When first purchasing a home, you have to consider all of your investments, especially when it comes to your appliances. These pieces of machinery can be used multiple times in a single day by a homeowner, but need the longevity to be able to handle such a workload. Rather than bracing your bank account to take a hit to accommodate new appliances, there are ways to help those products have a longer operating life with some simple preventive maintenance.

Keep It Clean

The easiest way of assuring proper maintenance of your household appliances is making sure they are kept clean. If you have an HVAC system for your home’s heating and cooling, dirty or clogged air filters can lead to burnout over time. AC maintenance contributes to a longer operating life, and regularly changing your air filter can prevent running up your energy bill from putting too much pressure on the air conditioner or heater to work. If you notice you are cranking up your thermostat and the temperature isn’t what it needs to be, there’s a chance the issue is related to cleanliness.

You could also be hearing plenty of noise in your home that could be the result of issues with an outdoor AC system. If you hear a clanking kind of racket, the outdoor fan of the air conditioner could have blades that are out of balance and hitting other parts. If you’re hearing a buzzing noise from an outside cooling system unit, you could be dealing with debris or a potential refrigerant leak that leads units to freeze up.

This may require the intervention of an HVAC technician or specialist. The condenser coil may also need to be cleaned to allow cool air to properly flow and require routine maintenance seasonally with a recommended cleaner by the unit’s manufacturer.

If You’re Not Using It, Turn It Off

While you may not be using an appliance right this minute, there could still be power being utilized and potentially expediting burnout, much like it would for a light bulb kept on at all hours. Conserving power will not only help your appliances last longer, but it will help lower your utility bill as well.

If you are out of the house, be sure to turn off your air conditioner or heating system, or set it on a timer to limit its usage when you’re away. Computers are some of the biggest energy wasters, so be sure to shut down your system when you’re done rather than let it sit idle and affect the lifespan of your laptop.

Unplugging idle electronics is also recommended for appliances like televisions and microwaves that are still sucking up the electricity even when not in direct use. This is called vampire power. To avoid paying for that vampire power, consider using power strips to allow you to turn off all devices at once.

Home Insulation

If you find yourself cranking up the heat during the winter months, there are simple home improvement projects that can actually help you keep the house warm without constantly heading to the thermostat.

Be sure to go through your home and determine where drafts are coming in from. You can stop the airflow from leaking in through windows and doors. Caulk to block those cracks can keep the warm air in, while not putting too much reliance on your heating system. You can also invest in heavy curtains to prevent the outside temperature from transferring through window glass, switching them out for lighter curtains during the summer. If your house has hardwood flooring, it could be limiting your insulation. A thick area rug can actually provide some level of warmth to the floor to keep you from cranking up the heat.