Posts Tagged ‘Homer’

Thomasboro Plumbing Guide: How to Eliminate an Odor Coming from a Garbage Disposal

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

If you have a garbage disposal in your Thomasboro home, as most people do these days, you probably consider it an indispensible part of your household equipment. However, it is not uncommon for odor problems to develop with a garbage disposal. This is certainly an unpleasant situation, but luckily it can usually be quickly and effectively remedied.

The main reason that garbage disposals begin to smell is that they catch bits of food and other items that go down the drain. This is perfectly normal, and all you have to do to keep it from becoming a bigger problem for you is to clean your garbage disposal on a regular basis.

If you are up for a pretty intensive cleaning, you can turn your garbage disposal off and take off any removable parts for scrubbing with soap and warm water. It is vital that you make sure your garbage disposal is off and stays off as you do this. This is a great way to take care of a garbage disposal odor, but it will not keep it from coming back.

It is also not necessary to get in there and deep clean your garbage disposal on a regular basis. Instead, you can carry out a few less intensive procedures to help keep your garbage disposal odor free. No matter what cleaning method you use, it is also important to remember to keep your water running any time you turn your garbage disposal on and for about thirty seconds afterwards. This can go a long way towards ensuring that food and other sediment does not build up inside.

One of the reasons that garbage disposals seem difficult to clean is because you cannot use many of the more common household cleaning chemicals on them. Harsher chemicals can damage or erode parts of the garbage disposal, potentially causing larger problems for you later on. Fortunately, there are actually a lot of products that you probably have around your house already that can make cleaning your garbage disposal and getting rid of the unpleasant odor a quick and easy chore.

One good solution is to cut a lemon in half and put it down your garbage disposal along with some baking soda. Once they are down there, turn on the water and then turn on the garbage disposal. Leave it running until you are sure the lemon is gone and you can be confident that the smell will be gone also.

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Things to Look for When Buying a Heating System in White Heath

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

If you are in the market for a new or replacement heating system in White Heath and don’t know much about heating systems, you are not alone. Many homeowners are in the same boat as you. And many of that number put their trust in their local heating and cooling contractor to find the right furnace for their homes.

Before calling for an estimate, there are some things you can do to “prepare” yourself for one of the most important purchase you can make. Here is a checklist of things you should look for when buying a heating system.

  1. Know your energy alternatives. There are lots of options today when it comes to heating your home. Gone are the days when the choices were so cut and dried. Check with your heating and cooling contractor for suggestions.
  2. Know what size your furnace should be. Furnaces are not “one size fits all.” The size of the furnace is determined by its Btu (British thermal unit) rating. For example, a one-story ranch home on a crawl space requires less heating capacity than a two-story colonial with a basement, thus it would require a furnace with a smaller numbered Btu rating. A home with a great deal of heat loss through windows and doors may require various furnace sizes. And don’t forget about insulation. Insulation can affect the furnace size, too. Again, check with your heating and cooling contractor for recommendations.
  3. How much room do you need for your furnace? Some homes have mechanical rooms for furnaces and water heaters while others utilize attics, basements, or crawlspaces for furnaces. If you think you need a big furnace to heat a big home, think again. Furnace manufacturers have been downsizing their heating equipment for years, while maintaining the same heating capacities. One example are wall hung boilers, which utilize water and electric as heating sources and are installed on a wall, making the unit easy to locate and easy to service – while at the same time being off the floor and out of the way.
  4. Will your heating system be “plug and play?” New furnaces can take the place of the ones they are replacing by using the same space. But sometimes a replacement unit may need some altering to fit into an existing duct system. It is almost a given that a new plenum (the part attaching the furnace to the ductwork) will have to be fabricated. But the new furnace may also require some other modifications to an existing duct system. You should understand this ahead of time and be prepared to pay additional costs.
  5. A box is a box is a box. As a rule, most heating systems are made the same. In some cases, one furnace manufacturer may produce several different brand names. The best “brand” is the heating and cooling contractor who installs and services your heating equipment. Do your homework ahead of time and find a qualified and professional contractor. Ask friends and family for recommendations. This is may be the most important thing to look for when buying a heating system

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How to Get Lime Out of Your Pipes (and Your Teapot): A Tip from Bellflower

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Lime deposits are what cause that white, chalky, filmy residue that you see on faucets, shower heads and tiles. Aside from being unsightly, lime deposits can also cause damage over time. Lime builds up inside the plumbing of your Bellflower home, slowly degrading your pipes. Below are some tips to get rid of lime in common trouble spots.

Pipes

Lime most often builds up in pipes that carry hot water, since the water heater dissolves the lime in the water. The lime is then deposited on the inside of the pipes when it cools. Here are some steps to clear out the troublesome lime from those pipes:

  1. Turn off your water heater and drain it so it is about half full.
  2. Remove the pressure valve, being careful to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
  3. Pour solvent into the heater through the open valve. There are commercial products available specifically designed to break up lime deposits, but white vinegar can be used as a cheaper and greener alternative.
  4. Replace the pressure valve, turn the heater back on and allow it to fill all the way.
  5. Turn on hot water faucets throughout the house. Let the water run until it runs clear or doesn’t smell of vinegar, depending on which solvent you used.

Kettles & Coffeemakers

Mineral deposits in a kettle or coffeemaker can cause your morning beverages to taste bitter. To clean them out, try these techniques:

  • Put 2 tablespoons of water softener in your kettle and fill it with water. Bring to a boil and rinse thoroughly. Alternatively, you can use a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water, then let it sit overnight after boiling.
  • Fill your coffeemaker’s reservoir with water plus 2 tablespoons of water softener. Or, fill it entirely with white vinegar. Either way, run it through once that way, then a few more times with pure water to rinse.

For more obvious deposits, like faucets and tiles, usually a combination of hot water and either lime remover or white vinegar will do the trick. You can get more instruction on removing lime scale at HowToCleanStuff.net.

Those are the tried-and-true methods for making your pipes last by keeping lime at bay. Some plumbers will swear to you that putting magnets on your pipes will prevent lime from building up. Data to support that is inconclusive at best, although it can’t hurt to try.

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How Heating Zone Control Can Save You Money: Some Pointers from Homer

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

The costs of heating your Homer home have risen dramatically over the past couple of decades, thanks to higher energy costs and price increases for heating equipment. Despite the strides made in energy efficiency, there seems to be no end in sight for the steady rise in heating equipment operating costs.

Now add in the cost of heating unoccupied areas of your home, such as basements, hallways, or extra bedrooms, and the energy costs go even higher. Most of these costs are unnecessary and avoidable if you have the time and a small investment in a well-planned heating “strategy” for your home. This strategy involves using heating zone controls to make the most efficient use of your heating system.

In a nutshell, here is how heating zone control works. The rooms in your home are connected to your heating system by a series of ductwork, which carries heated and conditioned area to all corners. But some of these areas may not need to be heated as much – or possibly at all – compared to other rooms in your home. For example, do you need heat in your kitchen but not in your basement? Most people would answer yes. Or they may say they need more heat in the kitchen and some, but not very much heat in the basement.

Or try this: do most people in your house spend more time in one room, such as the family room, and less time in their bedrooms? If so, why would it be necessary to heat the bedrooms all of the time? In order to deliver heat to areas in your home that need it the most, the ductwork to these rooms should always be “open.” Ductwork to other unused areas of your home can be “closed” during various times of the day.

Opening and closing of ductwork and airflow is achieved by zone controls. A zone control is installed in the home which electronically or wirelessly opens and closes “dampers” in the ductwork, depending on the heating demand. You can divert heat to areas of your home using zone control and dampers while decreasing the heating load on your furnace. This type of heating zone control will move heated air to where you want it. Simply put, you are not heating areas of your home that don’t need the heat.

The heating zone controls can be programmed for various times of the day, too. For example, you may not need any heat in your basement while you sleep or when you are away from home. You can program the damper in your basement’s ductwork to remain closed or partially open during these times. In a sense, the heating zone control in your home acts like a programmable thermostat – only it uses a series of dampers to control indoor temperatures.

The next time you walk into an unused part of your home, think about how much money you are spending to heat it. It makes sense to consider heating zone controls. The initial costs of installing zone controls and dampers are minimal and the payback in energy savings and comfort are substantial.

Controls save you money.

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Is Geothermal Energy Renewable? A Question From White Heath

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Geothermal heating systems take heat from the ground and transfer it to your White Heath home. But how does this heat get into the ground in the first place? Conventional heating systems like furnaces use energy sources like oil or natural gas to generate heat. These energy sources are not renewable, and neither is electricity which is typically generated by burning coal or another non-renewable resource.

The renewable resources we usually think of first are solar and wind power. The sun, of course, will continue to shine and provide heat year in and year out whether we make use of it or not. Similarly, we cannot use up the wind. It will continue to blow no matter how many times it has blown before.

But what category does geothermal energy fit into exactly? Well, it is actually a renewable resource just like solar or wind energy. In fact, geothermal energy is a direct result of the sun’s heat relentlessly pounding the ground. The ground actually absorbs a considerable amount of the heat from the sun that reaches the earth every day, and that is the heat that your geothermal heating system is using to heat your home.

Of course, a geothermal heating system cannot run on geothermal energy alone. The indoor components of this heating system that keep the air flowing throughout your house must be powered by electricity. But the amount of energy needed to do this is much less than what you would need to use to run a furnace or other type of more conventional home heating system.

Over all, geothermal energy is an excellent and renewable source of energy. And once you have the heating system in place, you will need to spend very little to keep it up and running. It is an excellent option for many people, and can help to keep your home cool in the summer as well. If you need more information to decide whether a geothermal heating system is right for you, contact your White Heath contractor.

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Save with Maintenance on HVAC: A Guide From Homer

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

You can never save too much money by making improvements and taking steps around your Homer house. Of course, it is hard sometimes to see exactly where the money saving opportunities are. That’s because you expect to spend a certain amount on various types of services when you own a home. You know you are always going to have heating and cooling bills, for instance. But are they higher than they need to be?

For many people, the answer to that question is “yes.” And it is not because they use their home heating and cooling systems inappropriately or because they have the wrong equipment. It is simply because they neglect to get their HVAC systems the regular care and maintenance that would keep them running at peak effectiveness and energy efficiency.

When your HVAC system is new, it runs well and can be remarkably energy efficient. However, over time that energy efficiency will gradually deteriorate. This drop off in efficiency is often not obvious at first, but if you compare your energy bills from the year you got your system to bills for the same time of year and same usage five years later, you will probably notice that the bill has gone up quite a bit, and not just because energy prices have gone up.

You can do a lot to prevent this loss of energy efficiency, though, if you simply have a professional HVAC technician come out once a year and give your system a tune up. During this type of maintenance service, the technician will check over your entire system looking for worn out parts and buildup that could be interfering with your system’s performance.

They can clean out any areas of your HVAC equipment that require it and they will be able to make any necessary repairs at that time. Often, a technician performing this type of maintenance will be able to catch minor issues before they are able to develop into bigger problems. And while you still have to pay for the maintenance visit, the cost is much less than what you would pay for an emergency repair.

It also represents a substantial savings over what you would be paying on your energy bills every month without it. Regular HVAC maintenance can preserve the vast majority of your system’s energy efficiency loss over time, and it is never too late to start. Even if it has been several years since you had your system installed, you will still be able to get back the vast majority of your original energy efficiency by starting with regular maintenance now.

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Different Types of Room Air Conditioners: A Tip From Homer

Friday, August 19th, 2011

If you are like most people, you probably picture the air conditioner hanging out of the window when you think of room air conditioners. However, while these are by far the most popular type of room air conditioners, they are not the only option. When you are shopping for a room air conditioner in Homer, it is a good idea to explore all of your options before you make a purchase.

The traditional window mounted air conditioners have plenty of advantages, and that has helped to keep them at the top of the room air conditioner market for a long time. These types of units can be installed in windows of multiple sizes and you can just about always get them in yourself. These units are available in a wide variety of sizes too, so you will be able to match the unit to the size of the space you need to cool.

No matter what type of air conditioner you get, it is very important to make sure it is the right size for the task you have laid out for it. Bigger is not always better and you do not want an air conditioner that is too powerful for the space any more than you want one that is too small. Also, be sure to check the energy efficiency rating of the air conditioner you are considering before making your purchase. That can save you a lot of money over time as well.

Another type of room air conditioner to take a look at is a wall mounted unit. Many of the window mounted units can actually be used in this way as well, but the installation involves actually making a hole in the outer wall of your home so you will most likely need some professional help to get it in place.

Just like window mounted units, wall mounted air conditioners come in all sizes and with all different energy efficiency ratings. Always take care to check out the specifics of the model before you buy it to make sure it is the right choice for your home.

Portable air conditioners are a third option in the room air conditioner category. They typically have wheels so that they can be easily moved from one room to another and they have an exhaust hose that must be hooked up to a window to ensure adequate ventilation. These types of room air conditioners are usually more expensive than wall or window mounted units, but it is definitely convenient to be able to move them from one place to another.

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