Get your house ready for spring

It will not be too long until you can open the windows and start enjoying fresh air and warm weather. Is your house ready?

Here are five items to add to your springtime to-do list to help your home feel more comfortable and cared for before it gets hot:

1. Call a qualified service technician to inspect and maintain your air conditioning system. Paying $100 or so now could prevent a huge expense this summer, if your system would break down on a hot day and having it repaired or replaced in a hurry. Maintenance goes a long way toward preventing emergencies and can prolong the life of your equipment.

2. While you are outdoors planting and pruning, trim all of the bushes and pull all of the weeds near your air conditioner’s outside condenser unit. Remove any fallen tree limbs which landed on it, brush off collected leaves on or around it and pick up any trash found around the unit which has sat unused all winter. Anything touching the unit and preventing air from circulating around it will make the unit perform inefficiently.

3. While you have your shovel and spade out, consider planting some shade trees on the sunny side of your house. As they grow, they will filter the sunrays beating fiercely on your windows making your air conditioner work harder in the summer.

4. Speaking of windows, if your house still has single-pane versions, this is a good time to replace them with double-pane models. Single-pane windows are inefficient energy users and can drive your air conditioning bills through the roof. You could save several hundred dollars on cooling and heating bills every year if you replace your drafty, old windows.

5. Clean your windows, inside and out. Newer models are simple to clean because you can tilt them toward the inside of the house so you can reach both sides. Cleaning windows will let more sunlight into your house, which means you will not have to turn on as many lights.

Miscellaneous

FOR SALE: 10 cages all different sizes and prices, will take $200 for all or ask about separate pricing call or text.

PH: 405-756-5442 (text) or 405-756-4594 (call).

Account number worth $10 bill credit

Locate your account number in an article of this issue; it will be good for a $10 credit on your electric bill. To claim the prize, you must locate the account number - if the number is yours, contact REC by the 10th of the month and we will credit your account. Only the member assigned that number is eligible for the prize. If you don’t know your account number, it can be located on your electric bill.

Co-op Connections

Use your Co-op Connections Card to save you money on lodging, photographs, oil changes and other items. You can also save on prescriptions, dental, vision, hearing, lab work and imaging and chiropractor services at participating locations. Your card is a discount card. If you have misplaced your card, contact REC for a replacement card and use it to save yourself some money.

Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month

This planting season, include energy efficiency in your landscaping plans. Adding shade trees around your home can reduce surrounding air temperatures as much as 6 degrees. To block heat from the sun, plant deciduous trees around the south side of your home. Deciduous trees provide excellent shade during the summer and lose their leaves in the fall and winter months, allowing sunlight to warm your home.

Learn more at www.energy.gov.

PETS & LIVESTOCK

FOR SALE: 2 mini Nubian/Nigerian mix wethers, 1 black and 1 black and white, born on December 1, 2022, $200 each. PH: 405-756-5442 (text) or 405-756-4594 (call).

Classified Ads

are FREE to REC members to post non-commercial items. Deadline for ads is the 8th of every month. Call the Member Services Dept. at 405-756-3104 ext. 238.