Winter prep also includes battening down the hatches for the stuff you use in the summer. In this case, the swamp cooler or central air units. What should you do for those systems? Glad you asked. Here's how to protect your home and family.

So even your furnace needs to be prepped for winter? Sure does, but only if you want it to work well. Here's what you need to know to protect your family and keep your bills down.

The lowly hose bib - that valve on the outside of the house? Chances are you'd like to avoid having that thing freeze up in the winter and flood your home in the spring. Here's how to protect your home and family.

Nothing is more soothing in January than having a nice cold draft oozing from around your doors and windows, right? Or perhaps not. Here's what you need to do in September to avoid the ugh in January.

If winter happens where you live, then fall is the time to prepare. Are your gutters ready to carry the water safely away? Will you have ice dams? Here's what you need to know to protect your family.

Your windows are the eyes of the home. Without them, darkness, gloom and despair, right? But the windows are also security and protection against the ravages of mama nature. Here's what you need to know about your windows in a nutshell.

Want to treat your water? Many of us do, but it's good to know before you go. There are bacteria you can treat for, coliform, metals, solids, and a laundry list. Here's what you need to know

So you'd like a water softener system. It's got lots of benefits, right? But did you know it just trades calcium and magnesium (water hardness, but it's good for you if you drink it) to sodium? Yeah. Sodium is salt, and it's not that great for you. Here's what you need to know about softeners before you make that purchase.

So you'd like your water to be filtered. That's great, but from what? Metals? Dissolved solids? Germs? There a number of different kinds of filters. Here's what you need to know to protect your family.

So you look at the water heater, and it pretty much just looks like a chunk of steel. What are you supposed to do with it? Does it last forever? How do you know when it's going bad? Here are the answers you need.

Solar water heaters are a thing too. After all, if you're camping, who needs a cold shower? That's definitely not glamping. Here's what you need to know about solar water heaters

So just like everything else in life, there are way more choices than there should be. At least water heater varieties aren't as dizzying as carpet choices. Here's a description of different water heater types, any why each might be the right choice for your family

There's enough safety issues that we couldn't do all water heater issues in one segment. Here's part 2

Your water heater is one of those systems we'd all like to forget about. But if you forget about them too long, or don't know what to do, they get dangerous. Here's what you should know so you can protect your family.

Wasps are the bane of the picnic, as well as the back yard. Little Johnny gets stung, and the party is over. Now as the mom, you just went from happy to ER mode. What should you be doing to protect your family from wasps? Here you go.

Of all the gross and slimy whatevers, snails and slugs are right at the top of the list! They slime and they ooze, and did we mention that they're gross? Here's what you can do about them

Roaches! They're gross, they're dirty, they're embarrassing and they survive nuclear holocausts. And they come by the thousands. Is there a lower creature on the planet? Here's how to mitigate roach issues and protect your family.

Bedbugs. They're gross. They're stealthy, they bite. They eat your flesh. They might as well be zombies. But where do they hide? How much of a problem are they? Here's how to protect your family.

Got a jetted tub, would you like to avoid all of the fails that are happening to your neighbors? How do you avoid the black corn flakes and the leaks? Here's how to protect yourself and your family.

Got a specialty tub? One of the jetted tubs maybe? You can't just clean it with Clorox - it can damage the tub. So what do you do? Here's how to clean it without putting your family at risk.