7 tasks for your June home maintenance checklist

Summer officially begins later this month, but there's no penalty for getting started on seasonal home maintenance tasks early. Focus your energy on chores that will make summer more enjoyable, or that are a lot easier to do before it gets too hot.

Dining outdoors is great — until the mosquitoes attack. Lighting candles may help, but only if you are where the smoke drifts. Slathering yourself or your clothes with insect repellent gets around that issue, but the stuff stinks and who wants to wear pesticide to dinner? A better solution that's almost foolproof: Set up a fan above or to the side of your outdoor dining table. Mosquitoes aren't likely to try to fly through what to them must feel like a hurricane, so as long as you and your guests are bathed by the breeze, you should be safe. If you install a fan on the ceiling of a dining porch or other permanent location, make sure to get one rated for outdoor use.

How to get rid of mosquitoes without killing friendly pollinators

It also helps to eliminate the habitat that mosquitoes need to reproduce, especially if your neighbors take similar steps. Mosquitoes lay eggs only in still water, so empty any buckets, toys or plastic tarps that trap water. If you must have standing water, such as in a birdbath, change the water at least every five days, the time it can take for a mosquito to go from an egg to being able to bite.

Fans perform summertime magic indoors, too. If you have a ceiling fan that's still set for wintertime operation, switch the direction the blades move so you can feel air flowing down when you are standing directly underneath. (In winter, the fan should push air down close to the walls; under the fan, the air should be flowing upward.) You can switch the direction on most fans by pushing a button on the remote or fan switch. If you have an older fan, you might need to use a step stool or a ladder to reach a switch on the fan itself.

Using a ceiling fan can save on your electrical bill — but only if you also adjust the thermostat so the air conditioner switches on at a higher temperature, use energy-efficient lights (if your fan includes them) and turn the fan off when no one is in the room. Ceiling fans cool people by helping sweat evaporate. The air temperature doesn't change, though, so leaving the fan running when no one is around just wastes electricity and adds the motor and lightbulb heat to the room.

If you’re buying a new ceiling fan, get one with an Energy Star rating; it will move air more efficiently than other models.

Are ceiling fans the kiss of death for design? Not necessarily.

Carve out some time to sort through boxes and sweep away any dirt that collected over the winter. Instead of simply dividing items into piles to keep, toss or donate, establish more specific categories. For example, set out boxes labeled for things your friends might use, ones you will donate to a thrift shop or your local Buy Nothing group, and those you might try to sell.

How to finally get an organized garage

At the back of the garage, you may find old containers of finishes, pesticides and other nasties. If you don't plan to use them, get rid of them through your local household hazardous waste program. The Environmental Protection Agency has links for programs in each state, and the state webpages typically include a tool that allows you to search for a program near where you live. To get advice about where to recycle or dispose of specific items, search for "household hazardous waste" in or near your Zip code at Earth911.com. Or call 800-CLEANUP (800-253-2687).

These everyday items endanger the environment. Here's how to handle them.

I know, it's summer; I’m talking about the ice in your freezer.

Cleaning and changing the filter on your ice maker helps ensure a steady supply of good-tasting ice and cold water. GE Appliances cleaning tips start with a warning to unplug the refrigerator before you begin. But if the plug is behind the refrigerator, don't try to roll it out; the weight might damage the flooring. Instead, switch off power at the circuit breaker. Clean the ice chute with water mixed with a little hand dishwashing soap, then wipe with clean water and dry. Use an old toothbrush or cotton swabs to clean crevices. For the glass cradle or pad, use soapy water or vinegar and water. If the dispenser tray has mineral deposits, soak it with undiluted vinegar until you can wipe them away, which might take a half-hour.

Changing the filter is easy once you know where it is and have a replacement. Often the filter is housed in a compartment at the top of the refrigerator section, but on some models it's at the bottom. Open the compartment door and pull or twist out the old filter, then install the new one. To find a replacement filter that fits, search online for the manual of your refrigerator model, or check the label on the old filter.

The big chill: A guide to using your freezer

Dump out old ice and start fresh. Ice shrinks and tastes increasingly stale over time because of the evaporation from the frost-free technology on refrigerator freezers. Storing freshly made ice in sealed containers rather than in an open bin minimizes evaporation and keeps the ice tasting fresh. Cover food before you store it to minimize odor transfer to ice cubes.

Letting weeds take over your yard isn't just unsightly, it violates the law in some communities, and tall, dry weeds left to form seeds become a fire hazard. Plus, all those seeds get carried by birds and the wind, leading to more weeds.

Whether or not Roudup is safe, the gardener has better options

To remove weeds permanently — if that's even possible, given that weeds have adapted to growing without coddling — you can pull them out roots and all, burn them with a flame-throwing burner or spray them with an herbicide. For faster control without resorting to a burner or herbicide, mow or use a strong trimmer to cut the weeds close to the ground. Repeat as often as needed, or cover the mowed weeds with wood chips (often available from a local tree trimmer). Even better, cover the area with cardboard before you shovel on the chips, which will shade out the weed remnants and their seeds. Some hardy weeds may poke through, but you can pull them out relatively easily because the mulch layer keeps the soil damp.

Before you plug in that electric weed cutter or the rotisserie on your barbecue, take a few minutes to test the ground fault circuit interrupters on your outdoor electrical outlets, as well as those in the basement, garage, bathrooms and kitchen. To test a GFCI receptacle, plug a night light or other lamp into the outlet and switch on the light. Press the "test" button on the GFCI. If the GFCI is working correctly, the "reset" button should pop out and the light should go out. Press "reset" to restore power to the outlet.

If the reset button doesn't pop out, replace the GFCI. (Turn off the circuit breaker before you begin work, or call an electrician.) If the reset button pops out but the light stays on, the GFCI isn't properly wired. An electrician can fix it.

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