Maintenance Tips

A Home is More Than an Investment—It’s Your Sanctuary

Your home is where your family spends most of their time, making it essential to keep it in excellent condition. Regular maintenance is key to ensuring both your investment and your family’s safety.

Secure Home Guard helps you stay on top of maintenance for your home’s systems and appliances. Most homeowners don’t think about maintenance until something goes wrong, but following yearly manufacturer recommendations—like changing filters, routine cleaning, and addressing small issues early—can extend the life of your home’s systems. We’ve compiled several routine maintenance tips, organized by season, to help you plan. Adopting a preventive maintenance routine can extend the life of your home and help you avoid costly repairs, as home warranties typically don’t cover routine maintenance.

WINTER

• Have your furnace serviced annually by a professional to ensure efficiency and safety. Proper maintenance is required by Secure Home Guard contracts.*
• Inspect wood-burning stoves and chimneys annually with a certified chimney sweep.
• Check for gas odors around appliances.
• Insulate pipes in crawl spaces and attics.
• Clear debris from window wells, gutters, downspouts, and storm drains.
• Clean the clothes dryer exhaust duct and under the dryer.
• Ensure attic ventilation is adequate.
• Check caulking around doors and windows to reduce heat loss.
• Clean the kitchen exhaust hood and air filters.
• Inspect water hoses on the washer, refrigerator icemaker, and dishwasher for cracks.

SPRING

• Ensure light bulbs in all fixtures are the correct wattage.
• Consider installing a lightning protection system. SHG does not cover lightning or natural disaster-related damage.*
• Schedule air conditioning maintenance with a professional contractor as recommended by the manufacturer.*
• Trim plants near the condensing unit for proper airflow.
• Inspect your roof for damage. Optional roof protection is available with Secure Home Guard.*
• Drain sediment from the water heater as per manufacturer’s recommendations.
• Check plumbing shutoff valves to ensure they function.
• Clean the clothes dryer exhaust duct and inspect water supply hoses for wear.

SUMMER

• Have your air conditioning serviced before the season starts.*
• Keep curtains closed during peak temperatures.
• Use exhaust fans while cooking to reduce heat and humidity.
• Close registers in unused rooms, but no more than 25% to avoid system damage.
• Caulk and weather-strip windows to seal air gaps.
• Set your thermostat to 78°F for optimal energy efficiency.
• Close the fireplace flue when not in use.
• Move furniture away from vents and radiators for better airflow.
• Change filters on forced air units.
• Consider switching to energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights to lower electricity bills.

FALL

• Flush out your water heater and test the pressure relief valve.
• Have your heating system inspected by a professional before winter.
• Protect your home from frozen pipes by draining in-ground sprinklers.
• Get your chimney cleaned by a certified sweep and check the fireplace damper.
• Recheck caulking around doors and windows.
• Inspect for paint failure or water damage and repaint if necessary.
• Insulate outdoor faucets and exposed pipes.
• Remove bird nests from chimney flues and electrical fixtures.
• Clean smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

A home warranty can offer significant savings when used properly to cover normal wear and tear on properly maintained systems and appliances.* While no home warranty covers every situation, at Secure Home Guard, we do everything we can to help you get back on track when a covered system fails.