Life Hacks Thread

[BobLoblaw]

I have a reoccurring monthly reminder in my phone to change mine.

[trailrunner]

When I had a rental house, I marked the date I changed the filter, as well as the date that I changed the batteries in the smoke detector. I'd just write it on the 9V battery.

The house I now live in has a different type of filter, and I just know to change it twice a year: in June after we're done with the pollen, and in December when we're done with falling leaves.

I also write the date when I change my car battery. I use a silver Sharpie. I'm a believer in preventative maintenance when it comes to batteries, and I check them at the end of summer, before winter arrives.

[Shoresy]

When I had a rental house, I marked the date I changed the filter, as well as the date that I changed the batteries in the smoke detector. I'd just write it on the 9V battery.

The house I now live in has a different type of filter, and I just know to change it twice a year: in June after we're done with the pollen, and in December when we're done with falling leaves.

I also write the date when I change my car battery. I use a silver Sharpie. I'm a believer in preventative maintenance when it comes to batteries, and I check them at the end of summer, before winter arrives.

The fire department I was on a few years back advocated changing smoke detector batteries with daylight savings (change your clocks, change your batteries). Just FWIW... another way to attack it.

[Stephanie B]

I have a notecard taped to the furnace with the date of the last filter change.


Damn the iPhone Typos!

[ubervic]

My programmable thermostat adjusts my home’s temperature per time blocks and/or days of the week as set by me, and it prompts me to check/change the air filter every thirty days.

[Malamute]

This might be a bit OCD, but I mark the air filters with the install date when i put them in.

I write the install date on the furnace fan motor and somewhere handy for the sump pumps also. Dad always ran the furnace fan 24/7 to keep air moving and dust and pollen down. Id replace his furnace fan motors every couple years when I was visiting and if I did a sump pump, Id move the backup pump to position 1, and the new one into backup position, and keep a used one handy for emergency replacement (same for furnace fan motors).

I also installed a separate circuit/breaker for each pump so a bad pump wouldnt kill the circuit when the breaker kicked.

[TAZ]

This might be a bit OCD, but I mark the air filters with the install date when i put them in.

Well, now you can get your OCD and tech geek on.

https://youtu.be/pohxXQyC0To

[RevolverRob]

Apparently, traveling with a perfectly legal carry on item that does not fit in a ‘bin’ will bump you to precheck security. Because it’s bins only through normal security. I learned this today with a cardboard poster tube. But it should apply with strollers, canes, etc.

[Irelander]

Following the "pack stuff" theme of my earlier posts, I should mention one thing I normally do when sleeping in a tent, in cold weather. prior to bed I drink some hot liquid to warm my core. Then I fill a Nalgene bottle with boiling water, and stick it in the bottom of my sleeping bag. This will put out a BUNCH of heat for quite some time. I also keep a wool watch cap, or balaclava just for sleeping, so as to prevent heat loss through my head, as well as negate the tendency to stick my head inside a sleeping bag, and cause a bunch of condensation from my breath, and end up with a damp sleeping bag.

Piggy backing off this:
To keep warm when sleeping in a tent in cold weather, get a hand warmer going and place it between your inner thighs. The heat will warm the blood flowing through your femoral artery and warm your whole body. My buddy told me this during a winter backpacking trip in a polar vortex (-13 F that night). I was skeptical given the harsh conditions but it worked like a charm.

[RJ]

Picked this up at BB&B today:



Seems to work for what I actually wanted it for:




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