When water gets into your laundry room—whether it’s from a broken washing machine hose or a late spring storm—your best bet is to treat it like an electrical emergency. If you know a storm is coming, it’s a good idea to unplug your washing machine, dryer and other major appliances. If a lightning strike causes a power surge, your appliances could get damaged or even ruined. If you haven’t unplugged your appliances and stormwater gets indoors, minimize your risk of electrocution by waiting for the water to recede and then shutting off the power supply. Do not do this while standing in water. Do not touch your power cords during a surge or if your appliances are sitting in water. Also, shut off the hot and cold-water supply lines. Don’t touch anything until you do that; as you know, water and electricity absolutely do not mix. Next, call an appliance repair professional, an electrician or a plumber to assess the damage to your washer and dryer. Don’t turn on your washer and dryer after they get wet, even if they have air-dried. According to Consumer Reports, turning on appliances too soon could shock or electrocute you if their interior components are still wet. It can also ruin your appliances.

It doesn’t make sense to put an air conditioning system in a garage because the cool air will leak right through the door, ceiling and walls. But you can keep the space a bit more comfortable this summer by adding insulation. Insulated walls, ceilings and doors can block the heat so it doesn’t penetrate to the inside of the garage, and they can keep the cool, conditioned air indoors where it belongs. In the winter, it can help keep the cold air out. If you need a new garage door, choose an energy-efficient model, which can reduce energy loss through the garage door by up to 71 percent, according to manufacturer Clopay.

If the air inside your house is dusty, it might mean your air conditioning ducts have sprung leaks. If you’re changing your air conditioner filter regularly, it will trap dust and pollutants that get into the indoor air so they never make their way into the duct system—or back into the air. But if the ducts have tiny holes or cracks or joints that aren’t well-sealed, dust can bypass the filter and sneak directly into the ducts. Once dust gets in there, the duct system will blow it all over the house. Dust in the ducts and in the air can raise the temperature in your home and force your air conditioning system to operate inefficiently and struggle to keep your home cool during the summer. It's well worth it to have the ducts of your air conditioning system sealed at the joints. Not only will it prevent dust from flying around your house, it could reduce your air conditioning bills this summer. The average house loses about 20 percent of its conditioned air through ducts that are improperly installed or are leaking at the joints.

A springtime tune-up can prevent your air conditioning system from going on the fritz later, when the weather is so hot that you won’t want to be without the a/c for even a few hours. It typically costs less than $150 to have a professional inspection of your system, and it’s well worth the money. Some contractors offer an annual preventive maintenance agreement, which will cost a few hundred dollars a year and typically includes a fall and spring inspection of your HVAC system and discounts on repairs and equipment. A better deal most often is to pay as you go for individual inspections. Either way, your cooling system will get attention from a qualified, licensed service technician who is trained to spot problems that most homeowners overlook. The tech might even alert you if a small repair now will prevent your family from sweltering this summer during an a/c breakdown.

Nothing spoils a fun day of Easter egg hunting like an accident involving electricity. Here are eight tips for hiding eggs safely: · If you’re hiding some of the eggs indoors, steer clear of electrical outlets, plugs, light sockets and extension cords. · Outdoors, avoid placing eggs near air conditioning units, low-hanging overhead wires or in trees near electric lines. · Pick up anything on the ground that the children could trip on. They’ll be focusing on finding eggs, not their footing. · Same goes for holes and uneven patches of ground in your yard. · Place eggs well within the boundaries of your lawn. Don’t put them close to the street or driveways. · Bushes are great hiding places for eggs—and also for bees, snakes and other critters that you won’t want your children near. · Avoid bushes that are thorny or have recently been sprayed with pesticides. · Hide your eggs no more than two hours before the hunt so they don’t spoil.

Spring is a great time to save energy at home when most days are neither cold nor hot, so you don’t need to turn on either the heat or air conditioning. Take advantage of the nice weather to use less energy now and prepare your home to be more efficient this summer. Some tips: 1. Open the windows—all of them—to create a cross-breeze all over the house. This keeps the home cool without air conditioning. 2. Call an HVAC service tech to inspect your air conditioning system. A springtime check will give you a chance to repair any problems before the weather gets hot and a poorly maintained system leaves you without cool indoor air. 3. Switch your ceiling fan blades so they rotate counterclockwise. This will create a downward breeze, which will keep anyone in the room comfortable. 4. Use a caulk gun to seal cracks and openings on the indoor side of exterior walls—like around cable and phone lines and electrical outlets. 5. If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, now is a great time to install one. This device can save you 5% to 15% on heating and cooling bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, because it adjusts the temperature for times when the family is sleeping or away from the house.

As you open the windows and start spring-cleaning your home, add another item to your to-do list: Clean your lawn tools. Your electric lawnmower, weed trimmer and hedge trimmer have been cooped up and unused for months. And you’ll need to do more than knock the dust off of them. Cordless lawnmowers and power tools need regular cleaning and maintenance, so they operate properly. Good news: They’re easier to take care of than gas-powered tools. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning your specific models. Generally: · Remove the tool’s battery before you get started and slip on a sturdy pair of gloves to protect your hands. · Use a dry cloth to wipe down the device and remove cobwebs, dust, loose dirt and dead bugs. · With a plastic scraper or a bristle brush, scrub off dried mud and grass all over the device, even underneath. · Damp-clean the machine all over with a wet cloth, but steer clear of the motor. Take extra care around the blade. · Look for cracks on the casing and determine if the tool is still usable. Check that the handle is tight and sturdy. Inspect the blade for rust. · Fully charge the tool, replacing the battery if it has gotten damaged over the winter.

As you ready your house for warmer weather, take some time to check these items off your list: • Test the ground-fault circuit interrupters—or GFCIs—in bathrooms, the laundry room and other spaces where you use running water. Plug a hair dryer or any device into the outlet, turn it on, and then push the “test” button. The hair dryer should turn off. Press “reset,” and it should turn back on. If that doesn’t happen, call a licensed electrician to check it out. • Replace the batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Push the “test” button, and the alarm should sound. Or light a match and hold it next to the fire alarm. It should sound. • It’s almost air conditioning season, which means it’s time to change your a/c filters. Dirty filters make the a/c work too hard and can even wear your HVAC system out before its time. Replace filters about once a month during the summer.

New Year’s Day is far behind us, but it’s never too late to resolve to break bad habits and start good ones. At the top of the springtime list: energy-saving habits. Experts say the best way to start a new habit and make it stick is to start small. Here are a handful of simple, small steps you and your family can take to create your new energy-efficiency habits: · At the top of the list, of course, is to turn off lights, TVs and other electronics when you’re not using them. On your way out of any room, switch everything off. · Turn on ceiling fans when you enter a room and turn them off when you leave. Ceiling fans make the people in the room feel cooler but have no function in an empty room. · Once it’s warm enough to turn on the a/c, inch the thermometer up one degree each week. As your family gets used to slightly warmer indoor temperatures, you can see some real savings on cooling costs. · Use bathroom and stove exhaust fans for only a few minutes at a time, until the smoke or steam has cleared. While exhaust fans expel heat and humidity from a room, they also suck air-conditioned air out if you run them longer than necessary.