MONEY-SAVING HOME MAINTENANCE TASKS EVERY HOMEOWNER SHOULD KNOW
Home maintenance often feels like a hassle. Something that takes time and costs money. But believe it or not, keeping on top of certain home maintenance tasks can actually save you money in the long term.
Property expert Gregory Smith at PriceYourJob.co.uk runs through the maintenance tasks every owner should know and explains why carrying out these jobs will save you money.
Fixing Water Leaks
Currently, about 60% of homes in the UK are on a water meter and there are plans in place to get more households onto a metered system. This means that for the majority of us, wasting water also wastes money. So, fixing leaks is an essential home maintenance task that we all should know.
A dripping tap wastes four to five litres of water per day, while a running toilet can waste between 200 and 400 litres. Therefore, ignoring a faulty flush could cost you £1 to £2 per day and leaving a tap dripping could end up costing you around £8 to £10 a year. As a replacement washer can be picked up for around £1, knowing how to fix a dripping tap will save you money. But dealing promptly with a running toilet will save you a lot more.
Running toilets are often fixable without the need for replacement parts, but a new flush or fill valve will only set you back £10 to £30. This could potentially save you from wasting between £350 and £700 over the course of a year.
While other leaks are more complex to fix, such as leaky water pipes, it’s still worth knowing how to spot them, so you can call a plumber before you’ve wasted too much water. It will also save you from costly water damage repairs.
Maintaining Your Central Heating
Looking after your plumbing and reducing water consumption isn’t the only way to save money. Maintaining your central heating properly will save you money too, as it should reduce your energy bills.
Getting your boiler serviced will prolong its lifespan by around five years. In some cases, longer. But not only can servicing cut down on hefty purchase costs, it can reduce your heating costs by as much as £200 to £300 per year, as it helps keep your boiler running efficiently.
That’s not the only central heating maintenance task homeowners should be aware of. There’s also an easy task you can do yourself, and that’s bleeding the radiators. Removing trapped air from your radiators enables them to heat up much quicker. As rooms warm up faster, you won’t need to run the heating for as long. This one task alone can save you between £100 and £300 per year. If you don’t have a radiator key, you can pick one up from a hardware or DIY shop for £2 to £3.
Draft-proofing
Most of us can reduce our heating bills a bit further by carrying out draft-proofing measures. In fact, it’s thought this home maintenance task can save the average household around £80 a year.
What sort of draft-proofing steps should we be taking as part of our home’s seasonal maintenance? Well, it will vary a bit from home to home, but we should certainly be looking to plug the gaps around letterboxes, chimneys, floorboards and windows as well as the bottom of doors and skirting boards.
Some draught-proofing measures need to be done on a seasonal basis. For instance, the hinges on most uPVC doors, including patio doors, loosen over time. So, they don’t fit as tightly in their frame. Making a simple adjustment with your screwdriver will pull the door in closer to the frame, creating a better seal.
Appliance Care
When it comes to home maintenance, appliances are often overlooked. This is probably because appliance care doesn’t seem all that important and the problems caused by poor maintenance may not be apparent. However, taking proper care of your appliances not only improves their performance, it saves you money.
Even a simple task such as descaling the kettle can save you money. Descaling your kettle will ensure it boils quickly and will protect it from lasting damage. Limescale caked around the element inhibits heat transfer, so you can end up adding around 2p per day onto your bills, which doesn’t sound like much, but that’s £7.30 a year. If you like your hot drinks, that amount could be higher. You also need to factor in the potential cost of a new kettle, as leaving the limescale to build up can cause the element to wear out quickly.
When it comes to saving money, however, it’s the maintenance of your larger appliances – particularly washing machines and dishwashers – that will save you the most money. Not looking after these workhorses means they’re not able to run as efficiently. So, they’ll use more water and energy. Tumble dryers are just as essential to maintain. Some models can use 50% more energy per cycle when the filters are clogged. So, clean and inspect your appliances regularly, including the filters.
Window Cleaning
Cleaning your windows can seem like a thankless task, but it, too, has money-saving benefits. It maximises the sunlight coming into your home, meaning you’re less reliant on using artificial lighting. The warmth from the sun, known as solar gain, can raise indoor temperatures by two or three degrees in spring, meaning you might not need the heating on during the day.
While this home maintenance task may only save you a few pounds over the cooler months, it’s one of the cheapest and easiest tasks to get done. You don’t need to splash out on fancy cleaning products, as a few drops of washing-up liquid and distilled vinegar in a bucket of warm water should do the job.
Why Doing General Home Maintenance Can Save You Money
While some money-saving home maintenance tasks reduce your household bills, others are more about taking preventative steps to prevent costly repairs. For instance, clearing out your gutters won’t save you money on your household bills but will stop unnecessary damp problems such as crumbling plaster. So, even if home maintenance isn’t going to save you water or electricity, you should still do it to help your long-term finances.
Final Thoughts
Thinking of home maintenance as a way to save money can help motivate us to carry out tasks around the home. But it’s important to get an understanding of which jobs need doing and why, so we don’t overlook the essentials.
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
GREGORY SMITH: “Gregory Smith has worked in the property and construction industry for over 20 years. He currently continues to work on domestic building projects while also providing expert comments in the property and construction field for PriceYourJob. He has worked with PriceYourJob for the past 4 years and has been published in a range of reputable publications.”
