Do you know everything about your living environment? Some might argue that living there every day means you understand your home inside out. However, in reality, no matter how long you’ve lived there, there may be important information that has been overlooked. Having a grasp of this information is crucial in dealing with unexpected events in your home.
Focusing on home maintenance and personal finance, Jeff Somers discussed on “Lifehacker” what information people need to know about their own homes and why this information is essential for protecting their property or their family’s lives.
Every household inevitably uses water, electricity, and possibly gas. These resources are usually transported to your home through pipelines from the outside with stable pressure. It is crucial to know how to shut off the relevant equipment in case of emergencies such as burst pipes or gas leaks. This means you need to be aware of the location of the control valves for these resources in your home.
– Main Water Valve: This valve is used to shut off the water supply in emergencies. It is usually located outdoors but can also be found indoors, such as in the basement or garage. Make sure you know where it is and how to shut it off.
– Local Shut-Off Valves: Your sinks, outdoor faucets, and toilets all have shut-off valves. Knowing the location of these valves can truly help you minimize damage when a toilet starts overflowing.
– Gas Valve: Similarly, if your home has gas pipelines, know where the shut-off valve is. If you suddenly smell gas but can’t locate the source, knowing the valve’s location could save your house and life.
– Home Electrical Panel: Electricity is a crucial component of household energy needs. Understanding the distribution of power in your home is also essential. The electrical panel (circuit breaker box or fuse box) serves as the central hub, providing power to various parts of your home through circuits and wires. Knowing the location of the electrical panel in your home and systematically turning off circuits to check their connections, understanding which circuits control which devices in your home, enables you to take immediate action when you need to cut off power to a specific area or the entire house in an emergency.
It is important to note that if you smell gas, even after shutting off the main gas supply, you should evacuate the residence immediately and call emergency services. Do not touch a sparking or smoking electrical panel.
You should know the locations of your home’s water meter, gas meter, and electric meter and how to read them. Being able to read and interpret the water meter when utility company meter readers are on-site can help you review utility bills. Doing this annually can also help you identify potential billing errors.
In the event of a terrible incident in your home, how will you escape? If the front door is blocked, are there other ways out? If you are trapped upstairs, how will you escape? While these emergencies are rare, you should be prepared for any possible scenario to ensure that even if the usual exits are blocked, you have alternative ways out.
Consult with builders, former homeowners, or home inspectors to inquire about the types of insulation materials used in your walls and attic space. Understanding the types of insulation materials and their lifespans is important. Insulation effectiveness does not last forever, so knowing the lifespan of insulation materials will help you plan for future maintenance and budgeting.
Testing your water quality at home can help you determine if your household water is safe to drink or if you need to buy a filter.
Furthermore, finding out if your water is hard water (water with high mineral content) is useful because this type of water can damage your appliances and other equipment in your home. Hard water is also not ideal for showers and cleaning. You can effectively soften hard water on your own.
If your house was built before 1988, it may still have lead pipes, which means lead could seep into your drinking water, causing health issues. Check if your home’s pipes are made of lead, and if the test result is positive, contact local authorities and the water utility company to arrange for replacement.
Many devices in your home have filters that need regular replacement. Make sure you know which filters are needed and how often they should be replaced. Just because equipment appears to be functioning properly does not mean the filters do not need changing.
Do you know what materials your floors are made of? What material is your countertop made of? Different materials have different maintenance and cleaning requirements, so it is best to understand the manufacturer’s recommendations for maintenance, cleaning, and repairs. Using the wrong cleaning products can cause real damage to the materials.