Choosing the Best Water Heater for Your Home

A conventional water heater typically lasts just over a decade. If your unit is reaching the end of its service life, it’s a good time to start looking for a replacement. Since a water heater accounts for more than 15 percent of a home’s energy use, weighing the efficiency as well as the price of a replacement model is important. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started.

Conventional Storage Water Heaters

Conventional storage water heaters are the most common type of water heater available. They offer a reservoir of hot water perfect for heavy home use. One of the main advantages of conventional water heaters is their flexibility; you can power them from a range of sources, including electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and propane. On the other hand, the costs to heat and store water while not in use are a significant disadvantage. If you don’t use much hot water in your home, it may be best to look for alternative models.

Tankless Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters provide hot water whenever it is needed, avoiding the standby costs of conventional units. They’re a good choice for homes with low hot water usage—as even the most demand-intensive models can have trouble supplying water to multiple sources at a time. Tankless water heaters come in multiple varieties. Large gas-fired and electric-powered models can meet the hot water demands of an entire home. For maximum efficiency, however, you can install individual water heaters at each faucet and showerhead.

Heat Pump Water Heaters

Heat pump water heaters move heat rather than generating directly into water. These are a good option for mild climates like that of the Portland area as they use warmth from the surrounding air to heat up water. Installing in a warm space such as a furnace room will produce the best results. In the winter, heat pump water heaters can be combined with conventional heating methods to create a year-round system.

Alternative Water Heaters

In addition to the “big three” water heater varieties, there are a host of alternative water heating methods available to the homeowner willing to think outside the box. If you use geothermal heat pumps to heat and cool your home, you can integrate it with a water heating system by installing a desuperheater. Solar water heaters use the sun’s heat to produce hot water, but they’re a poor choice in the cloudy Pacific Northwest. Finally, tankless coil heaters produce hot water directly from a furnace or boiler. They’re a highly efficient option for the winter months, but won’t do you much good during the height of summer.

Learn more about the anatomy of a conventional storage tank water heater at our water heater page. For more insight on water heater maintenance and replacement, visit our Ask the Expert page.

How to Prevent Kitchen Drain Clogs

Kitchen drain clogs are part of daily life for many Portland homeowners. You can easily avoid them, however, by taking just a few simple precautions. Follow these tips for removing drain clogs from your monthly routine once and for all.  

Avoid Draining Food and Grease

If you use your kitchen sink to rinse off plates, pots, and pans, letting a few pieces of food run into your drain can seem relatively harmless when, in fact, this seemingly minor lapse is the primary cause of kitchen drain clogs.

How to Get More Hot Water with Less Water Heater Repairs in Flagstaff AZ

On chilly evenings from late fall through early spring, a hot shower is an especially nice luxury. Many homeowners, however, are rightly concerned about the expensive utility bills that can result from overworking your water heater. If you want everyone in your household to be able to enjoy a long shower without spending too much money, follow these tips to maximize your hot water and minimize your bills and water heater repair in Flagstaff, AZ & the surrounding areas.

Reduce Your Hot Water Usage

Almost no one enjoys bathing in cold or tepid water, so you can’t avoid using hot water in the shower. But you can cut down on your hot water usage in other places around the house. For example, you don’t always need to wash your clothes in hot water, even if the label recommends that you do. A cold wash, combined with spray-on stain remover for tough spots, is more than adequate for most clothes. You can also conserve hot water in the dishwasher by scraping your plates first and running your dishwasher on its water-saver setting.

Insulate Your Pipes

Your hot water most likely passes through dozens of feet of pipes before it reaches your taps. Because metal easily absorbs and radiates thermal energy, the water can lose several degrees of heat by the time it travels from the tank to your faucet or showerhead. To keep the heat inside the pipes, you should insulate them with easy-to-install foam sleeves. Insulating your pipes also helps prevent bursts and other plumbing emergencies in the wintertime, when temperatures in Flagstaff drop below freezing overnight.

Turn Down the Water Heater’s Thermostat

Most hot water heaters have settings that exceed 140°F, but once your pipes are properly insulated, you can turn the setting down as low as 120°F and still enjoy a nice, hot shower because less of the heat will dissipate as the water flows through the pipes. Also, lowering the temperature setting on your water heater reduces the risk of scalding from excessively hot tap water. This is especially important if you have children or elderly adults living with you, as their skin is especially sensitive to extreme water temperatures.

Check for Sediment Buildup

If your plumbing is old or if your municipal water supply contains a high proportion of dissolved mineral solids, then sediment can quickly build up in your hot water heater. Sediment deposits on the heating element reduce the appliance’s efficiency, and it will begin to use more gas or electricity than it should to heat your water to your preferred temperature. You can eliminate sediment by flushing the water heater. Call a professional plumber if you aren’t sure how to do this, because you run the risk of scalding yourself with hot water if you make a mistake.

A hot water heater that is more than ten years old is near the end of its usable life, and it is probably more cost effective to replace it than to repair it. For more information about hot water heater repair in Flagstaff, AZ and the surrounding communities visit our “Ask the Expert” blog, or visit our homepage for more general plumbing information.

Sediment: The Hidden Threat That Causes Many of Your Water Heater Repairs

Living in Houston we don’t always need hot water, but it’s nice to have them when you need them. If your hot showers aren’t lasting as long as they used to, your water heater could have a sediment problem. Sediment builds up in neglected water heater tanks over time, taking up space, causing corrosion, and impairing overall performance. Help prevent water heater repairs in Houston, Dallas or wherever you call home, by fighting back this threat with the following guide.

Where Does Sediment in Water Heaters Come From?

Sediment build up is one of those problems that doesn’t happen in a day, a week, or even a month; it builds slowly, getting progressively worse over time.

Four Things That Cause Poor Indoor Air Quality in Nashville TN

Though outdoor air pollution is a growing concern for many large businesses and government agencies, individuals and families should be more concerned about the quality of the air inside their homes. Poor indoor air quality can cause allergic reactions, respiratory problems, and other health concerns.  

Since Nashville experiences both hot summers and cold winters, many residents of the city spend a large portion of the year inside homes that are sealed against the weather outside. Though sealing up air leaks increases the efficiency of your HVAC unit, it can also trap contaminants inside your home and re-circulate them through your homes air ducts. Because of this growing concern, improving indoor air quality in Nashville or wherever you call home should be at the top of your list of things to do.

Common sources of indoor air pollutants include:

Shedding Pets

Most cats and dogs shed a very fine layer of dead, dry skin cells, known as dander. People who have pet allergies experience a heightened immune system reaction to the dander, which can cause them to tear up, sneeze and cough. Removing visible pet hair with a lint brush does not remove all the dander that can adhere to your furniture, carpets, and window treatments, so to minimize this allergen, carefully vacuum all surfaces.

Clogged HVAC Filters

If your home is equipped with a central forced-air climate control system, it is also equipped with a filter that traps dust and other substances that can clog the blowers in the furnace or the air conditioner. After about a month of use, these filters become saturated and they can no longer effectively trap microscopic debris. These fine particles of debris can then be blown out of your vents when you turn on your air conditioning or heating system, negatively affecting your indoor air quality in Nashville. So check your HVAC filter once a month, and replace it as needed.

Dirty Air Ducts

Depending on the size of your home, you may have several dozen feet of ducts running from your furnace and air conditioning unit through the walls to various rooms in the house. If your home is older, and you don’t know the date of the last duct cleaning, you should schedule one as soon as you can. The same particles and pollutants that clog the HVAC filter can build up inside the ducts, where they become difficult to remove.

Volatile Organic Compounds

Many brands of household cleaners contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are chemicals that can evaporate at room temperature. These substances are usually toxic, and prolonged exposure to VOCs inside a closed environment can lead to nausea, headaches, and even vomiting. Floor cleaners and paints commonly contain VOCs, as do many wood varnishes. Avoid using any of these products during winter and summer when your home is sealed against the elements. Wait until a mild spring or fall day, and open up the windows to ensure proper ventilation when using such chemicals.

If you would like to know more ways you can increase your indoor air quality in Nashville, TN, or would like more information on your HVAC system, visit our homepage at http://arsofnashville.com/.  

                                        

Alexandria HVAC Maintenance You Can & Can’t Do Yourself

Furnaces can be intimidating, but that doesn't mean you can’t take an active role in keeping your HVAC in  Alexandria, VA well maintained. Knowing when to fix a problem yourself and when to call in the professionals is key. Here’s a guide to some common furnace problems you can fix on your own, and some more complicated issues best left to the expert HVAC professionals in Alexandria, VA.  

Air Filter Replacement

Furnaces rely on air filters to keep dust and other contaminants out of essential components.

Why Call a Plumber – How to Keep Your Plumbing Systems Problem Free

Living in the North Eastern part of the county, the cost of living can be quite expensive. The cost of plumbing in Baltimore, Washington DC or wherever you call home can be quite expensive, so whether facing clogged drains or the dreaded backed-up sewer, most homeowners are well acquainted with common plumbing problems and their cost. Few realize that many of these everyday issues can be easily prevented with the right precautions. Here are a few tips for keeping your plumbing system flowing freely for years to come.

Avoid Sending Foreign Objects Down Your Drain

Too many homeowners use their kitchen and bathroom sinks like a trashcan, sending food materials, hair, cosmetics, and grease straight into their drainpipes.

Lower HVAC Costs by Finding the Perfect Indoor Humidity Level this Winter

Living in Omaha, it can get pretty cold in the winter, so managing indoor humidity is a great way to improve the comfort of your home and lower the cost of running your HVAC in Omaha, New York, Chicago or where ever you call home. Unfortunately, getting to that “just right” moisture level during an Omaha winter can be a challenge. When humidity is too high, excessive moisture can create havens for mold and mildew. Allow it to go too low, and you’ll feel uncomfortable—dry and chilled to the bone.

So what’s the secret to staying comfortable and protecting your health this winter? Read on for some tips to achieve optimal indoor humidity. 

Install Humidity Sensors

The first step to achieving a good humidity balance is knowing exactly how much moisture the air in your home contains.

Choosing the Best Sink for Your Kitchen

Excerpt: If you’re thinking of replacing a kitchen sink, don’t let the plethora of style and material choices overwhelm you. Read this guide for help sorting trough your many sink replacement options.

With dishwashers doing the bulk of the heavy lifting these days, kitchen sinks don’t face the same demands as they used to. That doesn’t mean you should sacrifice substance for style with your next sink installation, however. Here are a few tips to help guide your next new sink purchase.

Get the Look You Want

With so many styles and materials available, choosing a sink style can be difficult.