Show Notes: Daylight Savings Time and Fire Safety

It’s official; daylight savings time is over for another year. What will you do with that extra hour? Where do you keep a fire extinguisher in your home?

Thank you to our guest: Dave Smith with Roxul

Website address for more information: www.roxul.com or 

 www.roxulfiresafety.com

 

Makita Circular Saw Recall

Makita announced a recall of its 5057KB dust-collecting circular saws, Tools of the Trade, Remodeling’s sister publication, reports. The manufacturer announced the recall because “under certain circumstances the lower blade guard can malfunction and expose the blade.”

If you have one of these saws please discontinue use immediately and contact Makita to schedule a free repair. If you have any questions regarding your 5057KB or the recall process, please call Makita at 1-800-462-5482.

 

Daylight Saving Time Is Ending:

5 Ways To Spend Your Free Hour 

Here’s how to allocate your extra hour to get the most peace of mind, and bang for your buck.

1. Smoke detectors: 10 minutes

The most important batteries in your house are those that power your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Even if they appear to be OK, replace them. But if those batteries are still good — if you changed them when daylight saving time began March 13, they probably are — don’t toss them. Save them for less critical household items like flashlights and TV remotes.

Did you know smoke detectors also expire? Check yours for an expiration date. If it’s past its useful life, replace it.

2. Home inventory: 20 minutes

When was the last time you made a list of all the things in your home? If your house burns down or is otherwise destroyed, a home inventory will be the most valuable thing you have left.

The ideal home inventory is a list of everything you have, along with the date you bought it and the purchase price. If you lose all possessions, you are ready to simply hand the list to your insurance company and get reimbursed.

If creating such a detailed list sounds onerous, at least walk through each room in your house with a video camera or smartphone and create a video of your stuff, reciting the price and purchase date of the expensive items. Then you’ll at least have the ability to create a list should the need arise.

Don’t forget to keep that video away from home. Storing it online would be ideal. If you’d like to use free software to create a more thorough inventory, you can get it from the Insurance Information Institute.

3. Furnace filter: 5 minutes

You should check and change (if necessary) your furnace filter every month. Clean filters can reduce heating costs by 10 percent, and can prevent expensive repairs. But if you haven’t checked yours in a while, do it now. And keep doing it the first Saturday of every month from now on.

4. Retirement plan review: 10 minutes

Many families spend more time planning a vacation than planning their retirement. Pull out your most recent 401(k), 403(b), IRA or other retirement account statement: Do you have enough exposure to the best stocks and shares ISA market? Too much?

One rule of thumb is to subtract your age from 100 — that’s the percentage you should have in some kind of stock fund. So if you’re 35, you’d have 65 percent of your retirement savings in stocks. If you’re 80, you’d have 20 percent.

But remember, this is a rule of thumb, not a rule. Do what makes you comfortable.

5. Insurance review: 15 minutes

Insurance can consume up to 9 cents of every dollar you spend. So it makes sense to ensure that you’re getting your money’s worth. You likely have at least four types of insurance: car, home, life and health. Pick one type every six months and make sure you’re getting the best possible deal.

There are plenty of places to compare insurance rates, including our insurance shopping tool. So pull out a policy and see if you can do better for the same coverage.

The simplest way to save on most insurance policies is to raise your deductibles to the highest amount you can comfortably afford. Remember, the purpose of insurance is to prevent financial catastrophe, not financial inconvenience. As I’m fond of saying, if you insure yourself so that you’ll never lose a penny, you’ll never have a penny to lose.

http://www.moneytalksnews.com/daylight-savings-this-weekend-5-ways-spend-your-free-hour/

 

Set Ceiling Fan Blades For Winter

Set fan blades to move clockwise in winter and run fans slowly. The idea is to lift cool air to the ceiling and push heated air down where you can enjoy it. Some fans have a remote control or remote switch. Otherwise, use a ladder and manually adjust the small toggle switch on the fan body. Now set the thermostat a notch lower and enjoy the warmth.

http://www.moneytalksnews.com/16-low-cost-ways-prepare-your-home-for-winter/?all=1

 

Understanding Electrical Outlet Wire Colors

General knowledge on wire colors will come in handy during minor electrical emergencies such as changing an overhead light fixture, replacing a wall light, or installing new bulbs, lamps, and switches. Wires are color-coded to avoid wiring errors that may lead to accidents and electrical inconvenience to household, the whole block, or—in some cases—the town.

Black wires are specifically used for hot wires and voltage transmissions. Most of these wires are utilized as switch legs and may feed an outlet as well. You should not use these wires for a ground or neutral connection Red wires are second to black wires when used as hot wires and switch legs for 220-volt installations. Aside from using it for neutral connections, red wires can be used in three-way switch configurations Yellow and Blue wires:These wires usually come in pairs and pulled in conduits. They are used as hot wires and control electrical items like lights, switched outlets, and fans. Blue wires are generally used in three-way and four-way switch applications by travelers. On the other hand, yellow wires are used as switch legs. Copper and Green Wires: Copper and green wires are used for grounding purposes only. They are specifically made for grounding electrical items and should be attached to appliance connections and junction boxes White Wires generally, wires in white do not follow certain rules like other colors. It can be sometimes used as a hot wire in a two-conductor cable or can be sometimes used for outlet connection. It can either also run a three-way switch application or be used as a switch leg for lighting. To avoid confusion on determining your white wire’s function, mark the wire’s end with red or black electrical tape.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/understanding-electrical-outlet-wire-colors

        

Interview with Dave Smith from Roxul

• A National Fire Prevention Association study reported that, on average, seven Americans die in a residential home fire each week. Though you never know when fire might strike, there are important measures you can take to increase your chances when seconds count.
• While it’s nearly impossible to make a house completely fireproof, you can build or remodel it using fire-inhibiting materials. When considering a home renovation, be sure to do your research for fire-rated and non-combustible products such as ROXUL stone wool insulation. ROXUL insulation resists temperatures up to approximately 2150˚F which is well above heat levels of typical house fires, and when directly exposed to fire, this chemically-inert material will not produce harmful gases or promote the spread of flames. Industry experts explain that stone wool insulation is designed to delay the spread of fire from room to room, providing valuable evacuation time that is critical to saving people, pets, property and reducing environmental damages.
• ROXUL’s fire resistant properties are demonstrated on roxulfiresafety.com where videos show miniature homes created from ROXUL insulation set on fire with items in side. Do these items burn? Visit the website and see for yourself.
• In addition to the fire resistant benefits, ROXUL insulation provides sound insulation, thermal insulation and it is moisture resistant so you get multiple benefits from a single product.

Website address for more information: www.roxul.com

  

The Most Essential Places To Keep A Fire Extinguisher

Here are the best places to keep fire extinguisher in your home so that you can put out a fire quickly or at least prevent the rapid spread of fire:

The Kitchen

 With 65% of all fires starting in the kitchen, this is the most important room to have a fire extinguisher in your home. Most kitchen fires involve grease

and can’t be put out with water. Grease fires have high flashpoints and burn extremely hot. A Class K extinguisher is necessary in

your kitchen because it is designed specifically to put out fires fueld by vegetable or animal oils and fats.

Don’t keep the kitchen extinguisher next to the stove. You don’t want to have to reach through the flames to get the fire extinguisher. It should be located about 30 feet away from the stove. If you have a small kitchen, this might mean you need to mount it in an adjacent room, as long as it’s easily accessible from the kitchen.

One Fire Extinguisher On Each Floor

Every floor of your home needs at least one fire extinguisher. Mount it on the wall in a central location about 4 to 5 feet above the ground. Don’t hide the fire extinguisher behind drapes or curtains and don’t store fire extinguishers in closets. Keep it in plain sight,

The Garage and Workshop

If you have a garage or a workshop, then you probably use these spaces to store some flammable materials. Paints, oil, gasoline, solvents and other chemicals are all extremely combustible. When working with tools in a workshop, you might generate sparks that could lead to a serious fire. Keeping a fire extinguisher in this area is a must.

The Laundry Room

Your dryer is another likely place for a fire to start. The lint that collects in your dryer is highly flammable and might catch fire when the dryer is in operation due to high temperatures. Clean the lint trap after every load to reduce this possibility. The dryer exhaust tube may also fill with lint, be sure to clean this out every six months. These practices will help prevent fires, but just in case, you will want a fire extinguisher in or near your laundry room.

The Bedrooms

Since most fires happen at night, you may want to keep a fire extinguisher in each bedroom. If there is a fire blocking your path out of the house, a fire extinguisher can be very useful for escaping. This may seem like overkill, but it is better to be safe when it comes to fire in your home.

Sources of Heat

Fireplaces, chimneys, furnaces, and wood stoves are all obviously potential fire hazards. You should make sure you have a fire extinguisher close to these places in your home. If you have a utility room or basement area with electrical panels and other appliances like your furnace or hot water heater, you should keep a fire extinguisher there as well. The combination of electric circuits and hot appliances can lead to fires.

http://www.strikefirstusa.com/2016/07/essential-places-keep-fire-extinguisher-home/#more-1334

 

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