Monthly, about ten minutes
| Item | What you are looking for |
|---|---|
| HVAC filter | Hold a 1-inch filter up to a light. If light does not pass, change it. These run every one to three months depending on pets and dust; a 4- or 5-inch media filter runs six to twelve. A loaded filter costs efficiency and shortens the blower's life. |
| Under every sink, with a flashlight | Damp cabinet floor, white crust on a slip nut, a supply line stiff or bulging. Thirty seconds per cabinet and it catches leaks while they are still ten dollars. |
| Around the water heater | Any moisture in the pan, rust at the fittings, dripping from the T&P discharge pipe. A tank that leaks from the body is not repairable, and knowing a week early lets you shop rather than take whatever is available on an emergency call. |
| Run water in unused fixtures | Keeps trap seals from evaporating. See fixing a drain smell. |
| Test the garbage disposal splash guard and the sink drains | Slow now is blocked later. Clearing a clogged drain is much easier at the slow stage. |
| Sump pump, in wet months | Pour a bucket of water into the pit and confirm it kicks on and shuts off. A pump that has not run since spring often will not. |
Seasonally
| Season | Do | What it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Clean gutters and check downspout extensions. Walk the foundation looking for grade sloping toward the house. Inspect the roof from the ground with binoculars. Service the AC or have it serviced. Reconnect and check hose bibs. | Wet basements, ice dams next winter, an AC that fails on the first hot day when every technician is booked |
| Summer | Clear vegetation back from the condenser and from siding. Check window and door weatherstripping. Watch attic temperature and confirm soffit vents are not blocked by insulation. | Condenser running hot, moisture held against siding, a superheated attic cooking the shingles |
| Fall | Gutters again after leaf drop. Service the furnace before the first cold night. Drain and shut off hose bibs, and put away hoses. Check the chimney and have it swept if you burn wood. Reverse ceiling fans. | Frozen and split hose bibs, a furnace that will not light in December, chimney fires |
| Winter | Watch for ice dams at the eaves. Keep the exhaust and intake vents of a high-efficiency furnace clear of snow. Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls during a hard freeze. Know where the main shutoff is. | Water backing under shingles, a furnace shutting down on a blocked vent, a burst pipe in an exterior wall |
Once a year, and these are safety not thrift
The list above saves money. This one is different in kind, and none of it should slip.
Smoke alarms: test monthly, replace the batteries yearly in any unit that takes them, and replace the alarm itself at ten years from its manufacture date, which is printed on the back. Sensors degrade whether or not the unit chirps. Carbon monoxide alarms are shorter-lived, typically five to seven years, and every house with any fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage needs one on every sleeping level.
Dryer vent: pull the dryer out, disconnect the duct, and clean the whole run to the outside, not just the lint screen. Lint accumulation in dryer venting is a leading cause of appliance fires. Long or crushed flexible ducts are the worst offenders. If you have never done it and the run is long, a service costs around $100 to $200 and is money well spent.
Fuel-burning appliances: annual service on a furnace or boiler is partly efficiency and partly a heat exchanger inspection. Have the water heater T&P relief valve checked, and flush a few gallons of sediment from the tank — sediment insulates the burner from the water and costs you both efficiency and tank life.
Electrical: press the test button on every GFCI outlet and AFCI breaker and confirm it trips and resets. Check the fire extinguisher gauge is in the green and that you have one within reach of the kitchen. If the panel is warm, hums, or smells hot, that is an electrician today.
Chimney: an annual inspection if you burn wood, and a sweep when the creosote layer warrants it. This is the item people skip for years and then learn about the hard way.
Replacement intervals for things that fail quietly
| Item | Interval | Shorter if |
|---|---|---|
| 1-inch HVAC filter | 1-3 months | Pets, allergies, construction dust, a dirt floor crawl space |
| 4- to 5-inch media filter | 6-12 months | Same |
| Smoke alarm unit | 10 years | Never longer, regardless of whether it still beeps when tested |
| Carbon monoxide alarm | 5-7 years | Check the manufacturer's stated life on the back |
| Washing machine supply hoses | 5 years, or now if they are rubber | Replace with braided stainless. A burst washer hose delivers water at full pressure until someone comes home. |
| Water heater anode rod | 3-5 years | Softened water eats it faster. Replacing a $30 rod is what gets a tank past ten years. |
| Refrigerator water filter | 6 months | Per manufacturer |
| Range hood grease filter | Wash every 1-3 months | Frying. Also confirm the hood vents outside rather than recirculating. |
| Bathroom and kitchen caulk | 5+ years, or whenever it splits | Splitting caulk at a tub lets water into the wall long before you see anything |
| Septic tank pumping | 3-5 years | Household size and tank capacity |
| Garage door safety reverse | Test monthly | Block the photo eye and confirm it reverses. This one is about people. |
Leaving the house empty in winter
Do not set the thermostat off. Set it around 55F, which is far cheaper than a burst pipe and is the entire point of the exercise. Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so room heat reaches the pipes. Shut off the main water supply and open a faucet at the lowest point to drain what pressure remains — this is the single most effective step, because a closed main means a failure cannot flood the house for a week.
Pour water into every floor drain and run each fixture before you leave so the traps are full, then add a few ounces of mineral oil to any drain that will sit for months. Shut off the water supply to the washing machine and the ice maker. If nobody will be checking on the place, a wifi temperature sensor that texts you below a set point costs about thirty dollars and is the cheapest insurance in this article. Have someone walk through weekly if you can arrange it — most catastrophic winter damage happens because a small failure ran unattended for days.
Keep the record
The reason maintenance slips is not laziness, it is that nobody remembers when the filter was last changed. Write the date on the filter frame in marker when you install it. Keep one note — a page, a phone note, anything — with the model numbers of the furnace, water heater and AC, the filter size, the date of every service, and the name of the technician who did work you were happy with. When you sell, that record is a document that quietly tells a buyer the house was looked after. When you are troubleshooting at nine at night, it means you can read a model number without a flashlight and a crawl. A checklist maker will turn the tables above into something you can print and stick inside a cabinet door.
Nobody does all of this. The useful version is smaller: change the filter, test the alarms, clean the gutters, clean the dryer vent, and know where the water shutoff is. Those five cover most of what actually goes wrong in a house, and the rest of the page is what you add once those are habit. Finding a water leak and insulation and condensation pick up where this leaves off.
Questions people ask
How often should I change my furnace filter?
A standard 1-inch filter every one to three months, and a 4- or 5-inch media filter every six to twelve. The interval is shorter with pets, with allergies in the house, during any construction, and if ductwork runs through a dusty crawl space. Rather than guessing, hold it up to a light: if you cannot see light through it, it is done. Write the install date on the frame in marker. A loaded filter starves the blower, costs efficiency, and in a heat pump can cause a coil to freeze.
When do smoke alarms need to be replaced, not just the batteries?
Ten years from the manufacture date printed on the back of the unit, whatever the battery situation. The sensing element degrades with age, so an alarm that still chirps when you press test is not necessarily an alarm that will detect smoke. Carbon monoxide alarms are shorter, typically five to seven years — check the label. Test both monthly, change removable batteries yearly, and put a CO alarm on every sleeping level if the house has any fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage.
Do I really need to clean the dryer vent?
Yes, and the lint screen is not the same job. Lint gets past the screen and builds up in the duct between the dryer and the outside, especially in long runs and crushed flexible duct, and dryer venting is a leading cause of household appliance fires. Signs you are overdue: clothes taking two cycles to dry, the dryer or the laundry room running unusually hot, and no visible airflow at the exterior hood while the dryer runs. Once a year, pull the dryer out and clean the whole run. A professional cleaning is roughly $100 to $200 if the run is long or awkward.
What is the minimum I should do if I only do a few things?
Five items. Change the HVAC filter on schedule. Test the smoke and CO alarms monthly and replace the units on their age, not their chirp. Clean the gutters twice a year, because roof water is behind an enormous share of basement and foundation problems. Clean the dryer vent yearly. And find your main water shutoff and confirm it turns. Those five prevent most of the expensive, fast-moving failures. Everything else on this page is worth adding once those are automatic.
How do I keep pipes from freezing while I am away?
Set the thermostat around 55F rather than off. Shut the main water supply and open the lowest faucet in the house to relieve pressure, which means any failure cannot flood the place for a week. Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so room heat reaches the supply lines. Shut off the washing machine and ice maker supplies. Fill the traps and float a little mineral oil on any drain that will sit for months. If nobody is checking on the house, a wifi temperature sensor that texts you when the indoor temperature drops below a set point costs about thirty dollars, and it is the cheapest insurance in this article.