Fall in Florida is not really what you would experience elsewhere in the country. We are lucky that we have beach weather pretty much year round, and we are definitely not pining for fall leaves down here!
However, with hurricane season coming to an end, the calmer, slightly cooler days of a Floridian fall are also the perfect time to do some timely and cost saving home maintenance, and here are our top recommendations if you’re looking to do some home upgrades:
- Give your kitchen a facelift. Paint or stain cabinets a new color and add new hardware for an instant upgrade. Dated ceramic tile can also be updated with a coat of paint.
- Revive tired exterior wood with stains or sealing products. Decks in particular can take a beating in the Florida climate, and need regular application of protective products to keep looking their best.
- Blackout-proof your home. Add a home standby generator and make sure that the next time there is a big storm; your lights are the ones that stay on!
- If you don’t want to install a generator that can run your whole house right now, consider installing Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS’s) to safeguard sensitive equipment like computers and TVs. Not only can they give you time to power down safely when the power goes out, but they can also help to protect equipment from power spikes and surges.
- Switch out old incandescent lightbulbs for new CFLs or LEDs and get all the electrical cost savings that come along with that!
- Consider backup solar or wind power instead of a generator. Florida is the sunshine state. Might as well make the most of that! A solar water heater can also save you plenty of dollars over time!
- Refinish your floor. Wooden floors can become worn and damaged over time. If yours is looking tired, you can hire a floor sander and give it a new lease on life in a weekend!
- Add solar outdoor lighting for your yard, and get more use of the yard during fall and winter.
- Paint interiors and exteriors. Nothing refreshes your home as much as a lick of paint, and the slightly cooler fall weather is the perfect time to update the color palette of your home.
- Consider applying window film. You can buy window film for DIY application, and they offer savings on cooling and climate control as well as security features, which makes them a great, easy upgrade.
- Update your indoor spaces by investing in new throw rugs. Aside from paint, this is one of the cheapest, quickest and easiest upgrades you can do to any room in your home.
Whether you make home upgrades to save on power or to stay ahead of home maintenance, fall is the perfect time to do them, even in Florida. Once they are done, you can sit back with your feet up, and enjoy the sunshine.
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