Sometimes we live with things in our home that we shouldn't. If we have noises we can't pinpoint, we may just put up with the sounds and learn to try and ignore them. It isn't something we need to tolerate. It can be embarrassing with guests in the home or, at the least, an annoying disturbance that interrupts our daily routines.
Ceiling fans are an excellent money-saving tool that can improve your indoor comfort and lower your utility bills. The specially designed blades of a ceiling-mounted air circulator create a pleasant draft in the room.
Many people tend to think that the only way to avoid frozen pipes is by taking action during the freeze itself. While not completely preventable, there are a number of things you can do now to ensure that the next South Bend winter does not wreak havoc on your house.
On Thanksgiving a few years ago, our kitchen sink drain became clogged, and we ended up having to wash all those greasy dishes in the bathtub. This made for a good story the following Thanksgiving, but it definitely was inconvenient at the time.
There is never a convenient time for a kitchen (or bathroom) drain to clog, and these simple steps can help you prevent clogs from happening.
Safeguarding the kitchen sink:
The kitchen sink drain is the most used in your house, and therefore gets clogged the most. Liquid fats, dissolved by warm dishwashing water, pass into the pipes where the water cools. The fats then solidify and attach to the sides of the pipes. Small food particles such as coffee grounds get stuck to the solidified fats. As the process is repeated, the pipes become clogged. To avoid this,
- Never pour any liquid grease down the sink. Instead, pour it into a can and throw it out with the rest of the garbage.
- When using the garbage disposal, run plenty of cold water. This will carry food particles past the small drain pipes and into the larger pipes.
- Scoop a full tablespoon of baking soda into your kitchen drain once each week. Then slowly pour in one-quarter cup of lemon juice or white vinegar (this mixture will bubble!). Let this stand for half an hour, then run hot water down the drain. (This mixture can also be used on a clogged drain, but be sure to remove any standing water first.)
General drain cleaning and preventive maintenance:
- Two or three times a week, run very hot tap water through all of your drains.
- Bathtub and shower drains get clogged with hair and soap residue. Remove these clogs once a week by reaching into the drain with your fingers or a pair of tweezers.
- If you purchase a commercial drain cleaning product, read the label first--some products may melt plastic pipes or damage garbage disposals. Carefully follow the directions and always wear protective gloves.
- You should also have a plunger easily available.
Clogs you can't fix yourself need the help of a licensed plumbing contractor such as your Home Comfort Experts Plumbers. They will be happy to answer your drain cleaning questions.
Home Comfort services the Mishawaka/South Bend areas of Indiana. To get started, check out our website or see our special offers.
For people who live in northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, the summer of 2010 was hotter than normal. With minimum temperatures of 70 degrees and maximums of at least 80 degrees, central air conditioning units were running around the clock. What can you do to make sure that your system keeps running, in case the region sees record (116 degrees in Collegeville on July 14, 1936) heat this summer?
Now is the time to make sure that your air conditioning system is ready to be put to the test -- before the intense heat and humidity return to Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana. Annual maintenance of HVAC equipment is critical to keeping it running all summer. It also helps ensure that your system will be operating at maximum efficiency and not wasting energy.
MERV stands for “Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value Rating.” This rating system for filters was developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. It's based upon the type of filter, how efficient it is and what pollutants it captures.
Almost all of the air purifier corporations in existence today use this rating as a way of evaluating the capability of their air purifiers. Since it is an air purifier’s job to reduce the size of the particles in the air as they pass through the filter, you will want to be sure to take a look at this rating.
If you are looking to cut down on your gas and electricity bills, learning how to read your meters can help you increase your energy savings. When you are familiar with your gas or electric meter readings, you know how much gas or electricity your household is consuming at any time. It's important to know how to do this because you can verify that the utility company is billing you properly. You can also monitor your energy usage from month to month. This helps to maximize energy savings.
A load calculation will tell you exactly what heating and cooling output you need from your heating and cooling system to keep your home comfortable. It's important to get the right size heating and cooling equipment not just because you could end up with equipment that's too small for your home, but also to prevent oversizing. Oversizing HVAC equipment makes you pay more to install and maintain your system.