I Should Scrap That: Spring Cleaning Day 3

Day 3 is about the air vents in my home. I have to admit that we are pretty good about keeping the intake vents clean. Anytime I have the vacuum out around one, I vacuum the dust away. Depending on how bad it is, I may open it and get inside to. The outgoing vents...I get those when I get the fans (every few months). However, I have never taken them down and washed them. In our current house, 80% of the outgoing vents will have to be taken down by someone with and brave enough to climb a really really tall ladder. I can reach some from upstairs with my vacuum hose extended, but as fas as getting a screw driver up there....I think not. Here's a look at one of the intakes I tackled today. I vacuumed it first, then got the q-tips out.

Before

After

The last time I dealt with ceiling vents, I broke a globe light hanging next to the vent I was getting at. It shattered all over my face! Thank you Lord I only received a minor scratch across my chin. It could have been really bad for my eyes.

Doing this reminded me of something I think very few people know to do. Go take the cover off your thermostat, so you can see the inside parts. Go on, I will wait.

To the left is mine, before cleaning it. It looks pretty good now, but you should have seen that bad boy the first time I ever opened it up! WHOO! If only I had taken pics! I have two in my house...one old style. The other is modernized and the inside doesn't look quite the same. Awhile back we had two of these older style thermostats. One (which is now modernized) was giving us problems. My brother showed me how dust gets on the glass covering the mercury. That dust is heavy to the "oh so sensitve" mechanics. It can weight it to one side, giving your thermostat an incorrect reading, keeping your heat/air on longer than it should....raising your electric bill, or in our case, ruining the thermostat. We eventually had to have that one replaced.
So, I highly suggest getting out the Q-tips and cleaning yours periodically. There are a lot of holes for dust to make a home in. Here's mine spic and span!