What the house needs in December, north of the equator
10 jobs, in three groups.
December is a quiet month for the house and a busy one for everything else, so keep the list short and keep it to the things that matter. Test the smoke alarms, which takes two minutes. Keep the dryer lint clear, because this is the month it runs hardest and lint is what turns a fault into a fire. Watch for condensation on the coldest windows and in the corners behind furniture, and open the windows for ten minutes a day whatever the weather is doing. Clean the oven properly while you are using it most. Outside, keep a hole open in the pond ice by standing a pan of hot water on it rather than breaking it, keep the bird feeders clean and full, and clean and oil the tools while nothing needs them. The shortest day, on 21 or 22 December, gives London under eight hours of daylight and Edinburgh about seven. The Atlantic hurricane season closed on 30 November; for most northern houses the weather worth watching now is the first hard freeze and the wind behind a deep low.
Safety
Inside
- Watch the cold corners for condensation
- Still due this month. See November for how.
- Air the house for a few minutes a day
- Still due this month. See November for how.
- Clean the oven properly
- Do it in the season you use it most, which is when the spills happen. Cold oven, proper cleaner, an hour of waiting.
- Run a hot empty cycle in the washing machine
- Four times a year. See March for how.
The garden edge
- Clean, sharpen and oil the garden tools
- In the quiet months. A sharp spade is half the work of a blunt one and rust starts in the week they go away dirty.
- Clean the feeders and keep them filled
- Still due this month. See November for how.
- Keep a hole open in the pond ice
- Stand a pan of hot water on it rather than breaking it, which sends a shock wave through the water that fish do not survive well.
- Turn off and drain the outside tap
- At the isolating valve inside, then open the tap outside to let the water out. It is the single commonest winter burst.
Tick them off as you go
This page is the plain list for December. The same list is tickable on the house through the year, where the ticks are kept on your own device and cleared at the start of each year. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The garden half of the month is on the almanac page for December, which covers what to sow, what to plant out and what is ready to pick.