Home Maintenance Corner By: Shimon Zack and Ittai Eren Welcome to a new series of articles about home maintenance. In these articles, we will provide you with useful tips on how to maintain your home on your own and when to know to call in the professionals. We will also provide you with helpful pointers on how to maintain your electrical system, household appliances and general home maintenance. Summer is officially here and just like you take your cars for regular service, you also need to have the electrical boards of your homes checked. Before the summer and winter it is advisable to call in a qualified electrician to check the boards and to tighten all the screws of the breakers and wires. The air conditioners will be running and all the powerful appliances draw a great deal of electricity. Loose connections or wires can cause overheating which can cause a fire. It is very important that the electrical boards are within easy access at all times in case of an emergency. There is an important device called a Ground Fault Protector or in Hebrew Pe’chat, which is located next to the main switch. This device should be checked every couple of months, which you yourself can do. Press the test button which is on the unit and this should immediately trigger the switch and all the electricity should go out in the house. If this happens then the GFI is in working order, if not, call your electrician. To restore the electricity, just flip up the switch. NOTE: Before performing this test, make sure that your computer and TV are off and that not many heavy appliances are running. Here are a few important tips for your air conditioner. You should clean your filters every month. Remove them and wash them through, let them dry and put them back. This will enable your air conditioner to breathe and provide you with cool air. If you have a central unit, then you need to clean out the dust from the grill as this gets swallowed into the air conditioner and creates problems. Make sure that there is nothing covering the motor outside (i.e. on your balcony) or blocking the air around it. The filters are usually located in the lowered ceiling. If you have a split wall unit, the filters are located either in the front behind plastic doors or on the bottom of the air conditioner. Slide it out to clean. Running fans or ceiling fans in tandem with running air conditioners is very useful and economical. Fans spread the cold air around and alleviate the work of an air conditioner. You can save up to 15-20% on the cost of running your air conditioner. Wishing you a happy, safe and cool summer!
Ein Tikan (Cockroach Free)
Amos Rosenthal - Macabim Pest Control and Fumigation of Domestic pests and Parasites Pigeon-lice, Moths, Wasps Cockroaches Ticks, Fleas & Bed-bugs Ants Mice & Rodents Termites Wood Worm Moles Spraying before events against flying insects License no. 942
Guidance & Consultation in Gardening and Agriculture Cellular: 050 541 0862 Telefax: 08-926 1670 E-mail: asrose@012.net.il
Shimon Zack of Shimon’s Services is a qualified Israeli licensed electrician and technician with many years of experience dealing with electrical and appliance issues. Ittai Eren of Home Doctor, deals with home maintenance and repairs. Please feel free to contact them with any questions. Shimon: zack1960@012.net.il or Ittai: etrn@softhome.net.
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July/August 2005 n Sivan/Tamuz/Av, 5765 n Volume 2, Issue 8