Back in January, a day before a big winter freeze was about to hit Tulsa and dump a foot of snow on us, our home’s furnace stopped working. I didn’t want to spend a week without heat, so I called an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) company.

The technician who came out told me that the furnace’s motor was cooked. Because our unit is old (about 25 years), they didn’t have any replacement motors in stock and would have to order one. Given the weather, it would have probably taken a week to get here.

I didn’t want to spend a week in a house with single-digit temps outside, so I made the call to replace the whole unit. As I said, it was a quarter-century old, and wasn’t likely to last much longer anyway, having already surpassed the typical lifespan for a furnace (15–20 years). In addition to the expired motor, it also had some leaking issues, and the refrigerant the HVAC system’s AC side used had been discontinued, so if that needed replacing, I’d be out of luck.

While it seemed like the right idea to replace the thing, boy, I was not prepared for the bill. Dang! These things are incredibly expensive. The technician said the cost of HVAC units has jumped astronomically just within the last decade, as companies try to add more wizbang features to justify an ever steeper price tag. This is why you always have to be squirreling away money for such things — beware of phantom homeowner expenses!

We got the unit replaced that day, and the house was warming up again just as it started to snow.

The experience made me realize that I didn’t understand very much about how my HVAC system worked. So I decided to learn. And, as I’m wont to do, share what I learned with you.

What follows is an average joe’s guide to understanding his home’s HVAC system. You’re not going to finish this article and be able to diagnose a refrigerant leak. But if you want a working mental model of how your house stays warm in January and cool in August, this should get you there.

Note: I’m focusing specifically on central gas-fired heating paired with central AC, which is what most American homes use for heating and cooling. Oil furnaces work on a similar principle but are different enough in the details that they’re a separate conversation.

Your HVAC System Is a Loop

Your HVAC system is a loop. It pulls in air from your house, heats or cools it, and pushes it back out. This loop, running over and over, is how your house stays 70 degrees whether it’s 9 or 109 outside.

The system pulls in air to be heated or cooled through return vents. These are large grills that are located in central areas of the house. After the HVAC system heats or cools that air, it pushes it out through supply vents. These are the small vents you might see in your floors, walls, or ceilings. When you put your hand over them, you can feel air coming out.

How Your Furnace Heats the House

When your thermostat calls for heat, it signals the furnace to fire. Gas flows to the burner assembly and ignites. If your furnace is in a closet in your home (like ours is), you can hear this happen. It sounds like a gas log fireplace turning on.

The flame heats up a component called the heat exchanger — a set of metal tubes or chambers. The heat exchanger does two things.

First, the combustion gases created by the burner, including carbon monoxide, travel inside those tubes and get expelled outside your house through an exhaust vent. This is what prevents you and your family from dying of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Second, the outside walls of those tubes get extremely hot. Air will run across these red-hot tubes, and heat will be exchanged from the tubes to the air. Hence, the name heat exchanger.

When the heat exchanger is sufficiently warmed up, the blower motor in your furnace kicks on. This is a large fan inside the furnace that pulls return air in from your home and pushes it across the outside of those hot metal tubes. The air picks up heat as it moves across the exterior of the heat exchanger, gets pushed into what’s called the supply plenum (a large metal box sitting on top of the furnace), and from there travels out through your ductwork to every room. An important note: your house air never touches the exhaust gases, because, as mentioned above, those are sealed inside. This ensures the breathability of the warm air coming out of your vents.

Two safety components on your furnace are worth knowing about. The first is the flame sensor. It’s a metal rod that confirms the burner is actually lit. If it’s dirty (coated in carbon from years of use), the furnace will ignite for about 3 seconds and then shut itself off as a precaution. It’s one of the more common reasons a furnace starts and stops repeatedly. The second is the limit switch, which monitors the temperature inside the furnace. If it gets too hot, usually because something is blocking airflow, the limit switch shuts everything down before any damage is done.

Something else to know about modern furnaces is how they’re engineered for efficiency. When I replaced my unit, the tech started talking about variable-speed motors and multi-stage burners, and I had basically no idea what any of that meant.

Here’s the short version:

Older furnaces run like a light switch. They either go full blast or are completely off. A variable-speed blower motor runs more like a dimmer switch, ramping up slowly and adjusting its speed based on what’s needed. It uses significantly less electricity and runs quieter. Similarly, a two-stage or modulating burner can run at partial capacity on milder days instead of always firing at 100%. The result is fewer dramatic temperature swings and a lower gas bill.

Furnace efficiency is rated by something called AFUE — Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. An 80% AFUE furnace sends 20% of the energy it burns up the flue as waste heat. A 96% AFUE furnace loses very little of it.

The tech explained that the technology that allows for these increased efficiencies is a big reason why furnaces have gotten more expensive over the years. The idea is that you spend more upfront on the unit and save money on utility bills over the life of it.

How Your AC Cools the House

The first thing to understand is this: Central air conditioning doesn’t make cold air. Instead, it removes heat from your house and dumps it outside. This might seem like a trivial distinction, but it matters for understanding how the whole thing works.

The AC part of your HVAC unit has two parts. One part is connected to your furnace, and the other part is outside.

First, the outdoor unit. It’s that big metal box that sits next to your house. It contains the compressor and the condenser coil. The compressor squeezes refrigerant into a hot, high-pressure gas. That hot gas flows through the condenser coil while a fan blows outside air across it, transferring the heat out into your yard. The refrigerant, now cooled and condensed into a high-pressure liquid, flows back inside.

That cold refrigerant liquid travels to a thing called an evaporator coil that sits directly above your furnace. It’s shaped like an upside-down V. The liquid refrigerant flows through the evaporator coil, where it absorbs heat and evaporates into a cold gas.

Now here’s where the AC connects back to your furnace. That same blower motor that moves air in winter is doing the same job in summer. It pulls return air from your home and pushes it across this now-cold evaporator coil. Thanks to the second law of thermodynamics (which basically says that heat always moves from a hot place to a cold place), the heat in that air transfers into the refrigerant. The cooled air gets pushed through your supply ducts into the house. The refrigerant, loaded with your home’s heat, cycles back to the outdoor unit to dump it, and the whole thing starts again.

Besides keeping your house cool, your AC also dehumidifies the air that gets blown into your home. It does this because when warm, humid air passes across it, moisture condenses out. That water drips into a drain pan and exits through a PVC condensate line, which means the AC is also pulling humidity out of your house while it cools it.

A clogged condensate line is a common reason your AC won’t turn on. If that line gets clogged with algae or gunk, a small safety device called a float switch trips and cuts power to your thermostat. So if you notice your AC isn’t kicking on, check the condensate line before you assume the worst. An HVAC guy can do this, but you can also DIY it. I’ll do an article about it in the future.

Maintaining Your HVAC

Leave supply vents (mostly) open. You should avoid closing more than about 20% of your supply vents. It seems like it makes sense to shut them in the rooms you’re not using; why waste all that warm or cold air blowing into them? But closing the vents increases static pressure in the ductwork, which stresses the blower motor. Leave the vents open.

Keep the return vents clear. These are the larger vents that pull air back to the furnace. A sofa pushed up against one, or curtains hanging over it, chokes the system just as much as a clogged filter. Make sure they’re clear.

Change the filter at least every spring and fall. HVAC units need a filter. You’ll usually find them in a spot above your blower fan or in your return vent. What does the filter do? The filter’s primary job isn’t cleaning the air you breathe. It does that, but its main job is to protect your HVAC. Dust on the evaporator coil or heat exchanger kills efficiency and, if it builds up too much, can kill those components completely, forcing you to fork over dough for expensive replacements or repairs.

Clean the outdoor condenser unit twice a year. Every spring before cooling season, gently hose off the outdoor condenser unit to clear it of cottonwood fuzz and debris. This will increase the efficiency of your AC. Takes just 10 minutes and a hose.

Keep the condensate line clear. To prevent clogs from forming in your AC’s condensate line, pour a cup of white vinegar down the line once a season.

Get your unit serviced every spring and fall. Twice a year, have an HVAC guy come check out your unit for routine maintenance and service. They’ll catch small issues before they become big, expensive ones.

Conclusion

While you’re not ready to go to work as an HVAC tech, you now have a basic idea of how your heating and cooling system works and will hopefully be in a better position to understand what’s going on when an HVAC guy is explaining your options on how to remedy your dead furnace when it’s freezing outside.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Whether you’re moving across town or across the country, there are a lot of factors to consider in deciding where to live. 

To figure out which factors to prioritize, it can be helpful to use what we call the “90/10 Rule.” 

Under the 90/10 Rule, you base where you should live on the factors that will affect 90% of your life.

(The “90” and “10” numbers are not to be taken literally here; instead, they stand in for “the majority of your life” and “the minority of your life,” respectively).

This may seem like an obvious rubric for making a where-to-live decision, but in practice, people very often make their moving choices based on things that seem salient in their minds, but will, in fact, have a minimal impact on their overall satisfaction. In so doing, and ignoring the factors that will have the lion’s share of influence on their lives, they end up less happy with their decision.

Let’s look at some examples of how this can play out.

• Example #1: A family wants to move to the suburbs to get a bigger house with a guest room. In making this move, the father will double the length of his commute. While the guest room will only be used a handful of times each year, the long commute will impact him twice a day, every workday. The benefit of the guest room isn’t likely to increase his and his family’s happiness, but the stress and time-suck of the commute may diminish it.
• Example #2: A man takes a high-pressure job he doesn’t enjoy to live close to his extended family. While he sees his family once a month, the stress of his job beats him down every day.  
• Example #3: A couple wants to move from a city in the Midwest to a city in the Mountain West in order to live near the Rockies. Once they do, and the mountains are just a 30-minute drive away, they find they actually don’t make it out to them many more times than they did when they lived eight hours away. In the meantime, the fact that their cost of living has dramatically increased affects nearly every aspect of their lives, diminishing the size of their house, their savings account, and their vacation budget, while increasing their overall financial stress. 

When thinking about a move, the “sexiness” of certain factors — a hip downtown, access to the beach, a big yard — loom large in your mind as you imagine how these elements will change your life. 

But in reality, at least if you have a young family, 90% of your life, regardless of where you live, will consist of your commute to work, work, and your commute home from work; kids’ school stuff; hanging out at home; and errands/chores. The quality and pay of your job, the quality of your kids’ schools, the livability of your house, and the cheapness and ease of taking care of life’s endless to-dos will have the biggest impact on your life satisfaction. Prioritizing those factors is not only likely to increase your day-to-day happiness, but also gives you the time, mental bandwidth, and financial resources to make the remaining 10% of life — the dinners you eat out, the parties you throw, the trips you take — extra special. 

Of course, there’s a great deal of subjectivity in all this. Maybe you like long commutes. Maybe regularly seeing your family compensates for a lack of fulfillment at work. Maybe in being closer to the mountains you will in fact visit them far more often. 

The factors that make up the 90% in the 90/10 Rule are typically correlated with the number of hours and domains they affect. But a factor can look small if quantified that way and yet have an outsized impact on your happiness. For example, even if in moving closer to the mountains, you only visit them a few more times than you used to, perhaps you simply love the mountains so much that those few additional visits have a disproportionate effect on your happiness.

In choosing where to live, the key is to figure out what factors will most impact your satisfaction, and to recognize that they may not be the factors that first come to mind.

With our archives 4,000 articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in February 2023.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Over the weekend, much of the United States was hit with a huge winter storm that affected over 200 million people. Some of those folks lost power on account of the ice and snow.

A lot of people don’t think about their power until it goes out, at which time, of course, it’s too late. Even if you don’t live in an area that gets hit with snow and ice, other natural and manmade disasters can strike anywhere, and when you lose power in the modern world, a lot gets disrupted. You lose heat or AC. Your fridge warms up, causing food to spoil. Your Wi-Fi fails. Your phone battery dies. In some homes, you lose water pressure because pumps need electricity.

That’s why it’s worth having a backup power plan — so you can stay safe and maintain basic functions when the grid goes down.

But building a backup power plan can get expensive.

That’s why Creek Stewart and Joe Bassett, self-reliance experts and the authors of Emergency Communication 101, advise thinking about your backup power plan in tiers. 

Below, we’ll walk through a progressively scalable approach so you can choose the level of backup power that fits your budget and be ready when the grid goes down.

Tier 1: Small Device Power Support

Goal: Keep phones, radios, flashlights, and other small devices running for 1–2 days

Cost: ~$200+

This is the lowest-hanging fruit, and the place everyone should start. It will keep your phone charged for days, so you can stay informed and communicate with the outside world while utility workers restore power. You’ll also ensure you have illumination available for dark nights.  

Batteries

Many emergency radios, flashlights, and small devices still run on AA or AAA batteries, so it’s important to have plenty of batteries on hand so you can continue to use those things when the power goes out.  

To keep things organized (and to avoid rummaging through junk drawers in the dark), get a Battery Daddy — a case that stores batteries of various sizes. My mom got me one of these a few years ago for Christmas, and it’s been very handy for home battery organization. I never have to rummage for batteries anymore.

Portable Power Banks

Every household should have at least one solid power bank. These can charge a smartphone and other handheld devices multiple times and are perfect for short outages or evacuation kits. Power banks aren’t just useful during blackouts — they’re also great for travel and backpacking.

Good options:

• SABANI 35,000mAh Portable Charger. My go-to power bank. It packs a massive 35,000mAh battery — enough juice to charge your phone multiple times — yet it’s about the size of an iPhone. It’s got four built-in cables (Lightning, USB-C, USB-A, and Micro) plus three extra ports, so you can charge up to six devices at once without digging through a tangled mess of cords.
• Anker 747 Power Bank. With a 24,000 mAh battery, it can charge phones, tablets, and even laptops multiple times, making it ideal for keeping your devices running during a grid-down scenario.

Small Portable Solar Panel

A power bank might last you a day or two before it runs out of charge. How do you recharge it (and your devices) when the power is still out beyond that timeframe? Answer: a lightweight folding solar panel.

Solid option:

• Anker Solar Panel (100W). This foldable, lightweight solar panel can generate up to 100 watts of energy, allowing you to recharge your power banks and devices when the electricity is down for more than a few days.

Tier 2: Larger Device Power Support

Goal: Power laptops, radios, and other larger devices for several days

Cost: ~$1,000+

With Tier 2, you’re moving beyond keeping your phone charged during a blackout and looking to power bigger items like laptops, fridges, and even medical devices.

18-Volt Tool Batteries

If you already own power tools, you already own a potential source of emergency power; you just may not realize it.

Most major tool brands offer inverter adapters that you can purchase and snap onto the 18V batteries that come out of your tools, turning them into USB or AC power sources.

Examples:

• Ryobi 18V ONE+ Power Source
• DeWalt USB Power Inverter

With the right adapter, you can charge phones, radios, and laptops using gear you already own.

Small Portable Power Stations

Portable power stations are probably the easiest way to up your backup power game. They’re basically large, rechargeable batteries with built-in inverters and outlets. A small power station won’t run a refrigerator or a microwave, but you can power LED lamps to light your home during the night and medical devices like a CPAP machine.

Good entry-level option for a power station: Jackery Explorer 300.

It can charge smartphones and laptops multiple times, keep a Wi-Fi router and modem running for several hours, and power LED lights all evening. It’ll also run medical devices like a CPAP machine through the night.

You can recharge the Jackery Explorer in multiple ways: by plugging it into a wall outlet when the grid is up, charging it from a car’s 12-volt outlet, or pairing it with a folding solar panel to recharge during daylight hours. That flexibility is what makes them so useful in multi-day outages.

Small Inverter Gas Generators

If you’re looking to keep your fridge running during a power outage, but aren’t ready to pay for a huge portable generator, a small inverter gas generator is hard to beat. With one of these, you can not only keep your devices charged, but you can also power many of the conveniences in your home that depend on electricity.

Good entry option: Honda EU2200i

This generator is small and portable, but it can power a lot.

With a small generator like the Honda EU2200i, you can realistically do things like:

• Run a refrigerator or freezer to keep food from spoiling
• Power a microwave or coffee maker in short bursts
• Keep a gas furnace blower running in winter or fans going in summer
• Charge laptops, phones, radios, and power stations all at once
• Run Wi-Fi and internet equipment, so your house stays connected
• Power medical devices like CPAP machines without worrying about battery drain
• Recharge tool batteries and use basic power tools for repairs

The key thing to remember with a generator this small is that you can’t run everything at the same time. So you can’t run the fridge, the furnace fan, and the microwave all at once on a small generator. You can plug in the fridge for a few hours and then unplug it to use your microwave for a few minutes. Think of using a small generator in sequences, not all at once.

One rule for gas generators: only run them outdoors. Because it runs on gasoline, it emits carbon monoxide while in use. Run the generator outside and use extension cords specifically designed for generator use to connect it to your devices inside.

The tradeoff with a generator like this is fuel. To use it during an outage, you need gasoline on hand. That means storing fuel in advance and rotating it every few months to prevent it from going bad. Make sure to read our article on how to store fuel safely.

Vehicle Power Inverters

This is one of the most overlooked backup power options, even though most people already own the most expensive part of the setup: a car.

With a quality inverter clamped directly to a car battery, your vehicle can function as a makeshift generator.

Example: BESTEK 1000W Pure Sine Wave Inverter

For under $150, you can run a refrigerator intermittently to keep it cool, charge laptops and phones, or top off a small portable power station by simply idling your car. It’s not particularly efficient and probably shouldn’t be your first option in a power outage, but in a prolonged outage, it’s a perfectly serviceable Plan B for larger devices.

Tier 3: Circuit-Level Power for Large Appliances

Goal: Run lights, refrigerator, furnace, and key appliances

Cost: ~$800–$5,000

With Tier 3, we’re aiming to bring as much normalcy to your home as possible, even when the power is out. The focus shifts from powering individual devices to powering circuits in your home. By tying a generator or large power station to your breaker panel via a transfer switch, the lights will turn on when you flip the switch, the furnace will kick on when the thermostat tells it to, and the fridge will keep running in the background. With Tier 3, you won’t be able to power your entire house during a power outage, but you’ll be able to power parts of it.

Transfer Switch (Critical)

If you want to power household circuits safely using a larger, portable generator, you need a transfer switch. A transfer switch allows you to connect a generator or other power source directly to selected circuits in your breaker panel — such as those powering your refrigerator, furnace blower, lights, or outlets — without risking backfeeding electricity into the grid.

Trusted brands:

• Reliance Controls
• Generac manual transfer switches

You’ll want to hire an electrician to install the transfer switch. This is not the place for YouTube DIYism.

Large Portable Generators

For most homes, a generator in the 5,000–8,000-watt range is enough to run essentials without constant juggling.

Solid options:

• Westinghouse WGen7500
• Champion 7500-Watt Dual Fuel Generator

With a generator in this class and a transfer switch, you can potentially run the following at the same time:

• One or two refrigerators/freezers
• A gas furnace blower
• Lights throughout the house
• Wi-Fi, outlets, and device charging
• Occasional use of microwaves

Large portable generators run on fuel. Some of them run on gasoline, others on propane, and others can connect to your home’s natural gas line. If you’re going with a gasoline-powered one, make sure you’ve got enough gas stored to keep it running during an outage.

Large Power Stations

If you want quiet, indoor, safe power without fuel or engines, large power stations — essentially oversized rechargeable batteries — have come a long way. They’re basically scaled-up versions of the small power stations in Tier 2. Large power stations can be tied into a home’s breaker panel via a transfer switch to power selected circuits, though runtime and load are more limited than with fuel-based generators.

Strong option: Jackery Explorer 3000 Pro

With 3,000 watts of output, a unit like this can run refrigerators, lights, Wi-Fi, and other household essentials. It’s expensive, but it’s plug-and-play, silent, and maintenance-free. You can pair it with some solar panels to keep it charged during extended blackouts.

EV Vehicle-to-Load (V2L)

If you’ve got an electric vehicle, you can use it as a power station for your home during a blackout.

Examples:

• Ford F-150 Lightning
• Hyundai Ioniq 5

Many V2L-capable EVs have battery packs in the 60–100 kWh range. To put that in perspective, that’s 20–40 times the capacity of a typical portable power station. With the right setup, that kind of stored energy can keep essential household circuits running for days.

Depending on the vehicle and configuration, you can use an EV to power items like refrigerators, lights, Wi-Fi equipment, and outlets — either by plugging directly into the vehicle’s built-in outlets or by integrating the car into a home power system with additional hardware (Ford has hardware that allows you to do this with the F-150 Lightning; Hyundai does not).

The main limitation is that once the battery is drained, you need to recharge it — either from the grid when power returns or from a charging station if one is available. Still, if you already own a V2L-capable EV, it’s a powerful backup power option.

Tier 4: Whole-House Automatic Power

Goal: Seamless, automatic backup for long outages

Cost: $10,000+

This is the “Didn’t even notice the outage” tier.

With Tier 4, when the power goes down, you don’t roll out extension cords, fire up an engine, or think about what can run and what can’t. Your home is equipped with a permanently installed system — either a standby generator or a whole-home battery — that automatically takes over. The lights stay on. The fridge stays cool. The HVAC keeps doing its thing. If you weren’t paying attention, you might not even realize anything happened.

This tier is about permanent resilience.

Tier 4 isn’t for everyone. It’s expensive, and could be overkill if you live somewhere with steady weather and a low chance of outages. But if you live in an area with unreliable power, extreme weather, or medical or work requirements that demand uninterrupted electricity, I couldn’t recommend this option more. Outages become a non-issue, the peace of mind is significant, and the overall ROI is huge.

Standby Generators

Standby generators are permanently installed outside your home and wired directly into your electrical system. When the grid goes down, they automatically start up — usually within seconds — and take over.

Industry standard: Generac Guardian Series

We have a Generac for our home. The previous owner had it installed, and it came with the house. I didn’t think much about it when we first bought our home, but after an extended power outage in Tulsa shortly after we moved in, it’s become one of my favorite things about the house. When the power goes out in the neighborhood, our lives go on as normal.

These units typically run on natural gas or propane (ours runs on natural gas), which means no scrambling for fuel during an outage. As long as fuel continues to flow, a Generac can power your entire home indefinitely: lights, HVAC, appliances, ovens, laundry, the whole deal.

The main downsides with a standby generator are that they’re loud (it’s basically a large engine that runs while the power is out) and expensive — look to spend at least $10K.

They also require regular maintenance, like replacing the battery, fuel filter, and spark plugs. If you don’t keep up on maintenance, you might find yourself with a generator that doesn’t kick on when the power goes out. That happened to me once. Nothing more frustrating than having a source of power that you can’t use because you didn’t check if the battery to kickstart the engine needed to be replaced. My kingdom for a working generator!

But you may find the cost, upkeep, and noise very worth it; you don’t have to worry about power at all during an outage and can stay completely safe and comfortable.

Whole-Home Battery Systems

A newer option for whole-home power backup is a whole-home battery system. They take a different approach from a standby generator. Instead of making electricity with an engine, they store it in large batteries and deploy it instantly when the grid goes down.

Examples:

• Tesla Powerwall
• FranklinWH aPower

These systems switch over silently and almost instantaneously. Unlike gas-powered generators, there’s no noise. Paired with rooftop solar, whole-home batteries can provide renewable backup power with very little ongoing maintenance. Whole-home battery systems are expensive. A single Tesla Powerwall starts at around $9k, and most homes will need more than one.

To be prepared for a grid-down scenario, start with the backup power tier that fits your current budget and needs, and work up to a level that you can afford that will give you the most safety and peace of mind.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Note: This is a rebroadcast.

It’s a tough job to manage a household. Things need to be regularly fixed, maintained, and cleaned. How do you stay on top of these tasks in order to keep your home in tip-top shape?

My guest knows his way all around this issue and has some field-tested, insider advice to offer. Charles MacPherson spent two decades as the major-domo or chief butler of a grand household. He’s also the founder of North America’s only registered school for butlers and household managers and the author of several books drawn from his butlering experience, including The Butler Speaks: A Return to Proper Etiquette, Stylish Entertaining, and the Art of Good Housekeeping.

In the first part of our conversation, Charles charts the history of domestic service and describes why the practice of having servants like a butler and maid ebbed in the mid-20th century but has made a comeback today. We then turn to what average folks who don’t have a household staff can do to better manage their homes. Charles recommends keeping something called a “butler’s book” to stay on top of household schedules and maintenance checklists. We then discuss how to clean your home more logically and efficiently. Charles shares his golden rules of house cleaning, the cleaning task you’ve probably neglected (hint: go take a look at the side of the door on your dishwasher), his surprising choice for the best product to use to clean your shower, how often you should change your bedsheets, and much more.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• AoM Article: How to Establish a Simple Cleaning Routine and Stick to It
• AoM Article: How to Clean Your Entire House in 30 Minutes
• AoM Article: How to Clean Like a Man
• AoM Article: Keep Your House in Tip-Top Shape — An Incredibly Handy Home Maintenance Checklist
• AoM Article The Butler’s Book: How to Create the Instruction Manual For Your Home
• AoM Article: Towards a Philosophy of Household Management
• The Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton

Connect With Charles MacPherson

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Updates: One of our commenters, Brandon Beeson, was kind enough to put this into a Google Doc as a checklist. Click here to access that document and feel free to print and use as needed. 

And Brett created a Todoist template that you can load into that app. 

When buying a home, most people probably first think of the financial responsibility. Don’t let yourself forget, however, about the time and labor that home ownership also requires. Just like regular oil changes for your car keep your engine happy and healthy, keeping up with regular home maintenance tasks will keep you from future headaches and wasted money.

It can be intimidating to think about these various tasks, especially if you’re a new homeowner. It’s a long list — there’s no denying that. The good news is that you can do the majority of it on your own without much experience. Google is your best friend, and if you really get stuck, call up your local handyman to help you out.

In order to maximize your efficiency and actually get all of these tasks done, you might want to create a home maintenance calendar for yourself. Whether online or on paper, you can jot down small, regular tasks for each weekend and not be too overwhelmed. We’ve listed tasks that need to be done monthly, quarterly, and biannually. We’ve also given you a list of tasks to be completed seasonally. Not every expert agrees as to which task needs to be done in which season, so this isn’t a black and white list, necessarily. Do what works for you and your schedule, and as long as all these things get accomplished, your home will be happy for years and years to come.

Monthly

• Inspect, and possibly change out HVAC filters. Many experts will say to change the filters monthly, but that’s not always necessary. For smaller families without pets or allergies, you’ll likely be okay changing the filters every 2-3 months. If the filter is dirty, change it out, otherwise inspect it again next month. I’ve also been told by handymen to go with cheaper filters and replace them more often versus going with the expensive filters. (You can also get it out of your mind by using a delivery service like Cleaner Filters.)
• Clean kitchen sink disposal. There are a bunch of ways to do this, but the handiest and best all-around solution seems to be vinegar ice cubes. Put some vinegar in an ice tray and let it freeze, then run the ice cubes through the disposal. It freshens it, but as a bonus, ice sharpens the blades. You’re welcome.
• Clean range hood filters. If you’ve never thought of doing this, you’re in for a real “treat” when you get that filter off the hood to clean it for the first time. The Family Handyman suggests simply using a degreaser from an auto parts store mixed with hot water. Let the filter sit for a few minutes, rinse it off, and you’re good to go.
• Inspect your fire extinguisher(s). We’ll assume you have and know how to use an extinguisher. This inspection doesn’t require much: ensure it has easy access (not being blocked by a garbage can or anything else), that the gauge shows adequate pressure, and that it has no visible signs of wear and tear.

Quarterly

• Test smoke/carbon dioxide detectors. Another simple task; your detectors should have a “test” button. If the alarm sounds, you’re good to go. If not, replace batteries immediately and test again. If it still doesn’t sound, it’s possible there’s simply corrosion on the battery terminal, and it won’t detect new batteries. Clean it and try again. If it still doesn’t work, you’ll likely need a new detector.
• Test garage door auto-reverse feature. In 1993, federal law required all garage doors to have this feature after multiple child deaths. Test every month by placing a 2×4 on the ground where the door would close. It should reverse after a second or so when the door hits the wood. Also test the photo-electric sensors if you have them by placing something in front of them (not your body). If the door doesn’t immediately go back up, you have a problem.
• Run water and flush toilets in unused spaces. This mostly applies to guest bathrooms, or any other sinks/water sources you don’t use on a regular basis. The idea is to prevent grime or any other kind of build up. Regularly running a little bit of water through will prevent this.
• Check water softener, add salt if needed. You shouldn’t need to add salt every month, but better to check anyway, as it only takes about 5 seconds.

Biannually

• Test your water heater’s pressure relief valve. This will prevent mineral and corrosion buildup, which safeguards against leaks. It will also help your heater run more efficiently.
• Give your house a deep clean. Take one Saturday every six months with your whole family, and give the whole house a proper deep clean. Appliances, windows, dusting every nook and cranny (including the basement), etc. Keeping things clean and not letting dirt/grime/dust build up over years and years will help keep your home in tip-top shape.
• Replace batteries in smoke/carbon dioxide detectors. I’d never heard this before, actually. I just assumed you changed it out when it started giving you the low battery beeping noise. This tip was in everything we researched, however. With something as important as this, you can’t be too careful, and batteries won’t break your bank. Change ‘em out every six months.
• Vacuum your refrigerator coils. I actually learned this tip from a refrigerator repairman, and our research confirmed it. The fridge can use up to 15 percent of your home’s total power, so you want it running as efficiently as possible. Over time, the coils get dirty and your fridge requires more juice. You can save up to $100 a year by doing this, and it’s not at all a difficult task.

Annually (Organized by Season)

Spring

Spring is a big month for home maintenance. They don’t call it “Spring Cleaning” for nothing. Especially focus on the exterior of your home as it’s just gone through winter and is preparing for summer heat, and in some parts of the country, brutal humidity.

• Check the exterior drainage. Will rain water flow away from the house? Puddles should not stand around your home for more than 24 hours. If water stays, or moves toward your foundation, you have a few options. First, check your gutters. It could be a bad spout or a loose connection there; they may also just need cleaning. Second, you can grade the area around your home yourself with some dirt; this has worked just fine for me in the past. Third, for pavement, you can have professionals come out and raise it so it drains away from your home.
• Clean out gutters. They’ve likely accumulated leaves from the fall and grime/sediment from the winter snows and/or rains.
• Inspect the exterior of your home. Is any paint chipping? Is any siding damaged from winter? Are there any holes in your brick? Take a close look all around your house, and make any repairs as needed. Also be sure to check the foundation for any cracks. A good silicone/caulk can fix a lot of your problems.
• Get your air conditioning system ready for summer; consider having it serviced. This one really depends on your individual home, and even which part of the country you live in. Some places mostly just use window air units, while other places use a big swamp cooler up on the roof — these are fairly basic machines where a quick internet search can help you fix any issues that come up. Also refer to the user guides for specific regular maintenance. Central air is obviously a more complex system. Getting it serviced by a professional should be around $100 or less, and it will save money and headaches down the road.
• Repair/replace damaged window screens. You don’t want bugs making their way in because you missed a hole in a window screen. And no, duct tape doesn’t count. It can be a quick fix, but don’t leave it for long. It just looks bad.
• Clear dead plants/shrubs from the house. This could double as a gardening tip, but if you didn’t trim trees or shrubs in the fall, do so now. Plants can weasel their way into cracks and holes on the exterior of your home, causing damage and shortened longevity. Nip that in the bud before it’s an issue. If you have decorative vines on the exterior, pay close attention.
• Check trees for interference with electric lines. Have professionally trimmed if necessary.
• Inspect roofing for damage, leaks, etc. Repair as needed; you may need a professional.

Summer

Summer is a great time to focus on the exterior of your home, as well as your lawn and garden. It’s also perfect for having that garage door open and utilizing the prolonged daylight to work on any manly projects you’ve had on the backburner.

• Check grout in bathrooms, kitchen, etc.; repair as needed. This will prolong the life of your tiled surfaces and just looks better.
• Inspect plumbing for leaks, clean aerators on faucets. Go around to all your faucets and toilets and check for any small leaks. If you have poor water pressure out of a faucet, the aerator is the likely culprit and it’s an extremely easy fix.
• Take care of any insect problems you may have. Summer is their playground. You probably won’t have to look too hard to notice any insect problems. Ants, spiders, moths, etc. are all common, and fairly easy to take care of. Keep cobwebs clear, have ant poison handy, make sure all doors are tightly closed, etc.
• Clean and repair deck/patio as needed. It generally just needs a good washing. A deck may also need re-staining. Also check for any loose boards or posts and repair as needed.
• Clean out window wells of debris. If you have a basement, you also have window wells. All kinds of things can get down in there from leaves, to trash, to animals.
• Check and clean dryer vent, other exhaust vents to exterior of home. While the dryer is running, check that the exhaust is coming out. It should smell nicely of fresh laundry. If there isn’t much exhaust, check for blockages as well as you can. You may need a professional. Also vacuum the lint from the hose at the dryer.
• Clean and organize garage. Cleaning and organizing the garage should be a summer ritual for every man. Keeping it tidy will extend its life (and the life of its contents) and make it easier for you to find the tools/gear/supplies you’re looking for. With all the extra dust it gets from the manly projects you’re working on, you should actually clean it even more. Once a year, however, give a thorough going-through, vacuuming up and blowing/sweeping out leaves/dirt/cobwebs and wiping down grimy surfaces. Here’s an essential key to keeping your garage organized and here are all the items you should finally throw away the next time you do a decluttering. 

Fall

Fall is an in-between season where you’re finishing up your summer home maintenance tasks as well as getting your home ready for winter. Cold, snow, and rain can do a number to a home, so you don’t want to ignore winter preparation.

• Flush hot water heater and remove sediment. This prolongs the life of the heater and helps with efficiency as well.
• Winterize air conditioning systems. Remove and store window units. If you have central air, cover the outside unit with a tarp or plastic sheeting and secure with bungee cords.
• Get heating system ready for winter. Check for any leaks in windows or doors; these can cost an arm and a leg. Make sure heating vents are open and not blocked by furniture. Get furnace serviced/inspected at least every other year, preferably annually. As with the AC, this shouldn’t be a huge expense. Don’t forget about fireplaces if you have them.
• Turn off and flush outdoor water faucets. Also flush hoses and store them. Winterize sprinkler systems as well, if you have one.
• Get chimney cleaned, if you have one. Some folks say to do this in the spring, some say fall. Either way, just make sure it’s done once per year.
• Test sump pump. You don’t want to wait until you need your sump pump to find out it’s not working.
• Check driveway/pavement for cracks. Make sure to have re-sealed before winter; water can freeze and expand in the cracks, causing more damage.
• Buy winter gear. Have sidewalk salt, good shovels, etc. ready for winter. You never know when that first snow will come!

Winter

Winter is the time to go around the interior of your home and check for any little things you may have overlooked, or perhaps noticed and said, “I’ll get to that later.” Winter is your later. If you have any interior honey-do projects, whether it be painting, building shelves, etc., now is a great time to tackle those as well.

• Regularly check for ice dams and icicles. De-icing cables that sit at the front of the roof work well. Don’t let icicles grow, as much as the kids may want you to. They’re not only a danger to people standing beneath them, but they’re incredibly heavy and can cause damage to your home. They also can cause water damage to your foundation when they  melt.
• Test your electricity to the extent that you can. Always, always be extra careful when working with electricity. You can do a couple things on your own, though. Check that all outlets work; if they don’t, you can re-wire them on your own. Also, test your GFCI outlets. There are wildly varying opinions on how often to test this. Some say monthly, others say annually.
• Tighten any handles, knobs, racks, etc. Go through the house and inspect anything that could have a loose screw.
• Check all locks and deadbolts on your doors and windows. If anything doesn’t work right, replace.
• Check caulking around showers and bathtubs; repair as needed.
• Remove showerheads and clean sediment. This prolongs its life and helps with water pressure as well.
• Deep clean and inspect the basement. Basements are notoriously overlooked, especially if they’re primarily just storage areas. Dust ‘em up, clean any windows, make sure there isn’t mold anywhere, etc. Give your basement a good inspection at least once a year.

With our archives 4,000 articles deep, we’ve decided to republish a classic piece each Sunday to help our newer readers discover some of the best, evergreen gems from the past. This article was originally published in October 2013.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

A garage is supposed to be for cars. A workbench. A bike or two. Maybe a garage gym. But most of us end up using it like the junk drawer for the entire house. Big stuff you don’t know what to do with, or you think you might use “someday,” slowly ends up there: unused materials for DIY projects, that cheap futon you used in college (maybe your five-year-old can use it when he’s in college!), toys your now teenage daughter played with when she was four.

I think we hold on to stuff in our garage because we like to think of ourselves as frugal and resourceful and have that fantasy of being the dad who finally finds a use for the weird scrap of wood he’s been holding onto for twenty years. Unfortunately, the fantasy rarely becomes reality. That weird scrap of wood is never going to be used and just takes up space.

Eventually, the stuff in your garage accumulates to the point where you have to do archeological digs just to find the items you actually need. I’ve had that happen to me a few times in the 14 years I’ve lived in my home. The most recent experience of garage clutter realization happened this past spring. I was trying to get ready for a backpacking trip, but had to move around Gus’s little league bats from when he was seven (he’s a high school freshman now who hasn’t played baseball in almost a decade) and a box of short-circuited Christmas lights.

If your garage junk has gotten overwhelming, it’s useful to know the stuff you can and should get rid of — guilt-free. Below we highlight items to discard to free up space and remove potential safety hazards.

As you go about your garage decluttering, keep this overarching guideline in mind: you may have heard the rule that if you haven’t worn an item of clothing in your closet for over a year, you should get rid of it. A similar principle applies here, except since garage items tend towards more occasional use, make this the rule instead: if you haven’t used something in five years, get rid of it. Some exceptions — things you should discard sooner or keep longer — apply, which I’ll mention for certain items.

1. Old Paint

Every garage has a stack of old paint cans. You hold on to them thinking, “Well, I might need to do a touch-up or maybe when I go to repaint, I’ll need to be able to color match.” Those are legitimate uses — as long as your paint isn’t “expired.”

Unopened latex paint can last up to about 10 years if stored properly, though oil-based paints usually don’t hold up quite as long. Once a can’s been opened, you’ve got about two good years, maybe longer if it’s been sealed well. If you haven’t used those paint cans during those timeframes, get rid of them. They’re useless and a fire hazard. If you want to know the paint color you used in your home for future paint jobs, write it down in your butler’s book.

2. Old Fertilizer and Pesticides

Old Miracle-Gro, weed killer, bug bombs. They get unstable with time and temperature swings. If the bag is sun-faded and crunchy, its contents won’t benefit your lawn anymore. Chuck it.

3. Expired Chemicals and Fluids

Motor oil, antifreeze, and half-empty bottles of pool chemicals often sit for years on garage shelves, taking up space and creating fire or poisoning hazards. If you haven’t touched them in years, you’re not going to. Check your city’s hazardous waste disposal program for a safe way to dispose of them.

4. Oily Rags

Rags soaked in drying oils (like linseed oil) can heat up and spontaneously combust if they’re piled together and exposed to airflow. And while rags soaked in motor oil are less combustible, they’re still a safety hazard. And they’re taking up space. Toss them.

5. Broken and Duplicate Tools

If you were going to fix that drill, you would’ve done it by now. The broken leaf blower? Same story. They’re taking up space needlessly. You can get rid of them. Same goes for the duplicate tools you’ve acquired over the years. Do you really need four hammers and three tape measures? Or two socket sets missing the same three sockets? The answer is no.

6. Leftover Building Materials

Unused 2×4s, unused tile, bags of grout. Unless you’re actively repairing the exact project they came from, they’re just taking up space.

7. Random Hardware

Coffee cans of screws and nails, cables to devices you no longer own, random brackets you can’t identify. If you don’t know what it goes to, you won’t miss it. And if you need it again, you can just make a trip to Home Depot. Screws and other thingamabobbers are cheap.

8. Outgrown Sports Gear

The bike your kid hasn’t ridden since Obama’s second term. The youth baseball bats that have stood untouched, leaning in the corner for a decade. It’s time to pass them along to a family with younger kids.

9. Old Gym Equipment

As a garage gym owner, I’ve accumulated several pieces of equipment that served me at one time, but I haven’t used in years. And all that stuff is just taking up precious real estate in your garage. If you haven’t used that specialty bar or squat rack attachment in the last five years, you’re probably not going to use them in the next five years. Sell them. And good news! You now have more space to put new gym equipment.

10. Old Camping Gear

Our family has accumulated plenty of camping gear over the years. Some of it proved to be useful and necessary and some of it not. Do an audit of your gear and keep the stuff you still use on the regular. Chuck the broken tents and the busted lanterns and find a happy home for that sleeping bag you ended up hating.

11. Old Holiday Decor

The inflatable Santa with a hole. The string of broken lights that you told yourself you’d fix back in 2020, but are still in a knot sitting in a box. If you haven’t put it out in years, you won’t. Get rid of it.

12. Old Furniture

Furniture is practically and psychologically hard to discard — it’s big, it’s expensive, and it’s often attached to old memories. So the garage is where furniture goes when you know you should get rid of it, but can’t quite bring yourself to do it. You tell yourself maybe the kids could use it when they’re older. They likely won’t; it will be out of style, or just not their style. And in the meantime, the temperature swings warp the wood, the cushions soak up smells, and all that furniture is just taking up a ton of space. Unless it’s a true heirloom piece (and if it is, keep it inside), furniture in the garage is just bulky clutter. Sell or donate it if it’s decent; have it hauled away if it’s not.

13. Spare Appliances and Electronics

Think about how many “just in case” machines end up in the garage. The beer fridge that barely chills, the microwave from 1995, or the tube TV from your Halo LAN party days in college. Are you really going to bring that 30-year-old microwave back into the kitchen? Of course not. Sell, recycle, or junk that stuff.

14. Tires and Car Parts

Garages were built for cars, so it’s only natural that car parts accumulate there. If you’ve got a stack of bald, cracked, or more than six-years-old tires sitting in your garage, get rid of them. They’re not safe to use, and they take up space. Same goes for car parts left over from vehicles you don’t even own anymore. Tire shops will recycle the rubber; scrap yards will take the old parts. Free up the space.

15. Paper and Pantry Goods

Stacks of old newspapers, bins of files you don’t actually need, bags of dog food. Paper mildews; food attracts critters. The garage isn’t an archive or a pantry.

What to Do With All the Junk

We’ve already noted what to do with many specific items above, but here’s a general guide to help you clear things out efficiently:

For unused stuff that’s in decent shape, sell it. Facebook Marketplace is your friend here. I’ve sold lots of garage clutter there over the years, from old desks to gym equipment.

If you can’t sell your in-good-condition stuff, give it away or donate it.

For everything that doesn’t sell or donate easily — like broken tools and unusable furniture — calling a junk removal service can save you from making a dozen trips to the dump (if you even have a vehicle capable of getting stuff there). For about $150–$200, they’ll haul away as much junk as you can assemble. You can also check your city’s bulk-pickup schedule.

For hazardous materials like paint, fertilizers, oil and gas products, and old electronics, look up your local hazardous waste disposal facility. Many communities host drop-off events for these materials, ensuring they’re handled safely and responsibly.

The Payoff

When you finally clear out your garage of all the unnecessary crap, you’ll feel like you’ve got a new lease on life. Nothing is more satisfying than reclaiming usable space. And it also makes finding the stuff you actually use easier.

And once the junk’s gone, you can start thinking about how to use the space well. We’ve got guides on how to organize your garage and the biggest key to keeping it that way (hint: get your crap off the floor!). Put “Garage Declutter” on your home maintenance checklist every spring, and it’ll never again get to the point where you’ll need to do an archaeological dig to find your workbench.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

A man’s home is his castle and natural disasters are the closest thing to an attacking army. When mother nature chooses to exercise her power on your home, there’s little you can do to stop it, especially during storms that include high wind, like hurricanes. Flying debris and sudden powerful gusts can blow out windows, skylights, and sliding glass doors that spread broken glass throughout your home and let in rain, which can cause serious water damage. If you have time before the next big one hits, boarding up your windows properly can help alleviate some of the damage and halt the invasion.

Illustration by Ted Slampyak

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

Several months ago, friends of ours hired movers for their family’s cross-country relocation.

They got bids from three companies and chose the cheapest — International Van Lines — both because of the price and because the delivery date best matched their schedule. The company had negative reviews online, but ChatGPT and Forbes recommended it, and the bargain seemed like a risk worth taking.

When the movers arrived, my friend was concerned to see that the name on the truck and boxes was not International Van Lines but that of a different company. And the crew seemed to be packing things up haphazardly — throwing onions from the kitchen counter into boxes along with toothbrushes from the bathroom.

The movers said they’d drive directly from Oklahoma to the family’s new home in Idaho and get there in a couple of days.

The family headed out to ID themselves and took up residence in their empty house, awaiting the arrival of their possessions. When a few days went by without hearing from the movers, my friend reached out to ask when they might be expected. She couldn’t reach the person she’d booked with and was passed to a succession of new contacts, who said they’d keep her posted as to an updated delivery date.  

A week went by. Then another. The family was sleeping on air mattresses and living with the few possessions they’d brought with them; they had no beds, no furniture, no cookware. When my increasingly frustrated friend would text and call asking for updates, the company wouldn’t respond for long stretches. When they did, they only offered vague assurances that delivery was coming as soon as possible.

Finally, a month after the movers had driven away with their belongings, my friend got word that the shipment was on its way. However, when the truck — much larger than the one loaded in Tulsa — got close, the driver found it couldn’t fit down the street to our friends’ new house. He decided to park the truck in another location, stay the night, and then rent a U-Haul (which the family had to pay for) to ferry the boxes to their house the next day.

The original crew, unwilling to stick around, disappeared, and the driver hastily assembled an impromptu team of sketchy, surly local laborers to unload the truck and finish the job.

After a month of limbo and living out of suitcases, the family finally had their belongings back — although even then, not all of them were intact.

Unfortunately, our friends’ experience isn’t unique. Cross-country moves are fertile ground for scams, stress, and screw-ups.

To understand how to avoid a moving nightmare, I talked with Finn Murphy, a former professional trucker and the author of The Long Haul. Finn’s seen it all, from well-run moves to catastrophic ones. Here are seven mistakes he recommends avoiding to make sure your stuff gets where it’s supposed to, safely and on time.

Mistake #1: Hiring Movers Off the Internet

One of Finn’s fundamental rules is to get off the internet when hiring a mover.

When most people need to move, the first thing they do is Google “Oklahoma City to San Francisco movers.”

Problem is the top result isn’t necessarily a moving company at all. It’s probably a broker: a middleman with no trucks and no crews.

Brokers take your booking, then farm it out to different moving companies. The broker pockets a commission, and you end up with a moving company you’ve never spoken to or vetted. When your stuff is missing, you call the broker, who shrugs: “Talk to the movers.” When you call the movers, they shrug: “Talk to the broker.”

When people’s stuff gets lost or held up for weeks, it’s usually because they hired through a broker. That’s what happened to our friends.

Finn explained what goes on:

Let’s say your shipment is picked up in Oklahoma for delivery to San Francisco. To be efficient and cost effective, the moving company doesn’t want to take just your stuff West; it wants to pick up another load of someone else’s stuff along the way. If that additional load hasn’t materialized yet, your goods get unloaded into a warehouse to wait for one, potentially leaving your stuff sitting there for weeks.

Our friends’ stuff was originally taken not to Idaho, but to a warehouse in Houston, awaiting another westbound delivery to piggyback on. At one point, the company told the family they could expedite a more direct delivery if they paid more money — essentially a shakedown.

A brokered move doesn’t just risk delays. If your things are damaged or lost, liability is murky: the broker claims no responsibility, and the carrier may not even have valid cargo insurance.

The hard part about all this is that it’s difficult to identify when the “moving company” you’ve reached out to is actually a broker. When my friend talked to the agent at International Van Lines initially, she asked him directly if the company acted as a broker, and he said that they did not, that “It’s just us.” He was warm, responsive, and said all the right things, even insisting, “We’re the good guys in the industry.” Lots of other people have had experiences where companies straight-up lied about whether or not they farm the job out.

So what should you do?

Before you sign a contract, consider these things:

• DOT number. Look this up on the FMCSA’s website. It will tell you if they’re a carrier (good) or just a broker (red flag).
• Deposits. Brokers usually ask for a large upfront deposit (sometimes 20–40% of the estimate). Legit carriers generally don’t. They might require a small reservation fee, but most payment happens on delivery.
• Company name. United Van Lines, Allied, Atlas, Mayflower, etc. are legitimate national carriers with fleets. Scammers use sound-alike names (“International Van Lines” vs. “United Van Lines”) or keep changing names to bury bad reviews and dodge accountability. Make sure you’re hiring who you think you’re hiring.
• Reviews and recommendations. Fake positive ratings abound, and sites like Forbes make a commission by using affiliate links, which, despite claims to the contrary, may influence recommendations. ChatGPT, which bases its advice on a trawl of the internet, will just echo those inflated reviews.

Even legit carriers like Mayflower may transfer your load mid-route, leaving it in a warehouse until another truck headed in your direction is available. The difference is that it stays in the same system; you’re dealing with one accountable company, not a disappearing broker-carrier shuffle.

The best tack to take is to deal with a real, reputable company that has trucks. A company with an actual office, a local presence, and staff that picks up the phone. Someone you’ve gotten bona fide word-of-mouth recommendations for. Someone you could hypothetically bump into at church or your kid’s Little League game. If they’re rooted in your community, they’ve got a reputation to protect.

Mistake #2: Choosing Movers Based on the Cheapest Price

A locally-based, reputable mover can cost more than twice as much as the bargain movers. That can be a tough pill to swallow, but it’s one worth getting down the hatch.

Finn pointed out one of the strangest ironies of moving: people will entrust all the things they value most — their furniture, heirlooms, photos, books, tools, clothes — to the cheapest bidder they can find.

“Think about that for a second,” he told me. “It makes absolutely no sense.”

Yes, moving is expensive. But the surest way to turn your move into a financial and emotional disaster is to hire the rock-bottom outfit. Those bargain companies often turn out to be brokers who cut corners, delay delivery, or outright disappear with your goods.

Get multiple quotes, and if one comes in dramatically lower than the others, that’s not a bargain — it’s a red flag.

A higher upfront cost will often save you far more in stress, damage, and potential loss down the line.

Mistake #3: Skipping the In-Home Estimate

There are several ways a moving company will estimate the cost of your move and give you a bid:

• Cubic-foot: If a mover quotes you by cubic footage, walk away. Cubic feet are easy to fudge. If the crew loads sloppily, or simply claims your shipment “took up more space than expected,” your price can double once your stuff is already on the truck.
• Virtual: Some reputable movers now offer estimates via video call. This can work for simple moves, but it’s not foolproof. It’s easy for items to get overlooked, and what gets overlooked gets tacked on as an extra charge later.
• In-home, by weight: This is the way you want to go. The estimator walks through your house, notes every item, and produces a binding estimate based on the shipment’s weight. Weight is objective and regulated; cubic footage is not. If you disclose everything honestly, the driver can’t later claim “surprise” items and reprice the job.

Finn emphasized this point: when customers skip the in-home estimate, they usually end up under-reporting their stuff — whether by accident or wishful thinking. “If you don’t tell the estimator about the 7,000 pounds of weights in your basement, it won’t show up on the estimate,” he said. “When the driver finds them on moving day, the estimate is no longer binding.”

That omission not only costs you more, it also antagonizes the very guy who’s handling your possessions. An honest, in-person walkthrough keeps the pricing fair and the relationship copacetic.

Mistake #4: Not Thoroughly Checking the Contract

The contract you sign with the movers — the “bill of lading” — is what protects you, or leaves you exposed. A lot of people glance at it and sign, and that’s where the trouble starts.

Here’s what to look for:

• Name of company that will be picking up your stuff. If this isn’t listed, you may be dealing with a broker, and your stuff could end up with a company you’ve never heard of.
• DOT number. The DOT number lets you verify the carrier’s licensing and safety record.
• Type of estimate. Make sure it’s binding or binding-not-to-exceed. A non-binding estimate leaves the door open for the price to balloon once your goods are loaded.
• Line-item fees. Fuel surcharges, packing materials, storage, “long carry” upcharges — every potential fee should be spelled out. Vague language like “as applicable” is a red flag.
• Delivery window. The contract should spell out specific pickup and drop-off ranges, not “TBD.” Some contracts give the mover up to 21 business days — which doesn’t include weekends — so in practice they may have closer to 30 days to deliver.
• Liability coverage. The contract should specify what happens if your items are damaged or lost, and whether insurance is included or optional.

If the contract is fuzzy, or you don’t understand it, don’t sign it. Clarity upfront is what prevents nasty surprises down the line.

Mistake #5: Forgetting About Insurance

By law, interstate movers automatically provide coverage of 60 cents per pound, per item. That sounds fine until you realize it means that your $2,000 MacBook Pro, which weighs three pounds, would only net you $1.80 in compensation.

Reputable companies will offer additional insurance. Sometimes it’s worth it. But before buying theirs, check your homeowner’s or renter’s policy; you may already have coverage that applies to a move.

The key takeaway: know what your stuff is worth, know what’s covered, and don’t skimp where it counts.

Mistake #6: Packing Everything Yourself

Yes, you can save money by boxing up your entire house. But packing is where most damage occurs. Movers will treat professionally packed boxes differently than a stack of random Amazon boxes sealed with scotch tape.

If you can afford it, Finn recommends letting the movers pack. It costs more, but it drastically reduces stress and finger-pointing.

“Throw money at moving,” he said. “Have the moving company do everything. You go out to dinner.”

Mistake #7: Treating the Crew Like Robots

A small but important piece of advice: treat the movers like humans.

When the crew arrives, offer them bottles of water. Show them the bathroom. Learn their names. Maybe buy lunch.

“These guys are handling all the stuff you value in the world,” Finn told me. “Give it to somebody that you value, too.”

A little goodwill goes a long way. The people carrying your piano down the stairs will notice whether you treat them like donkeys or human beings.

Avoid these mistakes, and your move is far less likely to leave you sleeping on an air mattress for a month. Moving cross-country will never be stress-free — it’s too big and too costly to not include some friction. But with things like a reputable carrier and a clear contract in place, it can be hard without being hellish.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

In the midst of the summer heat, I’ve always got a floor fan (or two) going in my garage gym. Lately, as I’ve gone to switch it on, I’ve thought, “Dang, that’s really dirty . . . how the heck do you clean this thing?”

I decided to find out and get this job done. Below I’ll share the process, should you need to tackle this chore yourself. It’s an easy one to put off, but dust buildup doesn’t just look bad — it hampers performance, spreads allergens, and can shorten the life of the fan. 

Here’s how to restore a box or floor fan to prime condition (the process is the same for both types).

Tools & Supplies

• Phillips-head screwdriver
• Vacuum with brush attachment or handheld vac
• Mild dish soap
• Bucket or large basin
• Microfiber cloths or old towels
• Optional: Compressed air or a can of air duster

Step 1: Unplug It

This should go without saying, but don’t be the guy who gets zapped trying to clean an electric fan while it’s still plugged in. Unplug the fan and move it to a well-lit area — preferably outside or onto an old towel indoors.

Step 2: Remove the Front Grill

Most floor or box fans are held together with a few screws and/or tabs on the back or sides. Use your screwdriver to unscrew the screws, placing them in a small cup so you don’t lose them. If there are also tabs that latch the front grill on, gently pry them apart. Don’t brute-force it — broken tabs mean a loose grill that rattles forever.

Step 3: Hose Down the Front Grill

Look at that gunk.

Hose it on down.

Step 4: Vacuum the Back Grill

With the back grill and blades exposed, start with a dry clean, using a vacuum with a brush attachment to suck up the loose dust and cobwebs from the front and back of the back grill.

You can also hit it with a can of compressed air if you’re feeling fancy.

This dry stage helps avoid making a muddy mess once water gets involved.

Step 5: Wipe the Back Grill and Base

Vacuuming won’t get all the grime off the back grill; now it’s time to wipe it down.

Wipe the front and back of the back grill with a rag dipped in soapy water. It’s easy to clean the surface of the grill — the slots in it, not so much. How much time you want to spend on wiping out those tedious gaps is up to you. I just hit the vents that were most grimy.

Wipe all around the fan’s base as well.

Step 6: Clean the Blades

If your fan blades are detachable, unscrew or unclip them from the motor shaft, let them soak in a bucket of soapy water for a few minutes, and then use a cloth to wipe off any leftover grime. Rinse with clean water and dry thoroughly with a towel or let air dry.

If your blades are non-detachable like mine, you can still wipe them down in place — just be careful with water near the motor housing.

Do not submerge the motor housing. If needed, vacuum around it and wipe it down with a barely damp cloth.

Much better.

Step 7: Reassemble 

Once everything is dry, reassemble the fan. Make sure the blades are secured and spin freely. Reattach the grill and tighten all screws.

Plug it in, fire it up, and admire your handiwork (seeing the before and after is surprisingly satisfying). You may hear a noticeable difference in performance with a quieter, smoother airflow (I did). And you just might breathe easier during your next workout, too.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.

An important part of manhood has always been about having the competence to be effective in the world — having the breadth of skills, the savoir-faire, to handle any situation you find yourself in. With that in mind, each Sunday we’ll be republishing one of the illustrated guides from our archives, so you can hone your manly know-how week by week.

A return to warmer temperatures means a lot of us are cracking open our windows and letting fresh air into our homes. But, that refreshing breeze is also an easy way for unwanted critters to come inside. If you don’t have screens on your windows or doors, you should expect a few flies and mosquitoes to share your living space. What you might not expect is for a bird to get disoriented and turn your kitchen into an aviary.

It’s not uncommon for a bird to end up inside a house (or even workplace), which usually propels us to think of a variety of creative ways to get it out. The problem is that birds are exceedingly delicate. Shooing them with a broom or trying to catch them with your old fishing net can quickly cause significant harm to our feathered friends. Luckily, there’s an easy to way to encourage them back outside that’s safe for them, and easy for you.

Like this illustrated guide? Then you’re going to love our book The Illustrated Art of Manliness! Pick up a copy on Amazon.

This article was originally published on The Art of Manliness.