Get Your Home Ready For Summer
It’s only September but it’s already becoming balmy. With a steamy season ahead of us Queenslanders, now is the time to ensure your home is ready for Summer.
To help you on your way, we’ve prepared a Summer-ready check list for your home. Download and print your copy here.
1. Clean Your Air Conditioner and Ceiling Fans
Ensure your air conditioner and ceiling fans are running as efficiently as possible by ensuring they are in a clean and safe working condition. We recommend hiring a professional to service your air conditioner, particularly if you run yours a lot. It could save you money!
2. Install Security Screens on Windows & Doors
Receiving your electricity bill can be a cringe-worthy time, particularly during the warmer months when you use your air conditioner most. Many of us are also making an effort to lessen our carbon footprint so it makes sense to minimise our use of electric cooling methods.
High quality security screens allow you to confidently secure your home whilst making the most of natural air flow. For best results, install Australian Standards approved security screens on as many windows and doors as possible on different sides of your home. This allows you to capture breezes no matter which direction they come from. You would be surprised just how cool you can keep your home by making the most of natural breezes and air flow!
3. Check Your Flyscreens
If you haven’t installed security screens on your windows and you like to open them when you’re at home, ensure you check your flyscreens for holes or rips. When the temperature rises, the last thing you need is to be bitten by pesky insects swarming in through damaged flyscreens!
4. Install Blinds
Installing blinds on your windows and glass doors is a stylish and functional way to regulate the temperature of your home.
In Summer, blinds can assist to keep your home cool by reflecting heat that would normally enter through the glass. For best results, when using your air conditioner, close all blinds fully.If you are cooling your home naturally using security screens, close the blinds on windows and doors that receive the most sun.
Our timber and fauxwood shutters are ideal for providing year round insulation on your glass windows and doors. We also offer a range of blinds in solar screen and blockout fabrics that provide excellent glare and heat reduction. If insulation is your primary concern, we recommend fitting the blinds as close to the glass as possible (generally inside mount).
Talk to one of our Experts about which of our eco-friendly, temperature-regulating window furnishings best suit your home.
5. Check Your Smoke Alarms
It’s vital to have working smoke alarms installed in your home all year round, but particularly coming into the “bushfire season.” Test your alarm monthly and ensure it is clean and always replace your alarms before the expiry date. For more information on smoke alarms and fire safety, visit the Queensland Fire & Rescue Service website.
6. Install Fire Escape Screens
The Australian Standards recommends that each bedroom in your home should have a fire escape screen installed in a window. We recommend a SecureView fire escape screen as these allow anyone to easily release the screen from the inside, whilst maintaining superior security when the escape function is not in use.
7. Clean Out Your Gutters
It’s not a glamorous job, but cleaning out your gutters before the Summer season starts could save your home when dry debris can become a fire hazard.
8. Resuscitate Your Pool
If you’ve been a little neglectful of your pool over winter, now’s the time to nurse it back to health! If you have a pool, keeping it in top condition over Summer will allow you and your family to conveniently cool off when the mercury rises.