While we still don’t know whether congress is going to act adopting year-round Daylight Saving Time, thus ending the practice of rolling our clocks backward and forward twice a year, we might as well make the most of our semi-annual sleep disruption by using the time change as a reminder to tackle some important home maintenance tasks.
Daylight Saving Time officially ends this weekend, in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 6. Clocks will be rolled back an hour, which means, for next new months, the sun will be rising earlier in the morning and start setting around the time you’re likely wrapping up work for the day. Even if you are still working from home and don’t have to commute in the dark, the shortened evenings can be a real bummer
But while you definitely want to make sure to set those clocks back before you head to bed on Saturday, Daylight Saving Time is also a good time to remind yourself to do a handful of other maintenance jobs around your home. After going around manually changing your clocks, take care of a few other essential tasks you may have been putting off.
Put fresh batteries in your smoke alarms
You know how your smoke alarm always ends up running out of battery in the middle of the night? (Usually during a night when you you really needed to get some sleep?) Save yourself the future hassle and use Daylight Saving Time as an opportunity to check to make sure your smoke detectors are working, and pop in a fresh set of batteries.
According to the National Fire Protection Agency, two-thirds of all fire deaths happen in homes where the smoke alarms aren’t working (or aren’t even there in the first place). Use Daylight Savings Time as your reminder to check on yours.
Reverse your ceiling fans
Ceiling fans can spin in two different directions. In the summer, you want the fan’s blade to spin counter-clockwise, which pushes air down. In the winter, it’s better for your fan to spin clockwise, which will pull the cold air up.
Daylight Saving Time is a great time for you to take a few minutes to dust those fan blades and, while you’re cleaning, to flip the switch on the side to reverse the blades.
Replace your air filters
You’re about to turn on your heat, if you haven’t done so already. Use Daylight Saving Time as an opportunity to check your air filters. If you haven’t swapped them out in a while, they’re likely full of dust, which can be a fire hazard at worst and, at best, will prevent your heat from working as well as it could.
Check your gutters
You know when you don’t want to have to clean your gutters? In the dead of winter. Hop up on a ladder this weekend and check out your current gutter situation (or make an appointment for someone else to do so). Cleaning out all the dead leaves and debris is going to be much easier now than it will be a month from now, and could save you a costly roof repair bill later. Save yourself the hassle by planning ahead.
Restock your emergency kit
Everyone should have an emergency kit packed with some non-perishable food and first-aid supplies kept ready in the event of an earthquake, a hurricane, or some other disaster.
Use Daylight Saving Time to make sure your home emergency kit is fully stocked. If you ended up breaking into your stash at any point during the past year, make sure you’ve replaced everything you’ve used so you’re prepared for the next emergency. (Now is also a good time to swap out your stockpile of canned goods for some that are a little fresher.)
This post was originally published in November 2018 and updated on Nov. 1, 2022 with a new headline and header image and more relevant information and context.