8 SMALL APPLIANCE MAINTENANCE TIPS TO DO THIS WINTER

Taking care of your home means getting it ready for one season or another. Winter preparation requires keeping a variety of different things in mind. There are several things you can do with the exterior of your home, and there are certainly things you can do throughout the interior of your home, as well.

Your appliances should be part of winter maintenance tasks. Even small appliances should be kept in mind. Thankfully, there are a number of simple things you can do, in order to ensure your appliances remain functional throughout the winter and beyond. If you haven’t started on small appliance maintenance tasks for winter, this is your chance to be ready for anything the snow and/or cold weather might throw your way.

How To Winterize Your Small Appliances

Small appliances require a certain measure of maintenance to begin with, depending upon the specific appliance that we are talking about. As your appliances get older, the maintenance needs can increase. This can prove to be particularly true during the winter.

Here are 8 small appliance maintenance tips for winter to keep in mind:

1. Check your HVAC warranty: Your HVAC unit is going to be pretty essential during the cold winter months. To that end, make sure you have an inspection performed before the season really gets started. Check your warranty for information on an inspection, or you may have some other arrangement in place.

2. DIY HVAC maintenance: Ultimately, if you don’t have such an arrangement as the one mentioned above, or if you would rather do it yourself, DIY HVAC maintenance is generally pretty simple. Check/replace your filter, consider switching to a digital thermostat, and check out your heating ducts. These areas should be inspected and/or cleaned before winter starts.

3. Test out your smoke detector: This is another winter small appliance maintenance tip that you should definitely take care of, prior to the actual start of the winter season.

4. Oven/stove/range cleaning: Perform a thorough cleaning of your oven/stove/range area. This includes wiping down the services, removing any debris or grime from the interior/exterior of the stove, and make sure the light inside the oven is working correctly.

5. Dishwasher: Check to see that the water inlet hasn’t become worn out, or broken off entirely. If your dishwasher includes a filter, make it a point before winter to check and see if that filter needs to be cleaned or replaced. Make sure there isn’t anything in the way of food or debris in the water hole/s.

6. Clean out the fridge: Get ready for the holiday leftovers by cleaning out your fridge at the start of the winter season. You can also clean things out just before Thanksgiving. This would also be a great time to clean up your condenser coils. Get rid of those dust bunnies, and take care of any pet hair/food items that are clogging up the area behind your fridge. Scale, rust, and deposits of hard water should be dealt with, as well.

7. Air conditioners: If you have window units in your home, the late fall is likely going to be your best time to take them out of the windows, clean them, and check the filters. After you have done all of these things, you will want to store your AC unit or units in a secure location.

8. Dryer vents: A great example of winter maintenance tips for small appliances comes down to checking out your dryer vents. Sweep the vents out, even if you are in the habit of cleaning out the lint trap on a regular basis. Even if you do, lint, dust bunnies, and other debris can still build up and cause problems.