideal for keeping extra items out of the way until they are needed. Some sites, such as WoodThings.com, offer boxes with sliding tops.

There are several benefits to keeping an organized schedule and home. Being able to locate items that you need will help you avoid the stress of having to waste time searching for them. Avoiding missing out on appointments and deadlines can also save you time and money. Keeping items put away will prevent an area from appearing cluttered, and your guests will be delighted to visit such a clean home.

Lighting & Fabric: A Dramatic Pairing

Tensile fabric retractable roofs are made from a proprietary fabric system that is used for both interior and exterior projects, bringing lighting and fabric together for a dramatic effect.

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Modular designs allow for a greater speed of installation, and tensioned canopies are widely used across the education, healthcare and retail sectors. As a key element of fabric architecture, they have become popular for large structures such as airports and sports arenas, and for smaller venues such as exhibits and even landscaping elements. Not only are tensile structures attractive to the eye, but they can also be more economical than other forms of construction.

The Benefits Of A Retractable Roof

The significant construction cost savings in combination with a number of environmental benefits including improved natural lighting have resulted in increased demand for retractable systems in a wide range of commercial applications. The ease with which these structures can be erected, in addition to their low mass and sheer flexibility in design and styling make them an attractive solution in providing shelter for enclosed spaces.

Fabric structures, together with a variety of other tensile roof systems in the UK and elsewhere can, in general terms, handle winds in excess of 150 mph. They can also accommodate snow loads in the region of 10 kilograms per square metre. For larger and more permanent installations, designers seem to be gravitating towards truss or cable-supported designs, such as those provided by http://fabricarchitecture.com.

Some of the benefits of using fabric retractable roofs include:

•       Permanent structures designed in accordance with British Standards to withstand the elements including wind and rain for all year round use.
•       Blocks 100% of harmful UVA & UVB radiation.
•       Tensile fabric is translucent, allowing in light but reflecting heat, ensuring that even in full sunlight, the space beneath remains comfortable.
•       Tensile fabric roofs are a quick and easy way of covering a large area with minimal disruption.
•       Built in gutter systems control the flow of water and drainage, with options for harvesting rain water by connecting to water butts.

Each tensile roof system is designed, engineered and built to specific environmental standards. It is carefully constructed to ensure maximum impact, allowing in as much light as possible all year round, whilst protecting the area it encloses from the elements and from harmful solar radiation.