5 Things You Should Know – Part 452

Here are 5 things you should know.

1. If you regularly lie to people or exaggerate events, and no one has confronted you, your friends are likely aware of you lying but choose to stay quiet.

Most of the time, the friend group is very aware of someone lying on a regular basis, but they choose to not confront it either out of apathy or – more often – to not cause the liar embarrassment.

So, no, you’re not a good liar, you just have good friends.

2. If you have a hard time using stickers, you can get magnet sheets, put the sticker on them, and cut it out to have fun magnets you can use for years.

A lot of people love stickers but have a really hard time using them since, well, once you place it down that’s it. If you don’t use them though you can’t enjoy them and they end up sitting forgotten about in a drawer somewhere. If they are magnets though you can put them in a lot more places, and they will actually have a functioning use, unlike a regular sticker.

3. This is how one can improve their gas mileage.

1. Check your tire pressure. Tires lose pressure in the colder months. Soft tires mean the engine works harder. The average car takes roughly 35 PSI in the tires but to be sure what your car needs, it will be printed on the driver’s side door jam sticker. When all else fails, take it to the shop. It’s usually a free service.
2. Lighten your load. Have a bunch of crap in your trunk or back seat? Clean it out. Extra weight means more fuel consumption.
3. Clean your fuel injectors. How? Next time you fuel up, add a can of Seafoam or any other reputable fuel additive your mechanic recommends… into the gas tank.
4. Change your air filter. Unless you regularly maintain your car, your air filter is probably dirty. A clogged air filter means your car can’t breathe freely, which causes the engine to work harder. It’s a ten-dollar fix that you can do yourself; super easy. Fram website will tell you exactly which one you need, and YouTube will show you how to install it. None of these is a magic bullet. You’re not going to miraculously get double the gas mileage. But if your car needs all of these, it will definitely save you some bucks in the long run, and every little bit helps these days.

4. This is how one can take care of their home air conditioning equipment.

Your HVAC system is the most expensive thing in your house! A lot of people don’t realize this, but it typically costs more to replace an HVAC system than it costs to replace your entire roof.

Tips to take care of your home air conditioning equipment:

1. Change your filters every month. There is no such thing as a “3-month filter.” The packaging is lying to you. Filters are like Gandalf. They never fill up early or late. They fill up precisely when they mean to. If you live completely alone, it’ll take longer. If you have a family of four and two pets, they’ll be full in a month or less. The best ones to buy are the cheap ones. Unless you have horrible allergies, the thick pleated filters don’t do anything but add unnecessary static pressure inside your ductwork. Basically, they make the blower motor that circulates your air run harder than it has to, meaning it will die sooner. And also, if you have central heating and air, your system has a filter (or at least a place to put one).
2. If you have a drain line on your HVAC system, you can clean it and unclog it yourself. Go to your air handler and find the drain line. It’s usually made out of PVC. Dump a small amount of bleach into it (around a cap full) and flush with a gallon of water. If it gets clogged, a shop vac will usually do the trick. Hook up the shop vac hose to where the drain line comes out of your house. Suck it out for about 30 seconds. The best practice is to do this once a month. It can cost upwards of 300 dollars for a technician to come out and unclog your drain line.
3. If you live within an hour of the beach, the salt content in the air is a lot higher than you would think. Salt corrodes metal, and that includes your HVAC equipment. Grab your garden hose, hook up a sprayer, throw it on a regular shower setting, and spray your outdoor unit off once a month. It’ll get rid of salt deposits that build up and corrode the metal. Just don’t do this in the dead of winter.
4. Don’t turn your system off! There’s a misconception that leaving your system off while you’re not home saves you money on your utility bills. It doesn’t. Your system is just going to have to work harder and longer to catch up once you’re home and you turn it back on. If you’re going on a vacation, just set your system a little higher or lower than where you’d normally keep it depending on the season. Ex: if you’re leaving in summer and you usually keep your house at 70, set your thermostat to 75 while you’re away. Your system will still run less often than normal, but it won’t have to run for hours on end when you get home to get the inside where you want it.
5. A lot of companies will void the warranty that comes with your equipment if you don’t have it serviced at least once a year. It depends on the company, but there is often some fine print that says a technician has to service your HVAC system annually if you have an extended part or labor warranty. Make sure if you purchase a home that is listed as having an extended warranty on the HVAC system, you triple check the fine print about having it serviced.
6. Maintenance servicing is a thing and it’s worth every penny. Most companies will charge you about 250 bucks per year, but that includes having your system cleaned 1-2 times as well as promotional benefits (priority scheduling if your system stops working, discounts on parts/labor, etc). Find a reputable company and sign up. Especially if your system is older than ten years. Ten years on an HVAC system is like hitting 100,000 miles on a car. If you want it to last you’ll need to start investing a little more in it.

Hope these help!

5. An app called Google Lens can be used to identify and search for most things.