Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
My house is 8 years old. I have to admit that I spend almost no money on maintenance. Here are some examples:
HVAC system – I add hot water to the condensate drain every 2 months or so and replace the air filter every 6 months. I have never paid an HVAC company to perform any preventive maintenance.
HVAC ducts – no maintenance or cleaning.
Water heater – no maintenance. It still produces plenty of hot water when I need it.
Clothes dryer – no maintenance, except to clean the lint screen. I have considered it, but I never paid anyone to clean out the vent duct. The dryer still seems to dry clothes as well as when it was new.
Smoke detectors – no maintenance or routine battery replacement, except that about 3 years ago, I replaced the batteries because one detector started to beep.
Dishwasher – no maintenance. Someone said that I should clean the filter, but I haven’t done that yet.
Refrigerator – no maintenance except to replace the water filter every 6 months. I started to use the cheap Amazon filters when Whirlpool raised their filter price to $60.
Plastic push-pull shut off valves – I still have the original cheap plastic valves and have had no leaks or issues.
Vehicle – I have a 5 year old SUV with 54K miles. The only maintenance I have done is to change the oil every 5,000 miles and to replace the tires and the battery. No other maintenance.
Maybe I have just been lucky, but I saved a lot of money.
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I'm pretty handy with tools so I do a lot of maintenance on stuff:
GROUNDS: Mow lawn, edge and trim hedges/bushes.
A/C: Change filter every six months
FRIDGE: change filter every six months. Like the OP I get them from Amazon (cheaper)
GENERATOR: (for emergencies) Use 1 x. Mo. (lawn mowing), then oil changes 1 x 6 mo. and clean spark plug)
WATER HEATER: New, so no maintenance yet, but will drain bottom of tank per instructions 1 x year.
SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM: check battery strength and recharge as necessary.
SCREENS: Garage screens are getting ragged so will be painting the frames and replacing the screen in all four sliding panels.
Etc.