It’s the middle of July; half of the year has already gone by and the latter half has yet to come. Now is the best time to hold outdoor barbecues and swimming pool parties because everyone deserves to have a dip in the cool water at the end of a long, sultry day. Plus, it’s the perfect excuse to bust out your breezy summer outfits, even if you’re only walking around your house.
But that’s not the only thing that being halfway through summer symbolizes because it also serves as a wake-up call that autumn is less than two months away. Depending on what kind of preparations you need to welcome autumn, less than two months could be too little or just enough time to accomplish everything on your to-do list.
So, if you haven’t begun prepping your home for the coming of the colder months, you should take this as a sign to start getting your priorities in order. Those few weeks could easily fly by if you’re not careful, and soon, you could be putting yourself under unnecessary stress because of last-minute preparations.
Save yourself the hassle of trying to accomplish everything in one fell swoop, especially because you still have plenty of time to schedule your tasks at a comfortable pace. Fight against the urge to procrastinate by ticking at least one task off your to-do list every week so that when autumn comes, you could just cuddle with your favorite fleece blanket on the sofa. Here are three more tasks to add to your list:
Have Your HVAC System Inspected
If you didn’t include an inspection during your spring-cleaning session, now might be the best time to have an HVAC tune-up for your home. This is because your HVAC system could have overworked itself to provide your house with enough warmth last winter, only for you to allow it to gather dust through all spring and summer.
Without regular maintenance, your HVAC system could sustain irreparable damages because you failed to notice them earlier, which can be inconvenient and expensive. It doesn’t take much to call in HVAC experts who can inspect your system to find out if you need repairs, so make sure to do it before autumn comes.
Moving forward, make it a habit to schedule an inspection at least once or twice a year, preferably after winter and summer. This is because your HVAC system could be working double-time during those seasons, and as a responsible homeowner, it’s your duty to make sure that your household stays intact.
Consider Insulating Your Home
If your house isn’t insulated yet, this could be the perfect time to consider doing so for two reasons: one, you can save money, and two, you can save energy. You might not be aware of this yet, but you could be spending more electricity than what you actually need because your home is not insulated.
This is because no house is completely sealed and free from the elements unless you make it so. There could be small cracks and gaps around your house that allow the air within to escape or vice versa. That means that during summer when you’re cranking the AC to the coolest level, there’s a possibility that the hot air from outside is still coming in.
But if you were to insulate your roof, walls, and floors, you can create another barrier between your home and the outside world. Your house would be able to maintain the internal temperature longer without putting the burden on your HVAC, which means you can save more energy in the process. And the best part about this is that good insulation can last a lifetime.
Install DIY Weather-stripping
Aside from insulation, you could install weather-stripping on your windows and doors to seal off any potential gaps that will allow outside air to enter your home. Doing so could reduce the draftiness of your home, which could often force you to rely on your HVAC to achieve that comfortable warmth.
Since there’s still enough time before the cooler autumn winds come, you could take this opportunity to cut costs and do the weather-stripping yourself. Research what kind of materials will work best for what you need to seal off, and learn how to install the weather-stripping on your own as your DIY project.
But if don’t have the time nor the patience to take the DIY route, you could always call on professionals to help you weather-strip your home. By sealing off all potential cracks and crevices that will make your house airtight, you can save more money because you can reduce your energy bills in the process.
You don’t have to do all these at once, especially since these tasks involve inspecting your entire house repeatedly. However, now that you know what you should do and when you need to accomplish them, you can create a workable timeline that won’t stress you out. This way, you can tick off all the tasks on your autumn prep to-do list with plenty of time to spare.