Tips and tricks for around the house home improvements and to make your home more efficient!
If you feel you need Titan Home Improvements to perform any of these tips feel free to contact us for a free estimate!

Ceiling Fans: If you have ceiling fans, make sure the mountings are snug and tight. Use clear caulking to seal any leaks. Even minor cracks around the base can let hot air in.

Seal Leaks: Seal leaks around doors, windows and other openings, such as pipes or ducts, with caulking or weather-stripping.

Getting the most out of your Air Conditioning: Be sure to check your air filters every month and replace if needed.

With the summer here making improvements to your lighting is one of the fastest ways to cut your energy bills. An average household dedicates 11% of its energy budget to lighting. Using new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use in your home by 50% to 75%.
Indoor Lighting: Use tube fluorescent and energy efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in fixtures throughout your home to provide high-quality and high-efficiency lighting. Fluorescent lamps are much more efficient than incandescent (standard) bulbs and last about 4 to 10 times longer.
Today's CFLs offer brightness and color rendition that is comparable to incandescent lights. Although fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps cost a bit more than incandescent bulbs, they pay for themselves by saving energy over their lifetime. CFL fixtures are now available that feature dimmers and operate much like incandescent fixtures.
Outdoor Lighting: When shopping for outdoor lights, you will find a variety of products, from low-voltage pathway lighting to motion-detector floodlights. Some stores also carry lights powered by small photovoltaic (PV) modules that convert sunlight directly into electricity; consider PV-powered lights for areas that are not close to an existing power supply line.

Exterior shade screens, also called "sun screens" "shade cloths" or "solar shields", prevent sun from entering a window. These can be installed on windows exposed to direct sunlight. Shade screens are lightweight, and durable. Unlike insect screens, shade screens are specially made to block between 50 and 90 percent of the energy striking the outside of the window. The term "shading coefficient" describes the amount of heat that penetrates the screen: lower numbers mean less energy gets through. While you can see through a shade screen, the view is obscured. Contact us to get a quote on the instalation of your new screens.

Simple DIY

• Check the operation of all ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets by pushing the "test" button. The "reset" button should pop out, indicating the receptacle is operating properly. Press in the reset button.

• Check inside bathroom vanities and kitchen sink cabinets for moisture and other signs of leaks. Carefully inspect pipes for condensation or slow drips. Repair the plumbing system if necessary.

• Remove drain traps under sinks and clean them thoroughly. Clean pop-up drain plugs. Inspect the linkage for pop-up drains to make sure they are set properly. To adjust the linkage, squeeze the finger-operated pressure lock to release it and slide it up or down as necessary.

• Inspect grout and caulk around tubs, sinks and showers. Chip out cracked grout and replace missing grout. Stained, discolored and mildewed caulk should be cleaned with trisodium phosphate or other household cleaner. If the caulk remains discolored, remove it and replace it with fresh, mildew-resistant caulk.

To keep valves from sticking and check for leaks, turn all water valves off and on. This includes outdoor faucets and valves to toilets, bathroom and kitchen sinks, laundry, bar, etc.

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