One of the best ways to save money around your home is to perform some types of repairs and maintenance yourself. But some types of work are easier to do yourself than others. In this edition, we’ll help you learn how to prep an AC unit for summer and figure out whether you can do this work yourself, saving some money in the process.

Savings

If you can do the general maintenance work on your air conditioning unit yourself, you may be able to save anywhere from $75 to $150 for a service call.

Some companies will offer good deals on air conditioner “tune-up” services in early spring, so you may find this service at a special price of $50 to $75. But some shady repair services use this “tune-up” deal to convince you your AC unit needs repairs that it actually doesn’t need. Finding a trustworthy repair person who will be honest with you is more important than saving a few bucks with a special on a “tune-up” for your AC unit.

If you can only do some of the basic maintenance tips listed below, at least you’re going to make the unit more efficient, saving some money on your electrical bill this summer. And a clean air conditioning unit will have a longer lifespan too.

Time Required

Even if you’ve never worked on an air conditioning unit before, you should be able to complete this type of maintenance in a couple of hours. An AC unit that hasn’t had maintenance performed on it previously will take longer, as it will be dirtier. If you perform maintenance on it a couple of times per year though, the process may only take an hour as you’ll be familiar with the work and the unit will be cleaner.

Tools Required

Cleaning and maintaining an air conditioner requires some simple tools, but they do have to be the right size. The exact sizes and tools you’ll need depend on the types of screws used to secure the unit’s panels, both indoors and outdoors.

• Screwdriver with varying bits
• Socket wrench with varying sockets
• Putty knife (or butter knife)
• Insulation tape
• No-rinse coil cleaning spray
• Soft-bristled brush
• Level
• Garden hose with pressure nozzle
• Wet/dry vacuum
• Hedge clippers

Preparation

Pick a reasonable weather day to perform this work, as you’ll be outdoors. You don’t want to be working in really cold temperatures, as you’ll be using water.

Find the fuse for the air conditioning unit and turn it off at your electrical box. Sometimes an AC unit will have its own fuse box near the unit outdoors that you’ll need to turn off too.

Simple Maintenance Jobs

Here are some simple, specific tasks you can complete to perform maintenance and learn how to prep your AC unit for summer.

• Clean up: Outdoor air conditioning units will collect debris on their grates over time because of the way they draw and expel air. You’ll see leaves, twigs, seeds from trees (such as cottonwood), and even animal fur stuck on the various parts of an AC unit. Removing this debris will allow the unit to run more efficiently, as it can move air easier. A wet/dry vacuum may work well for cleaning the exterior grates if the debris is dry. You then may need to remove the grates to clean the unit’s metal fins properly. Most of the grates are attached with screws or hex screws.
• Washing with water: You also can use water to clean any debris from the metal fins on the AC unit. (These metal fins will look like a zig-zag pattern, and they’ll be tightly packed together.) It’ll work well to use a garden hose with a power nozzle to gain enough water pressure. If you can get inside the unit and spray toward the outside, you’ll be able to remove the debris easier. If you can only spray from the outside, the water may clump the debris together, pushing it toward the edge of the unit, where you can remove it by hand. If you have pets or trees in your area that produce seeds that fly through the air, you may want to wash the fins a few times during the summer.
• Straightening fins: Once the fins are cleaned, you may notice some are bent. You’ll want to straighten them to ensure they can work in the most efficient manner. They don’t have to be perfectly straight to work properly, but ensuring they aren’t touching each other will help. You can use a flat head screwdriver to straighten the fins. A small putty knife or even a sturdy butter knife with a thin blade will work too.
• Free space. Make sure vegetation and foreign objects are at least 24 inches from the unit. If you have plants near the AC unit, you’ll want to check this free space occasionally during the summer, so the air conditioner has enough room around it to draw and expel air properly.

Tougher Maintenance Jobs

If you feel comfortable working around the air conditioning unit, you can perform a few other tasks that require a bit more know-how. But if you’re leery of these tasks, call in a trustworthy professional.

• Leveling. As an AC unit ages, it could slip out of a square alignment (such as the unit pictured above). Place a level onto the air conditioning unit, just to make sure it’s in alignment. Some air conditioners are braced with brackets against the home. Others rest on a platform on the ground. If the unit is not level, it could cause problems with the compressor over time. You can use shims to adjust the level of the unit as a temporary fix.
• Clean evaporator tube. Inside the home, you may have an evaporator coil inside the blower unit near the furnace. As moist, warm air inside the ducts strikes the coil, moisture from the air collects on the coil. It usually then drains through a flexible tube to a floor drain. This tube can become clogged with algae and mold over time. (Yes, that’s gross.) But you can clean this tube for a better performance level. Use a wet/dry vac to clean out this tube. Or if it’s especially clogged, consider swapping it out.
• Clean evaporator coil. The evaporator coil described above will collect dust over time. (You can minimize the dust by regularly changing your furnace filter.) If you feel comfortable working inside the unit, you can clean these coils. You’ll have to remove a panel from the unit that has screws or hex screws holding it in place. It also may have some insulation tape around it. Once you can see the coil, you can sweep it with a soft-bristled brush. Then finish cleaning it with a condenser coil spray that you can purchase in a hardware store. This special type of spray doesn’t require rinsing, so it’s great for this type of work.

Final Tips

Before you switch over from heating to air conditioning for the summer, be sure you’ve inspected both your interior and exterior units for any odd damage. If you can easily see the wires, inspect them for any cracking. If you suspect anything out of the ordinary, call a professional.

Outdoors, look for nests that mice may have created. This is a potential problem if you covered the unit all winter, creating a habitat protected from the weather. Or look for any cracks in any portion of the unit where water may have penetrated and frozen, causing a crack.

Indoors, make sure to change all filters. Inspect the unit for any corrosion or cracks. This would be rare, but it could happen with an older unit if water was building up in the area.

Certainly, if you see any cracks or damage, it’s time to call in a professional. But if the all of the components look good, and if you’re able to complete the maintenance tasks described above yourself, your air conditioner will now be ready to run at full throttle for the summer (as long as you remember to turn the power back on at the fuse box). Plus,  you’ll have saved some money in the process!

Saving Money with DIY: How to Prep an AC Unit for Summer

While you can easily spend thousands on technological upgrades like advanced smart showers or smart mirrors, there are also plenty of ways to upgrade your bathroom without breaking the piggy bank. We’ve collected ten tech upgrades for your bathroom that will be relatively easy on your wallet and give you some cool new features to show off to guests.

TECHO Touchless Toilet Flush Kit

Want to make your toilet flush with a simple wave of your hand? With the TECHO Touchless Toilet Flush Kit, you’ll never have to touch the handle again. Just wave your hand over the sensor attached to the top of the tank and the toilet flushes. Powered by 4 AA batteries, the battery life is roughly 36,000 flushes. 

Check Price on Amazon

KOHLER Moxie Showerhead and Wireless Speaker

Integrating a Bluetooth-enabled wireless speaker into the showerhead, Kohler’s Moxie showerhead can stream personalized music playlists, news and other audio while you are cleaning up. With a battery that offers up to seven hours of run time, the speaker can stream from sources up to 32 feet away. It’s available in 2.0 and 2.5 GPM versions. Both versions can often be found on sale for less than $100. 

Check Price on Amazon

LumiLux Advanced Motion Sensor LED Toilet Light

While these types of toilet LEDs became popular after an appearance on Shark Tank, this particular model has achieved a 5-star rating on Amazon. The LumiLex light includes a motion and light detection sensor in order to maximize the battery life, offers 16 colors to choose from, and includes a 5-lever dimmer to adjust the brightness. Retail price is less than $20 and often falls as low at $10.

Check Price on Amazon

Delta Exhaust Bath Fan with Bluetooth Speaker

Equipped with a Bluetooth 3.0 speaker, this bathroom fan is specifically designed for quiet operation operating at just 1.0 sones. This type of design is ideal for anyone that wants to hide a Bluetooth speaker away from guests. It’s priced just under $100.

Check Price on Amazon

UltraTouch Heated Toilet Seat

Ideal for anyone that lives in a cooler climate, the UltraTouch heated toilet seat will increase the temperature of your toilet seat by roughly 20 to 25 degrees above room temperature.  Of course, the downside is that you need an accessible plug near your toilet. While this model retails for less than $100, you also may want to check out the $150 Brondell model which combines an LED light and variable temperature settings.

Check Price on Amazon

Weight Gurus Bluetooth Body Fat Scale

Ideal for fitness nuts or just someone that wants to keep an eye on their weight, upgrade that old scale in your bathroom to one that connects to your smartphone. This well-reviewed model on Amazon typically sells around $60 and measures weight, BMI, body fat, muscle mass, water weight, & bone mass. It measures up to 400 pounds and lets up to eight users connect / track their weight.

Check Price on Amazon

Loctek Adjustable iPad Stand with TP holder

Have an old iPad sitting around collecting dust? Why not install it in your bathroom for a little distraction while you take your place to the porcelain throne? This iPad stand hold your toiler paper and is adjustable for easy viewing. The arm swivels 360 degrees and grips tablets between 7 and 12 inches. It also retails for less than $50.

Check Price on Amazon

Oral-B Pro 5000 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush

While retail on this brush is $150, you can normally find it on sale in the sub-$80 range. What’s interesting about this brush is that it connects to your smartphone to track brushing over time. Ideal for kids that like to skip brushing time, parents can track brushing on the app and make sure no days are skipped. It also has a 2-minute timer so you know when to switch brushing zones in your mouth.

Check Price on Amazon

Charmin Dash Button (Amazon)

While it’s probably better to hit that button prior to running out of toilet paper, the Charmin Amazon Dash button is ideal when you need to restock up on rolls. The Dash button is paired with your favorite Charmin product and setup with your 1-click order settings on Amazon. If you don’t like Charmin, Amazon also has buttons for Quilted Northern and Angel Soft. Buttons are $5 and Amazon offers a $5 credit on your first order, basically free.

Check Price on Amazon

DreamSpa AquaFan Rainfall LED Shower Head

There are plenty of LED shower heads for less than $100, but this one includes a temperature gauge as well as colors that shift from blue-to-red to indicated shifting from cold-to-hot. There are no batteries required since it’s powered by the water. Keep in mind, this is a rainfall shower head, so don’t expect the pressure of a more traditional shower head.

Check Price on Amazon

10 Tech Upgrades for the Bathroom less than $100

Over time, outdoor outlets may start to become unsafe. Spiders may build webs inside them. Water can leak inside the outlet, causing serious problems. That’s why exterior outlets need to have a cover attached to them that protect them from the elements. So if your outdoor outlets are starting to look like the one pictured here, read through our guide for how to replace an outdoor outlet cover.

Time Required

You’ll know that it’s time to replace an outlet cover if any parts of the cover are broken or worn. Or if you can see the insulating layer sticking out from underneath the cover, it needs to be replaced.

You’ll only need five to 10 minutes to replace an outlet cover, so it’s easy to replace several outlet covers within an hour.

Tools Required

Replacing an outdoor outlet cover only requires a couple of tools.

• Pliers
• Screwdriver with multiple bits
• Canned air

Savings

Replacing this cover is a simple job that you can do yourself. You don’t need to spend money on an electrician for this type of work. Even if you have no familiarity with working with electrical wiring, installing an outdoor outlet cover doesn’t require working with the wiring. An electrician probably would have to charge you for a full hour of work to do this type of job, which is a needless cost.

Now if the outlet is not working, if you have exposed or loose wiring, or if the outlet itself is hanging loose, you will want to hire this job out to a professional. Replacing wiring and fixing outlets are jobs only left to those who have experience to work safely in this type of environment.

If you just need to replace the outlet cover, you’ll want to pick the cover that matches the orientation of your outlet (horizontal or vertical) and the number of outlets you have (usually two, but sometimes four or more). Here are a few options to consider for outdoor outlet covers.

• Inexpensive: Hubbell-Bell Weatherproof Wallplate Cover

Check Price on Amazon

• Mid-range: Leviton Weather-Resistant Wallplate Cover

Check Price on Amazon

• Expensive: Taymac Clear Outdoor Receptacle Protector

Check Price on Amazon

Dealing With GFCI Outlets

Some outdoor outlets will be GFCI outlets (short for ground fault circuit interrupter). These outlets have reset buttons on them, as well as a light that indicates whether the outlet is working. These are more often found in bathrooms and kitchens, but you may have one mounted on your home. If so, you must pick an outlet cover that will work with GFCI, or it won’t fit properly.

An option for a mid-range GFCI outdoor cover is the Sigma Electric GFCI Cover.

Check Price on Amazon

Removing the Old Outlet Cover

Before beginning this process, you should go to your fuse box and turn off the power to the outlet, just in case.

With an old outlet cover, it usually will be held in place with a single screw in the middle between the outlets. (If you’re removing a GFCI outlet cover, it will have two screws, one on the right and one on the left.) Occasionally, some of these screws will have become damaged over time, so it’s good to have pliers on hand in case you need to pull the screw out.

Once the cover is removed, you’ll see the bare outlet inside the electrical box, as pictured above. Don’t remove any of these screws.

You can use canned air to clean out any dust or other debris around the outlet.

Installing the Insulating Layer

The outlet cover likely will ship with an insulating layer. Most insulating layers have cutouts that you’ll need to pop out for installation. Don’t forget to pop out the tiny hole for the screw in the middle of the insulating layer (or at the edges if you have screws on the right and left sides instead).

The insulating layer will fit around the outlet plugs, and it should fit tightly enough to sit in place without you having to hold it.

Installing the Cover

Now place the outlet cover over the outlet. It should completely cover the insulating layer while allowing the individual outlet plugs to be accessible.

This part can be a little tricky, as aligning the screw hole in the middle with the hole in the insulating layer and with the hole in the outlet itself is a little tough. Try putting the screw through the hole in the outlet cover first and then lining it up with the hole in the insulating cover and the outlet. Once you get the screw lined up with the threads, it should go on relatively easily. (Again, a GFCI cover will have screens on the left and right sides, not in the middle.)

Checking Alignment

Once you’re finished, you should see the individual covers for the outlet plugs resting flush against the outlet cover. If these individual covers are not tight against the outlet cover, or if you can see any of the insulating layer, the cover is not aligned properly. If things aren’t aligned properly, remove the cover and try again.

That’s it! The outlet covers are pretty inexpensive, and this DIY project is easy and fast. So play it safe and make sure your outdoor outlets are properly protected.

Saving Money With DIY: How to Replace an Outdoor Outlet Cover

UuuuuuuuAH? Aaaaaaarooh? Ooooooogh! That’s right, feel free to let your best Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor grunt out. (If you don’t understand that reference, hop in a time machine, head back to the early nineties and enjoy the Al Borland show.) It’s time to talk about garage upgrades. You know, the place where you park your cars, pile up old boxes and store the fake Christmas tree.

Your garage can be much more than that though. It can be a respite from screaming kids, ideal for “Serenity Now” chanting. It can be where you work on that clunker you purchased as a fun fix-it-up project, soon to be road-ready in 2023. It can be a place to hang out with nosy neighbors that want to borrow a hammer, and your ladder, and your drill, and everything else you own.

Here our our favorite garage upgrades that can be knocked out in a weekend:

1. Insulate your Garage Door

Insulation can swing the temperature in your garage as much as 30 degrees cooler in the summer and roughly the same the other way in the winter. There are a ton of DIY kits that will allow you to apply insulation to the majority of the surface of your garage door interior. This is particularly ideal if you have an appliance running out in the garage, like a large freezer for storage or a second refrigerator for drinks.

If you are looking for relatively lightweight roll-on insulation, check Amazon for some solid deals. If you are looking for more rigid, moisture resistant insulation, Home Depot sells polystyrene board kits starting around $60. Keep in mind that additional weight will be added to your garage door, thus it may be worthwhile to make sure your garage door opener can handle the additional weight.

Check Insulation Kits on Amazon

2. Make Hauling Stuff into the House Easier

One of my favorite (and least expensive) garage upgrades was something I didn’t know I wanted until I used it; a mounted, flip-down doorstop. Attached on the door leading into the house from the garage, this is ideal for bringing in groceries every week or anything else that’s in the garage. I can flip the doorstop down with my foot and prop the door open while attempting to bring in 20 bags of groceries inside at once (like a crazy person).

In addition to that, consider converting to a horizontal, handle style doorknob as well. It makes it simple to push down to open the door. You don’t have to free up any of your hands to actually twist a knob, again ideal for hauling in bags.

Check Flip-Down Doorstops on Amazon

3. Smarten up your Garage Door

Connecting your garage door to your home’s wireless network can be very helpful, especially if you have kids that leave the door open all the time. You will receive smartphone notifications when the door is open as well as the ability to open / close it remotely. You can also share access with people that need to get into your home, ideal if you don’t have additional remotes.

There are a number of options to accomplish this. If you are purchasing a new garage door opener, Chamberlain’s MyQ system is relatively simply to use. If you are purchasing an after-marketing upgrade for an existing opener, check out GoGoGate as well as Garageio Blackbox. The former is outfitted with 1 sensor for a single door and the latter has up to three sensors for mulitple doors.

Check Smart Garage Door on Amazon

4. Upgrade Your Parking Zones

While hanging a tennis ball from the ceiling is a tried & true method for avoiding parking snafus, there are a few more subtle options to make sure your teenager doesn’t drive through the wall. One of the most popular is the Accupark strip, a simple yellow, plastic parking strip that lets the driver know to stop. This can be particularly useful for anyone that needs to fit a large vehicle in a small garage. You can also upgrade to a parking mat, if you prefer something you can move around.

Another popular option for a parking zone upgrade is adding a wall guard in the area where you open your car door. The super cheap option is to cut a foam pool noodle in half and screw it to the wall. However, if you want a more professional option that may help your home’s resell value, a simple wall guard will run you about $10 on Amazon.

Check Parking Upgrades on Amazon

5. Give the Garage Floor a New Look

There are a number of options for upgrading your garage floor. You can add a floor cover, which sticks to the garage floor (retails around $130) You can use an epoxy shield paint, like the one Rust-Oleum makes (retails around $90). You can install garage floor tiles, an expensive option that usually runs a minimum of $1,000 for a standard two-car garage. More premium tiles can be found at Racedeck, starting at $4 per square foot (roughly $2,000 for a standard 2-car garage).

If you do decide to upgrade the floors, consider adding a garage door threshold seal to seal off any potential gaps as well as keep water out of the garage during a heavy rain. Also, if you have a vehicle that consistently leaks oil, consider picking up an oil leak mat to soak up and access oil and protect that floor.

Check Garage Floor Upgrades on Amazon

6. Make Working in the Garage More Comfortable

If you like tinkering on projects in the garage, there are a few easy ways to add some comfort while you are hammering away. One simple addition is adding an anti-fatigue mat in front of your workbench. Typically used in any industry where workers on on their feet all day, a commercial-grade, anti-fatigue mat will significantly reduce heel pain and leg fatigue. (These mats are also great in the kitchen or at a standing desk)

If you are trying to keep cool, considering installing a wall-mount fan as well as a motion sensor to flip the power to the fan on and off when you enter the garage. And, of course, there are any number of portable garage heaters for anyone working in the garage during the cold, winter months.

Check Anti-Fatigue Mats on Amazon

7. Go Nuts with Storage / Organization

I’ve never met someone that’s said “My garage has too much storage.” There are a MASSIVE number of creative, DIY storage solutions for garages. Here’s a short list of some of our favorite collections of potential projects:

• 35+ DIY Garage Storage Ideas To Help You Reinvent Your Garage On A Budget
• 38 Borderline Genius Ways To Organize Your Garage
• 50 Genius DIY Garage Storage and Organization Project Ideas

You really can’t go wrong with the basics either. Get some pegboard & hooks to hang up those tools. Get some wire, wall-mount shelving to get boxes off the floor. Buy a freestanding shelving unit for all your paint / cans / car wax. Use plastic bins for all the odds and ends that don’t fit anywhere else. Utilize ceiling space to hang bikes or other large items.

8. Move the Mudroom into the Garage

Ideal for anyone with kids, transitioning your mudroom to the garage will keep the mess in an area that’s supposed to get dirty. Ideally positioned near the entrance into the house, you will need hooks to hand coats and backpacks as well as storage bins for shoes, gloves, hats and anything else your kids are wearing.

This type of area can also double as storage for sports equipment, ideal if the kids are into various sports and need to keep track of uniforms as well as equipment. If you really want to get fancy, you could also consider building a bench area for sitting; ideal for taking off / putting on winter clothing.

8 Ways to Upgrade Your Garage Over The Weekend