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 3 warm-weather home cleaning tips Warmer weather and more daylight hours bring renewed energy to truly enjoy your home with family and friends. Spring is a great time to get rid of the lingering grime and grit of winter to keep your clean home happening all season long. With a thorough home clean, you can create a vibrant living space for your day-to-day life, whether it’s playing with the kids, tackling your to-do list or simply relaxing. Here are three tips to help tackle some of the dirtiest places in and around your home.(BPT) - Warmer weather and more daylight hours bring renewed energy to truly enjoy your home with family and friends. Spring is a great time to get rid of the lingering grime and grit of winter to keep your clean home happening all season long. With a thorough home clean, you can create a vibrant living space for your day-to-day life, whether it’s playing with the kids, tackling your to-do list or simply relaxing. Here are three tips to help tackle some of the dirtiest places in and around your home. Wash your windows You’ll be surprised how dirty your windows have gotten and how much brighter your home, and outlook, will feel once they are clean. First, remove the screens and use a vacuum’s extendable attachment to remove the loose gunk and dust. Then, wash with soapy water and a firm brush, rinse with a hose and let air dry. For especially dirty windows, first clean with soapy water, then move on to an even mix of water and white vinegar. While using a lint-free towel or cloth will help avoid streaks, a car windshield squeegee is the expert choice. Tackle indoor surfaces It’s important to make sure guests at your next get-together experience a clean and healthy home — but a full vacuum bag or clogged filter can reduce suction, leaving the dirt, dust and allergens that build up on many surfaces behind. For an ideal clean, make sure your vacuum is at its peak performance by replacing bags and filters. Arm & Hammer Premium Allergen bags and HEPA filters are designed to capture allergens, and need to be replaced every one to two months for bags and every three to six months for filters. If you have pets, use Arm & Hammer Pet Fresh Dry Carpet and Carpet and Upholstery Extractor Cleaners to neutralize pet odors and break down lingering stains. Spruce up outdoors Winter weather and activities can take a toll on the finishes and surfaces outside your home. Cleaning a few key areas will refresh your home’s look and feel as you spend more time enjoying your outdoor spaces for birthday parties, barbecues and more: * Siding: No need to get complicated — first, rinse with a garden hose, then scrub the dirty areas with a brush and soapy water and rinse again. Make sure to avoid chlorine-based bleaches to keep surrounding plants healthy. * Driveway and garage: First, soak up oil, stains and other nasty winter reminders by spreading a drying material, such as sawdust, on the stain. Leave it for one day before scrubbing with soap and water. A power washer can be used for particularly tough stains. * Grill/barbecue: For gas grills, make sure the propane is disconnected. Then, soak the grates in hot soapy water and rinse. Scrub thoroughly under the hood and on the inside walls with a hard brush, first covering the heating elements, to get rid of grease and particles from last year. Wipe down with a damp towel. With these tips, you are ready for a clean, healthy (and fun) season. For more tips, visit www.armhammervac.com. KEYWORDS
 (BPT) - The key to reducing your home's energy bills could literally be at your fingertips, hanging on the wall of your home. Multiple studies have shown the connection between lower energy bills and thermostat settings. In fact, reducing thermostat settings just seven to 10 degrees for eight hours per day can reduce heating and cooling use by 10 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Smarter thermostats, greater efficiency With smart home automation, homeowners can use a home comfort system to actively manage their comfort and energy usage. This greater ability to match the system performance to individual lifestyles puts the homeowner in a position of power when it comes to managing their energy usage. And in terms of home comfort, that control typically starts with the thermostat. Thermostats often serve as the touchpoint that integrates with the larger system to provide the simplest, most user-friendly interface for the homeowner. So, it's important for homeowners to understand the different types of thermostats available to them and how they can improve comfort and efficiency: * A conventional thermostat lets the homeowner adjust the temperature using a traditional dial or control panel. * Smart thermostats monitor user behavior and dynamically adjust system performance for consistent comfort and maximized efficiency. * Connected thermostats bridge the gap between the two, offering remote operation, but still rely on the user for direction. Smart thermostats, like Champion's Momentum Hx Touch-screen Thermostat, manage automation by communicating wirelessly with home heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to maximize efficiency. Smart thermostats learn better than humans, and can automatically adjust temperature programming to match your lifestyle while maximizing efficiency and savings. As part of a complete system, the Wi-Fi-enabled Momentum thermostat allows users to monitor and control systems remotely with an app from any internet-enabled mobile device, and can even notify homeowners of developing problems. Looking beyond the thermostat The number of connected households that have smart thermostats more than doubled in the past two years, according to market research firm Parks Associates. With 36 percent of broadband-using households interested in a system that manages and monitors their home energy use, Parks Associates predict that half of all American homes will be smart homes by 2020. Energy consumption starts with the overall heating and cooling equipment; thermostat watts are just a small portion of energy consumption. Purchasing home automation products designed and manufactured to work with the homeowner's specific comfort system is the best way to maximize performance and energy savings. And, homeowners should start with buying energy-efficient equipment. "It's important to remember that "smart" isn't just the thermostat - it's an overall connected system," said Jedidiah Bentz, director, Advanced Systems, Controls & Technology, Johnson Controls. "A complete home comfort system goes beyond the thermostat to offer energy saving benefits.".To learn more about Champion home comfort systems, visit www.championhomecomfort.com/smarthome or follow @Champion_HVAC on Twitter.
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