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How to Get the Whole Family on Board with Household Cleaning

Here on the Bob Jenson blog, we’ve talked regularly about the importance of keeping your home clean and dust-free and how those initiatives positively impact air quality and, in turn, the health of you and your family. However, household cleaning shouldn’t be the responsibility of any single person — maintaining good air quality is a task best tackled by your family as a team.

So what do you do when members of your family aren’t motivated to stay tidy, or when the kids start complaining about having to clean?

It’s easy for everyone to make excuses — what you have to do, as captain of Team Clean, is to transform cleaning the house into something that your family starts to enjoy conquering together. Here are a few ways how to do this:

Make a Chore List Together

Before you start putting together a cleaning schedule or shopping for cleaning products, you’re going to want to determine what needs to be cleaned around the house, and how often. To start, take a look at some of the biggest problem zones: bathrooms, playrooms, and kitchens are frequently in need of a good tidying up.

Next, determine who should be responsible for which cleaning chores. For example, you don’t want kids taking care of anything with cleaning chemicals or changing out the air filters, but they’re definitely capable of putting away their toys or dusting low shelves!

Once you’ve made your chore list, you’ll be ready for the next step: creating a chore chart.

Sort Out the Chore Chart

This is an effective way to keep families on track, especially those with young children. Put together a cleaning schedule in the form of a chart with columns for tasks, how often the cleaning needs to be done, when cleaning should happen, and who should be responsible. Depending on your household, it might even be valuable to have two different charts separated out by age-appropriate cleaning tasks: one for teens and adults, and one for the little ones.

Put the charts up somewhere visible like the kitchen fridge so nobody can miss them. You could even try making it more fun by using bright colors or stickers — Molly Maid has got some great, colorful chore chart templates, and the team at Bob Jenson has created a printable cleaning schedule just for this purpose.

Change It Up

Nobody’s going to want to do the exact same cleaning chores every week, so consider rotating different family members through the specified tasks. As you roll out the chores for the first few weeks, you might also find that one member of the family isn’t very effective at cleaning the bathroom, while another member drags their heels when it comes to vacuuming. Switch them around and see if you don’t get better results.

When you start playing to your family’s strengths, everyone wins — and there’ll be much less complaining as well.

Have Family Check-ins

Whether you’ve got a large or small family, it’s smart to have semi-regular check-ins to see how everyone’s feeling about their assigned cleaning tasks. You may have to reorganize the chore chart based on what dates and times work better for individual schedules, or you could let family members discuss which tasks they’d like to take on.

As The Happier Homemaker notes, this is also the perfect time to reinforce the general cleanup rules of the household, such as reminding children that they’ll lose their toy privileges for a certain amount of time if they don’t pick up after themselves as they go.

Be a Good Example

It should go without saying that you will be taking part in the cleaning tasks as well. However, it’s also smart to make your own everyday behavior a good example and let your family members see you putting away your own dishes or filing away the magazines you’ve just read.

Kids in particular definitely learn from what they see, and there’s a good chance that they might start naturally start cleaning their own messes because they see you doing it. Leading by example can go a long way in a short period of time!

Keep Clean and Have Fun

Getting your family to share household cleaning tasks doesn’t have to be an uphill battle — in fact, it’s a great way to promote teamwork and communication. Having a clean home will benefit your entire family when it comes to better air quality. Remember: don’t be afraid to divvy up cleaning chores — getting everyone involved helps build a stronger appreciation for a tidy living space.

Be sure to follow along with us here at the Bob Jenson blog for more useful household cleaning tips and tricks, and contact us if you have any questions or issues with your HVAC system.

Why You Shouldn’t Take a DIY Approach to Your HVAC

Here at Bob Jenson, we’ve heard DIY stories that run the gamut when it comes to folks trying to tackle their HVAC systems. From the guy who improperly installed a replacement cooling unit in his attic and ended up ruining expensive electronics to the woman who didn’t realize something was wrong until her unit started smoking, there seems to be an endless supply of these sort of tales.

Do-it-yourself projects may be entertaining, but they often involve doing it wrong, especially when it comes to HVAC systems. In some areas, mistakes might be part of the learning curve and not that big of a deal, but when it comes to your HVAC, you probably don’t want to risk it.

Bottom line: Your handyman skills are, well, handy for fixing a stuck door or building a new end table, but here are just a few of the reasons you ought not to try your hand at HVAC repairs and replacement. Instead, reach out to the team at Bob Jenson. Our award-winning, industry-certified technicians are best in class.

You Don’t Have the Right Tools

Though you might have a fancy set of forty screwdrivers and your grandfather’s trusty pair of pliers, you likely do not have the specialized equipment and talent required to work on your heating and cooling system. Watching YouTube videos doesn’t provide the same knowledge as proper training and hands-on experience.

But you know who does have access to these expensive tools and technology? Educated, skilled HVAC field technicians who have trained for years to work on these complicated systems. Bob Jenson’s technicians are not only well-trained, but they’re licensed, insured, and bonded to ensure your confidence in their work.

You’re Putting Yourself (and Your Family) at Risk

Working with HVAC systems can be awfully dangerous if you’re not prepared. Toxic fumes, high voltages, carbon monoxide, sharp metal edges, flammable natural gas — these are but some of the dangers that professionals know how to navigate.

Working with cooling systems also means working with refrigerant chemicals, and the EPA has very specific requirements with regards to handling and disposal of those dangerous materials. Bob Jenson has the know-how and all the necessary safety equipment — like goggles, gloves, earplugs, and respiratory protection — needed to safely complete the job.

You’re Causing Costly Long-Term Issues

Even if you have managed to avoid injuring yourself while tooling around with the ducts in your home, the odds are strong that you will have made your system less efficient. Even small issues or changes can lead to much more significant (and expensive) problems in the future; for instance, even a slight uptick in humidity because of a change you made could lead to a future outbreak of mold or mildew.

Who pays a heavy cost for those small inefficiencies in the long run? Your bank account knows the answer. Leave the fixing to the pros and you’ll save big.

You Might Void Your Warranties

Your HVAC system is comprised of many different parts, machines, ducts, levers, pieces, and assorted components, and many of these have manufacturers’ warranties that will be voided if you tamper with them. Most warranties require a certified HVAC professional to maintain or repair your system. That warranty is valuable — keep it intact by relying on Bob Jenson instead.

You’re Lowering the Value of Your Home

Shoddy HVAC work will negatively affect your home’s resale value. Consider the potential homebuyer who inspects the attic only to find the heating system barely held together with duct tape, the remnants of a botched repair job.

Most people sell two or three homes in a lifetime, so keep your home as valuable as it can be with regular maintenance and proper (read: professionally performed) repair work.

Checklist for a Healthy HVAC System

Even though you’re now aware of many reasons to leave your HVAC system’s repair and replacement to the professionals, you may be wondering what you can do to positively impact your air quality and HVAC system.

Here are some actions you can take:

  • Replace your HVAC system’s air filter regularly, about once each month, but at least once a season.
  • Regularly check and clean other filters in your home, such as air purifier and clothes dryer filters.
  • Clear away any branches and leaves to maintain clear space around your outside unit.
  • Check the batteries in your carbon monoxide detector, or buy one for each level of your home if you do not own any.
  • Keep aware of any signs of wear and tear, including unusual noises coming from the ductwork.
  • If your air is not blowing cool enough or strongly enough, check that no vents are blocked and all registers and vents are open.

Most importantly, contact us to help with any and all HVAC maintenance, sales, and repair needs. We are always prepared to assist you!

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