Fall 2005
::Don't Let Hot Water Prices Bring You to a Boil ::
::Take the Plunge ::
::Suitable for Polite Society::
::Disaster Strikes! ::
::Your Hot Water Heaters Secret Dream ::
::Everything Under The Kitchen Sink ::
From the Desk of...
By Richie Amato
Some of you may be surprised to learn that we have ongoing relationships with a large number of our clients. (To our long-term customers, you know who you are!) They are homeowners who have learned that having a relationship with a skilled, reasonable, honest plumbing company like ours has a number of advantages.
First, they have someone reliable to call in an emergency. They appreciate the peace of mind, knowing they will get priority treatment from a service they know to be fair, with trained service personnel they can trust. They hate the feeling of having to call someone blindly out of the yellow pages, not knowing how competent or how honest they may be.
Second, they can be confident that when we show up, we will have all the parts, tools and skills to take care of the situation. We keep a large number of popular parts in stock and rarely does a customer have to wait for us to order special parts. They never see us scratching our head, trying to figure out what could be wrong.
And, we guarantee our work! We know the plumbing business inside and out.
Don't get us wrong, we are happy to respond to yellow page calls from first timers. After all, every long-term customer relationship we now have started with one phone call from one stranger to another. We would appreciate the opportunity to earn your long-term trust and provide service you can count on. Please consider giving us a call for your next project.
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Don't Let Hot Water Prices Bring You to a Boil
A Few Simple Changes Can Save Hot Dollars!
It's no surprise that natural gas prices are rising, and as winter sets in, prices will assuredly rise higher and faster. While people in homes that use natural gas furnaces for home heating know that insulating and weather stripping help cut heating costs, it also pays to use hot water wisely to save utility bill costs. Hot water costs about 20 percent of your gas bill.
Laundry and bathing are the two biggest consumers of hot water in most homes.
Let's start with the laundry. It may counter your intuition, but experts insist that it's not the water temperature that cleans fabric, it's the detergent. The fact is, only boiling water kills germs, and no appliances in your home, produces boiling water- except the stove or microwave. One reason we use hot water is that some soaps dissolve better in hot water. But liquid detergents work just as effectively in cold water as in warm or hot water.
If you are washing underwear in hot water, confident that it is disinfected, you are deluding your self. The most practical way to disinfect fabric in laundry is to use chlorine bleach as directed.
Since each load of laundry uses 20 to 25 gallons of water, changing to the cold temperature setting can add up to significant savings. Also, make sure you're washing full loads. Don't waste 25 gallons of water on a half-load.
Now to some bathing tips. Most of us know that a shower uses less hot water than a bath. If you must take a bath, close the drain before you turn on the water and fill the tub only halfway. Recommended water heater temperature is120 degrees to feel hot. Most people find water at 104 degrees to feel hot. Of course there is some heat loss that occurs between the water heater and the tub or sink faucet, but you might try a 115 degree setting to see how it affects your comfort.
Again, there is no disinfecting advantage to bathing or washing hands in very hot water. It is the soap that does the work. In fact, washing your hands with antibacterial soap in cold water is as effective as using hot water.
It can help to insulate hot water pipes, especially those that run through unheated areas. In extreme cases, where some members of the family cannot be persuaded to take a short, five minute shower, consider adding a low flow shower head- even a timer to encourage conservation of hot water.
If you feel the exterior of your water heater tank, and it feels warm to the touch, consider adding a water heater blanket. Only use a product designed for this purpose. Do not insulate the bottom or top of gas hot water heater tanks. You need to leave plenty of room for the pilot light and for the flue draft. Follow installation instructions carefully.
Everyone has a different definition of comfort. In the case of your family, experiment to find the balance between hot water and cool savings on natural gas bills.
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We ask our plumbing for two simple things- water in and water out. Kitchen clogs are most often caused by fats that have been liquefied by hot water from the sink or dishwasher to flow down the drain. As the water cools, however, and before it reaches the main sewer, the fatty deposits trap coffee grounds and other debris and before long, the pipe is clogged shut.
Best tip: Don't let grease go down the drain! Don't rinse greasy utensils in hot water or load greasy dishes into the dishwasher, scrape fats away into a tin can, and throw it into the waste basket. Always run your garbage disposal with plenty of cold water.
When a drain is clogged, the first thing to try is a plunger. If you are working in a kitchen with a double sink, seal the drain on the other side with a small towel. Seal the mouth of the plunger over the clogged drain, and pump vigorously several times.
In the bathroom tub or laboratory, you'll need to close the overflow before you can plunge. The overflow is the opening near the top of the basin that prevents water from spilling out over the top. Stuff a rag tightly into the overflow before you plunge.
If you success and free the drain, run hot water to refresh the pipes, and let hot water spill into the overflow to clear out anything that may have splashed up there.
If plunging doesn't work, you have a number of choices in how to proceed- including a plumber's snake that you poke down the drain in hopes of dislodging the obstruction. (Please never poke a wire or makeshift object down any drain.) For many people, plunging is about the limit of their willingness to get involved with plumbing, then they call us for help.
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Suitable for Polite Society
Offbeat Things to Know About Toilets
Here's a scattering of useful yet fun things about toilets.
Twice a year, clean the inside of the toilet tank. Turn off the water to the toilet- it's a shutoff valve on the line between the wall and the toilet. Flush once and the tank will empty, but not refill. Use a small amount of detergent and clean with a cloth or soft brush. When it's clean, turn the water back on and flush again.
A two-story outdoor bathroom built in the 19th century still stands in Crested Butte, Colo. The upper level was available when deep snow blocked the first floor.
Occasionally, clean out the water fill holes around the top inside of the toilet bowl. These can become clogged, and sometimes ordinary cleaning doesn't do the job. Use a small piece of wire or a pocket knife. Be very careful not to scratch the porcelain.
Thomas Jefferson rigged up an indoor facility at Monticello by using a system of pulleys. Servants used the device to haul away chamber pots from his earth closet- a wooden box that enclosed a seat with a hole cut out above a pan of wood ashes. An architect and inventor as well as a statesman, Jefferson also built two octagonal outhouses at his retreat at Poplar Forest in Virginia.
Don't use your toilet tank lid for a shelf and avoid placing a knick-knack shelf above the toilet, as something will inevitably fall down the bowl.
In 1804, Philadelphia was the first city in the world to adopt cast iron pipe for its water mains. Before then, workers made water pipes out of hollowed logs. |
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Disaster Strikes!
You Could Be Just Moments Away From a Catastrophic Event Threatening Your Family's Health and Safety!
Understandably, recent tragic events in the Gulf Coast of the United States cause everyone to think about ways to prevent or minimize the awful damages caused by natural disasters. The fact is whether from forces of nature or man-made causes, the results of any disaster are devastating.
Most homeowners typically face four primary threats to their family's well being:
Water Damage
Problems from internal water leakage can cause irreplaceable damage to your home and possessions and pose dangerous life- or health-threatening situations. Water damage is more than $5000 per incident.
Natural and liquid propane gas.
Most devastating explosions do not come from natural disasters, but from gas leaks caused by broken lines. Each year, over $50 million in damages are caused by gas explosions.
Carbon monoxide
This odorless, silent killer is completely undetectable, and is blamed in hundreds of deaths and 15,000 cases of poisoning nationwide each year.
Sewage waste
A main sewer line that is blocked can back up and cause enormous and messy damage to the interior and the contents of your home, and threaten the health of your family members.
You can take charge of all theses hazards with one easy solution to prevent these dangers from threatening your home and family- the Excalibur Disaster Shield Home Protection System. This system guards your home 24 hours a day, seven days a week from hazardous water, gas, carbon monoxide and sewage leaks.
Water Shield detects water leaks and shuts off the water supply to minimize damage in the vent of a leak. Gas Shield automatically shuts off the natural gas when a leak is detected. Carbon Monoxide Shield protects your family from the dangers of CO, automatically shutting off your gas system at the first hint of the presence of CO. Sewage Shield inspects drain pipes on a regular basis to prevent nasty backups.
To find out how to get the peace of mind of the Excalibur Disaster Shield- as well as the additional Diamond Club membership for your family and home- please call us today, we'll get you on your way to shielding your entire home from the surprising costs of a potential disaster. |
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Your Hot Water Heaters Secret Dream
Few home owners take a few minutes to perform simple preventative maintenance that can prolong the life of their plumbing fixtures. Most of us wait until we hear something dripping. In the case of your water heater, there are things you can do to prolong its life and make sure it is working efficiently.
The number one water heater killer is rust. Every water heater has a magnesium or aluminum anode rod in the inside that electromagnetically corrodes so the tank won't. Sacrificial anode rods wear out. Their average life is about five years. Once it is spent, the exposed metal parts of your tank will begin to rust.
If the anode rod corrodes away, pieces of it may fall into the tank and rattle around as the water moves. If you use a water softener, anode rods corrode faster. It's wise to check the anode rod every other year, and replace it if necessary. If your hot water smells like sulfur (rotten eggs), something in your water is probably reacting with your standard magnesium rod. You should call us for an aluminum replacement rod.
Be sure to turn off the cold-water supply line to the heater first, then turn off the gas line that feeds the unit. (Switch off the circuit breaker on electric units.) Attach a garden hose to the drain faucet at the foot of the unit and drain off several gallons of water. Remove the old anode rod by loosening its hexagonal fitting on top of the heater with a wrench and lifting the rod out.
If you see rough, bumpy metal up and down the rod, that's normal. It's doing its job of rusting so your tank doesn't have to. If you can see six inches of the steel core wire, go ahead and replace the rod.
Before installing the new rod, wrap its threads with Teflon tape to get a good seal. Simply insert the rod into the tank and tighten it with the wrench.
Experts recommend that you drain some water form the tank about twice a year to prevent sediment buildup. Sediment can become a host for harmful bacteria, odor problems and noisy heaters.
It pays to take care of your water heater. Call us if you have any questions.
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Everything Under The Kitchen Sink
We see the cabinet space under the kitchen sink at homes more than anyone. That makes us experts at the best way to keep the area under the kitchen sink safe and useful.
Almost everyone keeps dangerous cleansers and chemicals under the kitchen sink. For that reason, everyone should have childproof locks on these doors. Whether you have small children or not, even if a child only visits once a year, why gamble with something so simple. Install simple childproof locks.
When it comes to this space, less is more. If you only use a cleanser once a month or less often, move it to the garage or basement. If you restrict your under-the-sink storage only to items you use frequently, it will be easier to spot a leak if one should develop.
Incidentally, when you clean out under the sink, it's all right to gently wipe the pipes with a rag, but be gentle. It's easy to jiggle something loose or open up a crack that will cause a leak.
We often see where the homeowner keeps a trash basket under the kitchen sink, and constant use bumps it into pipes, and loosens connections and causes leaks. We recommend finding another place for the trash basket.
So enjoy the storage, but remember, the pipes come first.
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Welcome aboard Walter Szynal!
He as joined our staff of technicians in the field providing quality service to all our clients.
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A tradition of Service
We are committed to providing our customers with the best service
at the best price. Our focus is honesty and fairness. We only recommend
and perform services you truly need. Further more we only deal with
quality vendors and suppliers to make sure any equipment we install
is guaranteed to perform as expected. We guarantee your satisfaction
every time.
We want your business for life. |
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