Are Your Smoke Alarms Working Properly?
Having a smoke alarm in your home is more important than you think. House fires kill on average 4,380 individuals every year. Ensuring that your detectors are working properly are vital when it comes to saving you and your family’s lives in the event of a disaster.
The answer to these three questions could save your life:
- Do you have a working smoke alarm with functioning batteries in your home?
If you answered yes, that’s a great start. If you answered no, head to your local home improvement store and pick one up immediately. Sooner is better than never. - Are they in the right room?
Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors should be placed in hallways, kitchens and living rooms. - How old are they?
You should change your alarms out every 10 years. If your current alarms are older than 10 years, its time!
If you want to avoid forgetting to change the batteries, you can purchase lithium batteries for $5-$10 dollars and they work for 10 years.
What will be your first step towards a safer home?
Simple Winter Hacks To Help You Save
Colder days are ahead of us, and that means a higher utility bill, due to hot water and heat. Experts say that this winter season could significantly increase your bill compared to other years due to the rising fuel costs.
If you want to save some of your pennies this year, follow some of these simple hacks you can do around the house that will help you save big.
- Put weather stripping around windows and doors to stop air leaks. Air strips are only a few dollars and they take seconds to install.
- Turn your thermostat down when you’re not home. If your entire family is away from your home during the daytime, there is no reason to have the heat up. Instead, open your drapes and let the natural light and warmth in from the sun.
- Set your ceiling fan to turn clockwise. This will allow the hot air that has risen to be pushed back down to warm you.
- Check the setting on your hot water heater. Lowering your temperature 20 degrees can help you save up to 11 percent on your utility bill.
- Take shorter showers. Although the hot water feels good, money in your pocket will feel even better. On average, an entire family can use up to 150 gallons of hot water in the morning while showering.
- Perform an energy audit to see exactly how much energy you’re wasting and where the biggest problems are. You can either hire an expert to do this or you can do it for free by clicking here and seeing how, https://energy.gov/energysaver/do-it-yourself-home-energy-audits.
How much energy and money do you plan to save this winter season?
Is your Heart Healthy?
February is Heart Health Month. There are many contributing factors that cause heart disease and heart attacks. Do you know if you are at risk?
If you answer yes to 3 or more of these questions, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor immediately.
- Do you smoke?
- Do you have high blood pressure?
- Do you have high cholesterol?
- Do you have diabetes?
- Are you overweight?
These are all possible risk factors of heart disease and heart attack. If you answered no to these questions, then you are off to a good start. However maintaining a healthy heart is important.
Here are some tips to follow when ensuring a healthy heart.
- Avoid smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco.
- High blood pressure is one of the largest risk factors. Limit your salt intake and be sure to exercise regularly.
- Keep your cholesterol low. To lower your cholesterol, reduce the saturated and transfats in your diet.
- Control your blood sugar with dieting and exercise.
- Exercise on a regular basis. Start out slowly. Even just 10 minutes a day of exercise is helpful.
- Control your stress with meditation, or exercise. Stress is another leading factor in heart disease.
How do you plan to take care of your heart? For more information on heart health and heart health awareness visit http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
Valentine’s Day Date Ideas – Without Breaking The Bank!
It’s important to make your significant other feel special on Valentine’s Day. In fact, it’s even better when you don’t have to break the bank for it.
Here are some inexpensive yet thoughtful date ideas to try this Valentine’s Day:
- Dine in before going out. Heading out to a restaurant on Valentine ’s Day is a recipe for fighting off crowds. You can easily avoid this by ordering in your favorite food or even cooking dinner for that special someone. Not only will you feel relaxed and comfortable in your own home but you will be saving money too.
- Consider using coupons. Using restaurant coupons on a first date is a bit awkward. However, for long term couples who are comfortable with each other, this could work to save the both of you a little bit of money.
- Splurge on cocktails and dessert. Instead of spending on a huge meal, eat and spend light on your main course. Then, head out or even stay in, and enjoy more of your favorite mixed drink and sweet treat!
- If concert and theater tickets are out of your range of spending, try going to an art gallery, wine tasting or even the movie theater. In most places these centers are open late.
- If you are looking to have a unique and reasonably priced Valentine’s Day, try some of these money saving options.
Happy Valentine’s Day from C.H. Edwards, Inc.!