On 10/1/2015 2:54 AM, ItsJoanNotJoann wrote:
On Thursday, October 1, 2015 at 12:40:13 AM UTC-5, Don Y wrote:

Our thinking is that it's easier to remember to do something (trivial)
every month than to keep track of N month intervals.

I write on my kitchen calendar to check and change filters
every 3 months. No problem keeping track of when to do
this.

And when to fertilize the citrus trees, when to change the batteries
in the smoke detectors, when the roof needs to be repainted, when
the swamp cooler pads need to be serviced, etc.

I don't have any fruit trees.

We have 6 citrus. Ensuring regular watering and fertilizing
ensures large, tastey fruit (we just finished LAST year's OJ...
now we have to wait until January for the next crop -- though
the lemons will come due before then)

Yippee Skippee

We watch neighbors with fruit trees that fail to produce "useful"
fruit -- simply because they don't invest the effort beyond "token
waterings". Or, let the fruit rot on the tree because they
aren't inclined to pick it.

We deliver ~400 (large) limes to the laundry at one of the local
hospitals for the (primarily Mexican) help there to enjoy
(else, we would discard them -- our yearly lime needs are met with
just a few dozen limes!). This year, we'll probably give the
excess Navels to the food bank. The lemons will end up in my
tea...

The smoke alarms 'tweets' when the batteries needs to be changed.

We don't wait until it starts it's INCESSANT chirping. Do you
want to listen to it for an hour, day, week before you get around
to replacing the battery? Easier to be proactive and replace it
before it complains.

I change it immediately upon hearing it tweet.

We don't keep "spare batteries" (for anything) on hand. I suspect
this is true of many folks as it seems common for people to UNPLUG
their smoke detectors when they start chirping. Then, forget
to buy the battery and end up operating with no smoke detectors
in place (at least, we hear of homes lost to fire wherein the
smoke detectors had no batteries in them -- this seems like a
logical explanation of what transpired).

You paint your roof???

Yes. Common practice is ~every 7 years. If you *wait* 7 years,
chances are you will end up with problems -- things that have
"gone south" at year #3 and become problems long before #7.

You live in a trailer? That's the only people I know who
'paint" their roofs.

I suspect 60-70% of the homes, here, are "frontier style" -- flat
roofs. A small percentage are shallow peaked with asphalt shingles
(which don't fare well in the heat/sun. Another group are ceramic
tile (which are expensive to maintain).

Those with flat roofs regularly paint their roofs -- *not* to
"seal" the roof (which is what most folks think) but, rather, to
keep the sun's rays from degrading the underlying felt. There is
also some benefit as it helps reflect heat off the roof instead
of letting it soak through the roof to the living space
immediately below.

So, *planning* on doing a portion of it every year reduces the
effort required for "year #7 (or, year #5, in our case) AND
ensures the roof gets looked at often enough that any problems
get caught before they become "trouble". E.g., our roof is
over 20 years old (25+) and still "intact". All neighbors
have had theirs replaced in that time.

Ummm, ok.

At $5-8K, it's an expense you'd rather avoid!

No swamp cooler here, just central heat & air.

Heat, air and cooler. As cooler is on roof, it requires maintenance
(make sure water line doesn't freeze in winter, make sure it is
cleaned out -- mold, etc. -- at end of season, etc.) each season.

My central heat and air unit sits on a concrete pad
in the yard next to my house.

Our furnace is indoors. The ACcompressor on a concrete pad outside.
Swamp cooler is on the roof. Folks with heat pumps tend to have
the entire unit located on the roof. Some folks will install
AC compressor on roof as well (esp for a retrofit where it is
not practical to route refrigerant lines to a pad adjacent to
the house *from* the furnace which is typically centrally
located.

Some folks have two or three AC units (very large homes).

We find it easier to just put things in very regular schedules:
e.g., instead of fertilizing three times/year (as recommended),
we fertilize monthly; cooler gets serviced at end of season
with pads replaced (instead of waiting for the pads to *need*
to be replaced); smoke detector batteries on New Years Eve;
roof gets 20% serviced each year -- instead of once every 5
years; etc.

The cat does get his flea drop medication the first day of
_every_ month. And the rechargeable tooth brush is run down
completely and recharged the first day of every month.

We try to do everything on a predefined schedule instead of
having to be "reactive" -- or, remember more "complex" schedules.
The effort is more expensive than the cost.

Whatever works for YOU, my uncomplicated schedule works for ME.

Experience has taught us that *this* is what works best for us.
We don't "discover" the filter needs to be replaced and then
"discover" we don't have a replacement on hand. Instead, we
treat it like any other "scheduled maintenance" item and
replace it on *our* schedule (instead of *its* schedule) so
we always know when we will *need* replacements.