7 home maintenance tasks that can pay for themselves

PREP OUTDOOR SPIGOTS FOR WINTER If you live in the snow belt, make sure to get your hose bib ready for the cold season. You do this by turning off the water valve inside your basement or

garage that feeds the spigot. Then open the spigot to let the remaining water drip out, and leave it open until spring. This will cost you nothing and save you from a frozen pipe that could

cause thousands, or even tens of thousands in damage to your home. If you need help turning the shutoff valve — it could be stuck and require elbow grease to shut — and don’t have a friendly

neighbor you can ask, expect to pay a handyman’s minimum fee, typically $100 to $200. CUT YOUR POWER COSTS SERVICE THE HEATING SYSTEM Natural gas, propane and electric heating systems need

annual tune-ups to maintain peak efficiency, says Jim Godbout, a plumber and heating expert in Biddeford, Maine and former president of the Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors of Maine,

a trade association. And if your home relies on oil for heating, the soot that collects on an oil burner can reduce the machine’s efficiency by about 5 percent in a year, by about 10

percent after two years and so forth, Godbout adds. For the average household, that third year could add $250 in heating costs. Tasks like scrubbing burners, checking fuel pressure and

replacing furnace filters are not do-it-yourself jobs. You’ll typically pay $175 to $350 for heating system service, according to Angi, but that’s usually less than calling a contractor out

for a midnight breakdown ($100 to $500) or replacing the entire system because it wears out prematurely ($2,500 to $15,000). Plus, the work usually comes with an annual service contract that

covers you for repair calls 24 hours a day. TUNE UP THE AIR CONDITIONING TOO The average household spends $2,364 a year on electricity for air conditioning, EnergySage reports. But if you

don’t clean the system’s coils at least annually, the efficiency could diminish by 20, 30 or even 40 percent, Godbout says. Worse yet, mold spores can build up on the coils if you don’t get

them cleaned. “That can be a health hazard, especially for those who are immunocompromised or have mold allergies,” he says. You’ll likely pay $150 to $275 for the service, according to

Godbout, depending on the type of system you have and its size. This is a hire-it-out job, but there is something you can do yourself to keep your AC running efficiently: change the filter

on a regular basis. “They typically cost $15 or $20 at the home center, and you just slide a new one into place,” Godbout says. “Doing it every three months can save you 5 to 20 percent in

electricity costs, especially if you have a dog or cat, because a clogged filter makes the motor work harder to pull air through it.”