Spring Plumbing Hints and Tips

Goodbye winter, hello spring. If you’ve been looking forward to getting your house cleaned up like we have then we’re sure that you have a long list that you’ve been adding to all winter. This spring make sure to add some plumbing fixes to your list to make sure that your pipes stay in top shape all summer long. We’ll give you a few ideas on where to focus your spring cleaning energy to have the most impact.

Inspect your Water Heater

If you turned your water heater up over winter to account for the weather make sure to turn it back down in the spring. It is recommended to keep your water heater at 120 degrees F to avoid scalding yourself, save energy, and get the longest life out of your water heater. If your water is over 10 years old it could be a good idea to have it replaced while the weather is still nice. New water heaters are far more efficient than older ones and will be able to keep up with your needs much easier.

Check your Water Supply Lines

Check the water lines under your sinks and the supply lines to your toilets to make sure you don’t have any leaks. Even minor leaks waste a lot of water over the course of a year and can cause water damage over time. It’ll be a lot less uncomfortable to wedge yourself under that sink now than in a few months when you’re in the full heat of summer.

Schedule a Drain Inspection

If your drains have started moving slowly then make sure to schedule a sewer line camera inspection. Professional sewer line inspections can quickly find the root cause of an issue with your sewer line from leaks to root invasions. Walk along the path that your sewer line takes to the street and look for persistent muddy areas or grass that is growing faster than other areas. If you notice either of these it’s usually a sign that your sewer line has a leak.

DIY Plumbing | Water Heater Energy Efficiency

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, water heating accounts for about 16% of total annual energy expenditures. That’s a great deal of energy being spent on one home appliance. We would all love to find out ways that we can cut down our energy costs for large energy consuming units like these. Thankfully your friends at Scott English Plumbing Inc. have the inside scoop on two simple tricks that you can implement today and save tomorrow.

The two easiest ways to reduce your energy use when it comes to hot water are to reduce heat loss in your water heater and use less hot water. This may sound simple we can help you by writing down the steps needed in order to make these changes effective.

Using Less Hot Water

Start by replacing old showerheads with new, low-flow models. Expect to spend about $25 for a good model that can still provide a great stream for showers but waste as little as 1.6 gallons per minute.
Use cold water to wash your laundry or at least use the cold-water rinse.
Cut down your water waste when washing dishes by just scraping off food and not rinsing them. Most modern day dishwashers will not need you to rinse off the food but if you do need to rinse it use cold water.
Repair any leaky faucets or showerheads.
Fix aerators on bathroom faucets with products that have flow rates of no more than one gallon per minute.
If you are considering any new home appliances, always consider models that are Energy Star certified.

Reduce Wasted Heat in Your Water Heater:

Be sure to insulate your water heater. If you do happen to own a tanked water heater, adding additional insulation will help reduce heat loss from the unit. You will want to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on insulation, especially with gas fed water heaters.
Turn down your the temperature setting on your water heater. Simply reducing your water heater from 140 degrees F to 120 degrees F, should help reduce your energy use by 6-10 percent.
Insulate your hot water pipes. If the water sitting in your hot water pipes stays warm after you have run your tap then there is a greater chance that you won’t wast water and energy when you restart your hot water. In newer buildings, all hot water pipes should be insulated. Insulating pipes in older homes could prove to be challenging but worth the investment.
You may also install “heat traps” or “anti-convection valves” on the hot and cold water connections to your water heater. Installing these could help prevent “thermosiphoning” of heat out of the water heater. Fortunately, some newer models already have these heat traps built-in.

Call Our Highly Rated Professionals For Help

After you have put some effort in bringing down your hot water use and minimizing the loss of heat in your water heating system you will be happy to see the improvement in your energy bill. Over the course of a year, your savings will grow and the time and effort will have been worth it. Of course, sometimes we want to make these changes but time or a lack of experiences and tools could keep us from actually completing these changes. If you need help completing these steps to improve your water heater energy efficiency you can always call on our highly-rated company to get the job done, so call us today and save tomorrow.

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Month: March 2019