Changing seasons means changing air filters. What do you do with the excess debris?

Fall means the return of changing leaves and pumpkin spice everything. It also means it’s time to handle those chores that no one really wants wants to do but can’t be ignored, like changing your air filters. Have you turned your HVAC unit on to the heat setting yet? You may have noticed that dust and almost a burning smell coming from your vents.

There’s a good chance that you haven’t changed your air filter in a while. The fall and the other season changes can be an excellent time to handle these seasonal chores. Learn more about your air filter, why you should change it, and how you’ll handle any of the excess debris and junk you may have afterward.

Your air filter should be changed at least once or twice a year. Typically, they should be changed during the spring and fall months to prepare your HVAC system for the upcoming season. People who have pets, live in an area where they may see increased dust, such as by highways or new construction, or have high traffic in their homes should consider changing their filters more often.

If you haven’t had your air filter changed in a while, it’s possible that you may also need to clean your ductwork, around your vents, and other areas to help your furnace work better for the cold weather.

Some filters will note the size somewhere. In circumstances when it doesn’t, you’ll want to measure it yourself. Be sure to take all of the measurements. You’ll want the length of the sides, as well as the thickness of the filter. It’s easy to forget the thickness, but it’s smart to get the right fit for your unit.

Once you have the right filter, you can pull the old one out of the system and place the new one in the slot like the old one was in the space. Filters are created in a specific way because of the direction of airflow in the system. Putting it in the wrong way can cause problems and result in your HVAC unit not functioning correctly.

For filters that need to be cleaned, you’ll want to take some time and ensure that it’s cleaned thoroughly. It would be best to start by brushing the filter off to remove large clumps of debris and dirt from the surface. Once you’ve done that, you can get a deeper clean by vacuuming the filter.

You’ll want to use a soft brush attachment for this process not to allow the vacuum to damage your filter. While these filters can be replaced, they are often more expensive and more complicated to find than the filters that are supposed to be regularly disposed of instead of being cleaned.

Once that’s done, you’ll then want to run water through the filter going in the opposite direction of the airflow to remove any dirt and debris stuck inside of the filter. Finally, be sure to let your filter completely dry before replacing it back into the HVAC system.

Another thing you should be aware of when it comes to changing or cleaning your air filters this fall is whether or not you have more than one filter. Some systems have more than one filter in them, and you’ll want to make sure that you get all of the filters replaced or cleaned, or you won’t see all of the benefits that come from taking care of your filter.

You may be thinking that it’s not worth your time to go through these steps to change or clean your air filter. Think of all of the systems in your home. They can be seen to be very similar to the systems in your body. Imagine how you feel when your lungs, nose, and throat are dealing with congestion from a cold or flu.

That’s precisely what it can be like for your HVAC system when the air filter is never replaced. Your furnace has to work harder when the air filter is clogged up with dirt and gunk. When your furnace has to work harder, it’s no longer efficient and may run longer and harder than it did before.

This state of constantly having to work harder and longer can result in higher energy bills during the fall and winter months. It can also age your furnace quicker than it usually would and cause you to need to repair or replace it more often than if you performed preventive maintenance.

Another reason to change your air filter is that not only does it impact the health of your HVAC system, but your health, as well. It’s not suitable for your system to be breathing in the dust and debris that get circulated in your home every time your heater kicks on during the winter months.

With your windows closed, it just goes back into the system to happen over and over again. Cleaning your filter allows the filters to do their job in stopping the dust and gunk from being pushed out of the vents with the airflow.

Your indoor air quality can suffer in the winter months as your windows are closed. Your filters help air quality. Anyone that has asthma and other respiratory disorders can benefit from cleaner air in your home.

Once you’ve finished replacing or cleaning your air filter, you may find that you have more debris piled up than you expected. You may have decided to clean around the furnace to get to it or around your air conditioner to get it winterized for the coming weather.

What should you do with this excess debris? You could handle it like you handle your regular trash and put it all out on the curb, but what if you have a lot of things to get rid of after cleaning? No one wants to deal with carrying everything out.

Then, there are always the rules for your bulk pickup in your area. What if you’re going to get rid of your old exercise equipment or furniture that was blocking the way to your furnace that you realize you don’t want anymore?

Rather than pulling and pushing it all to the curb in the hope of your bulk pickup day coming, you can count on Junk Removal Plus.

🤔 Curious where we offer our services? Find your area here!

Junk Removal Plus can handle everything and anything that you need to have removed after you finish with your air filters. Dirt, leaves, old filters, cardboard boxes, scrap wood, unwanted furniture, no longer used exercise equipment, and more can be removed by our local Loader crews.

Did you already bag up your air filter debris? That’s great as it can net you a discount when we come to handle your pickup. Simply book online or text to get an upfront and honest quote on your air filter debris removal. Get back to enjoying clean air, good health and a junk-free home!

Are you wrapping up some home renovations? Did your high schooler’s woodworking school project leave your garage workshop full of clutter? Did you recently buy a home and discovered that the previous homeowner treated their backyard as an impromptu landfill?

Whether it’s construction debris, industrial debris or just a growing pile of junk that you need to get rid of, trying to calculate how much debris removal costs can be a headache since every debris removal company uses a different debris removal cost calculation.

We’re going to break it all down to help you find the cheapest way to get rid of construction and household debris — without compromising on quality.

Ways Companies Charge for Debris Removal

When you’re trying to figure out how to calculate debris removal costs, you’ll find that debris removal prices fluctuate wildly depending on factors like:

• The amount of debris
• The size or weight of the debris
• The type of debris you’re getting rid of
• The debris removal company’s own surcharges, estimates, and hidden fees

In general, debris disposal costs range from $400 to $800 per truckload of junk, but that number can quickly skyrocket based on eight common debris removal pricing factors.

1. Debris Removal Costs Per Cubic Yard

Most debris experts will haul away debris and charge you based on how much space your debris takes up in their dump trucks. This is why you’ll see many national chains and junk removal brands charging per full truckload, 1/2 truckload, 1/4 truckload, etc.

To calculate this, they price your costs on a cubic yard rate. As a point of reference:

• Most debris removal companies use dump trucks with a capacity of 12-30 cubic yards (that’s the equivalent of approximately 5-20 pickup trucks)
• One cubic yard measures 27 cubic feet (equivalent size of your average washing machine)

The more space your junk takes up, regardless of how dense or heavy it is, the higher your debris removal cost.

2. Debris Removal by Weight

This is more commonly encountered in industrial applications, such as construction debris removal costs or storm cleanup debris removal. That’s because such debris tends to be heavier and may include items like plumbing pipes, steel frames, or even broken or unwanted appliances.

In these cases, your debris removal prices may be quoted in terms of weight. The debris removal company weighs the truck’s load before they pick up your waste materials, then weighs the truck again after they’ve hauled away all of your debris.

When you’re charged in this manner, be prepared to pay far more than your initial estimate. Because the final weight of your junk is hard to estimate before they arrive, many customers find that their debris removal quote can be wildly underquoted.

To avoid such sticker shock, consider skipping any company that charges by weight and instead go with a reliable, fast debris removal service provider like Junk Removal Plus, which offers guaranteed pricing upfront and no surprises on debris pickup day.

3. Removal by Number of Items

If you have only a limited amount of debris or a few select pieces of junk that need to be hauled away, it’s usually not worth it for you to go with a per-cubic-yard estimate since your debris probably won’t take up a lot of truck space.

In these situations, the best debris removal companies like Junk Removal Plus offer both truck load-based pricing as well as per-item-based pricing.

4. Level of Labor Required

The cost to haul away debris may factor in the expertise and labor required to successfully dispose of your junk. Expect to pay more in examples such as:

• If the debris requires extra caution or expert handling
• If the debris needs to be broken down, crushed, or disassembled before being hauled away
• If the debris is located in an active construction site, a hard-to-navigate narrow alley, or the top story of an apartment building

5. Transportation Costs

If you’re out in the countryside, or if you’re located in a municipality or state that requires debris to be disposed of in a specific landfill or waste center far out of town, mileage surcharges are often added.

In some cases, this helps cover the extra time and travel expenses for the debris removal company. In other cases, it’s a way that unscrupulous debris removal service providers pad the invoice and sneak in extra fees.

6. Debris Disposal Costs

Some landfills and municipal transfer stations charge extra fees for disposing of debris, especially construction debris or oversized junk like big appliances.

These costs may be passed on to you by the debris removal company and may either be incorporated into your initial estimate or tacked on as an extra line item on your final invoice.

7. Dumpster Rental Prices

Junk Removal Plus prices include a professional pickup and disposal team that does all of the heavy lifting, loading and disposal. However, many other debris removal companies take a more hands-off approach and require you to rent and fill the dumpster yourself before they haul it away.

Dumpster rental prices can range in price from the mid $100s to the high $200s for each week you rent it, depending on the size capacity of the dumpster. Initial dumpster rental prices also typically don’t include the cost of pick up and emptying of the dumpster.

8. Construction Debris Removal Cost Average

On average, construction debris removal costs anywhere from the mid $80s to the high $600s, with the significant price range dependent on all of the above factors. The more straightforward your situation, and the less complex the area that needs to be cleaned up, the better for your budget.

However, you shouldn’t have to pay more through hidden fees and surprise surcharges even if you have a lot of debris, a tricky situation, or very heavy junk. Go with a reputable debris removal company that offers guaranteed upfront pricing and you’ll save big on trash day.

Cheapest Way to Get Rid of Rubbish & Debris

With Junk Removal Plus, you’ll get fast, affordable and reliable debris removal. For your convenience, we offer both full truck loads as well as pricing per single item, and our guaranteed pricing means you won’t get hit by unexpected debris removal costs when our debris removal professionals come to your home or construction site.

With landfills quickly reaching capacity, you can get an upfront quote with Junk Removal Plus to make sure your debris and junk is properly disposed of to help save the planet and your wallet.

“Minimalism” has become a hot topic over the last decade. As people have confronted consumerism, alternative ways to live started to take the stage. Have you ever looked around your home and felt claustrophobic? Have you tried to find something in a closet only to have everything else fall on you?

Even if you don’t have too much, you may have a sneaking feeling or a voice in your heart of hearts telling you that the things you have are not providing any use to you either physically or emotionally.

What is Minimalism?

Living as a minimalist involves creating more space in your living situation and living your daily life with more purpose when it comes to your wallet and possessions.

Many minimalists make it a rule to only have things that serve a purpose. It often means saving time when you need something, or at the very least being more aware of what you have.

Learning how to become a minimalist doesn’t mean giving up all of your worldly possessions, though. It means a simplification of the possessions you already do and will have.

Why Should You Live Minimalisitically?

Living with fewer items means you will have a higher level of organization and focus in your home and workspace. Reasons to become a minimalist also include having more freedom and living with greater intentionality, both with your shelf space and wallet.

You end up spending your day surrounded by things that have great significance to you or that serve a purpose. Many minimalists have found that life is less stressful and have an enhanced feeling of wellbeing as such.

Whether you’re looking to live more freely with less or really want to limit your purchases, keep reading for the first steps to becoming a minimalist.

What to Get Rid of First as a Beginning Minimalist

There are easy steps to becoming a minimalist. You don’t need to start by completely throwing out your entire home or even getting rid of your favorite sweater. Instead, allow yourself to take it slow and clear your mind from the junk in your home.

Clear the Clutter

The first steps to becoming a minimalist involve cleaning out the clutter. Sit in each one of your rooms and look around. Critically consider each of your shelf spaces, the top of your counter, your cupboards and the nightstand.

You might decide to limit yourself to a certain number of items on each shelf. For instance, you might set a goal to have only four items per shelf.

It will likely take some rearranging and feature plenty of things to get rid of by the time you’re done.

Broken Items

Another easy goal to set yourself at the beginning is to get rid of any broken items. For example, have you kept a pair of heels with one broken heel intending to fix it for months?

Give yourself a week and collect any items that don’t function as they should. If you haven’t fixed them by the end of the week, throw them out.

Make sure you dispose of the items safely and avoid adding to landfills near you when you can. You should take items for donation and recycling, when possible, but you could also schedule a professional to pickup the items and handle disposal for you. Junk removal services operate differently, but Junk Removal Plus offers a transparent process through fast texts for a price quote.

Draw the Focus

Finally, you should look around your home and determine the primary focus you want each room to have. Are there particular objects or areas you want people to notice?

Then, clear the clutter around those areas, seriously considering if you want to keep the items. If they aren’t the focus, what purpose do they serve or what memory do they hold for you to keep it?

Tips for Minimizing Your Closet

For many, it isn’t their shelves that they have to worry about as much as their closet. Figuring out how to become a minimalist at home often involves closets more than cluttered cupboards. In today’s culture of shopping and cheaply made clothing, it is easy to be taken in by stellar sales.

You quickly find that you have more clothes than you could ever hope to wear, particularly since you tend to wear the same favorite items more than anything else.

A capsule wardrobe prevents the clutter from stacking up. It involves maintaining a collection of essential pieces that all work well together. Essentially, you personalize your wardrobe so that it only includes items that:

• Match with other items in your closet.
• Suit your lifestyle.
• You love.

If a clothing item doesn’t fit all these criteria, it’s gone. If you find you are unwilling to part with some of those disqualified items, give them an expiry date. Say that they have three months. If you don’t wear them once or twice in that period, they are gone. This more long-term method is a less painful way to learn how to become a minimalist with clothes.

Simplify Your Routine

Having a simpler daily routine is another way to cut back on clutter as well as the time you spend trying to get ready in the morning or before bed. Do you have facial products you rarely use or those that don’t seem to be doing anything for you?

If you are looking to be more eco-friendly on your road to becoming a minimalist, try developing an eco-friendly skincare routine.

Your daily skincare isn’t the only thing you can cut down on for a simpler life. You can also take a look at the cleaning cupboard. How many of us have dozens of different kinds of cleaners, some of which we might only use twice a year? Reorganize and re-prioritize. Now that you have fewer possessions, you also have less stuff to clean.

How to Become a Digital Minimalist

Minimalism isn’t only effective in the physical world. In fact, for some people, it will feel better if their virtual world is cleaner since they spend more time there.

Declutter the Digital World

Becoming a digital minimalist involves getting rid of your digital mess. You can:

• Organize your apps and files into folders.
• Clean your device regularly by decluttering it.
• Get rid of any unused apps and old software programs.
• Regularly back up your important files to keep them safe and keep your desktop clean.

Cutting Down on Digital Time

Digital minimalism isn’t only about keeping your computer, tablet and phone clean of clutter. It also involves a more minimal usage of your devices. For example, you can manage your time to cut down on how much you spend staring at your screen outside of your work.

You can use an app to limit the amount of time you spend looking at your phone each day. Once you hit your time limit, it will lock you out. That means more intentionally looking at your phone and not spending hours scrolling only to get locked out when you might need it.

Big Ways to Live Minimally

There is a pervasive idea that people tend to fill any space they inhabit. It is easier to keep things and buy more things when you know you can stuff them in a closet or under your bed. However, if your space is smaller, you will be more purposeful about what you keep and buy.

One of the significant trends over the last decade is giving up oversized living spaces to live in tiny homes or bus homes. We aren’t talking about transitioning from a mansion when we say oversized, although some people have. Instead, many people have realized that the typical apartments and homes we think we need for a single or a couple are larger than necessary.

Living in a home of a reduced size makes you appreciate and focus on those few things you do have. It also gives you the chance to live a more mobile life if you want. Tiny homes are a lifestyle and definitely can help you save money on housing and reduce your footprint. In other words, you are prioritizing experience over material things.

Although, as a beginner minimalist, you might not be comfortable moving into a tiny home, however appealing traveling with your kitchen and bedroom in tow may seem. That’s okay. Simply getting rid of items that don’t bring you joy is enough!

Becoming a Minimalist Overnight

Knowing what to get rid of when becoming a minimalist can be difficult. There is no need to figure out how to become a minimalist overnight, but if you have gotten the itch to get rid of the clutter, hiring a junk removal service to pickup all the items you’ve determined serve no great purpose.

From furniture to boxes of clothing, hiring a service gives you a break from all the decluttering you just undertook.

You can find an affordable price by texting Junk Removal Plus a picture of your collected items and they’ll respond with a price instantly! Then just say when and they’ll send a fast, affordable junk removal expert to your door.

As soon as the day after you book, vetted experts can pick up any of the broken items you set to the side and clutter you’ve collected that you no longer want. Getting an affordable price is fast and easy so you can get rid of anything that doesn’t serve you, even if that is everything!