Saddleback Plumbing Heating & Air Blog: Archive for August, 2011

Tips From Saddleback Plumbing About Upgrading Your Central Air Conditioner

Monday, August 8th, 2011

When the time comes to upgrade your central air conditioner, whether you live in Buena Park or anywhere else, you will have a lot of things to take into account. If you were generally satisfied with the performance of your old system, it can be very tempting to stick with a similar model. But if you do not examine all of the options out there right now, you may very well be missing out on a great deal.

If you already have a central air conditioner in place, chances are that you also have ductwork throughout your house. In that case, you will probably be better off with a packaged air conditioner as opposed to a split system. If it is a split system you are replacing, however, you should probably keep your search limited to other split systems. Installing a packaged air conditioner when you do not already have ducts in place can dramatically increase the overall cost of the project.

You will also want to make sure that the system you choose is compatible with the heating system and air handler that you already have in place. Most central air conditioning systems can be integrated easily with all types of heating systems, but you should still check to make sure this will not be a problem, particularly if you have an older heating system.

In terms of picking out the right new system for your home, energy efficiency is probably the main factor to consider. While just about every air conditioner on the market right now will be much more efficient than the unit you are replacing, you want to make sure you get a model that will provide you with the optimal savings in the long run.

This does not necessarily mean that you should go out and buy the most energy efficient air conditioner out there. In fact, because the more energy efficient units are also typically more expensive, you may not actually save money by going that route. But you will do well to choose a unit that will save you enough monthly to offset the installation costs and for most people, that means that you will want an air conditioner that is either a SEER 14 or SEER 16.

Of course, the actual amount of money you will save as you move up through the SEER rankings depends on how much you use your air conditioner to begin with. If you live somewhere with very hot weather and you use your unit for a large chunk of the year, it may very well be worth it for you to opt for a very high efficiency model.

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How Much Water Does a Leaky Faucet Waste?

Friday, August 5th, 2011

A leaky faucet is obnoxious for more than one reason, as I discovered the other night at my house in Fullerton. It is incessant, it represents a problem that will probably only grow worse, and it can cost you money on your water bill. Beyond all of that, it wastes a lot of water, putting undue stress on the environment. But, how much water does a leaky faucet actually waste? It may not seem like much, but when added up over a period of time, that leaky faucet’s impact can be fairly substantial.

Okay, so a single drip every couple seconds may not seem like a lot of water. But, think about it this way. If you let your faucet drip every day, twenty four hours a day, it is definitely going to add up. Imagine what would happen if every faucet in your home was dripping or every faucet in your neighbourhood. It would not seem like such a small amount of water anymore.

In terms of how much water is actually wasted, it is impossible to tell for certain. After all, every drop of water from a faucet is a different size and falls at a different rate. But, for the most part the water coming from a faucet (according to the US Geological Survey) is between 1/5 and 1/3 of one milliliter. Using those calculations and 1/4 of a milliliter as an average, the USGS estimates that roughly 15,140 drips from a faucet equals one gallon of water.

It may not seem like much. After all, fifteen thousand drops is a LOT of drops. But, if your faucet dripped once every second every day, all day, it would only take four and a half hours to reach one gallon. Every day you would waste 5 gallons of water or 2,082 gallons per year. That is 10% of the average water used by a standard 3.5 gpf toilet on a daily basis. Now, imagine what happens if you have more than one drippy faucet, or if your bathtub leaks which will drip more water at a time or if the leak is larger than the average size.

In short, the cost of a leaky faucet may not seem like much, but as time passes, it can really add up and if it is not taken care of, the cost will only grow as the leak gets bigger and potentially new leaks start in other faucets of your home. Do not let it drip forever – take action now and cut down on the environmental impact you have, as well as your bill.

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How Do I Stop My Pipes from Knocking?

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Tell me if this sounds familiar – you are sleeping comfortably and in the middle of the night a soft but persistent knock sounds through the pipes in your home. At first it is easy to ignore, but inevitably the sound will grow with each passing night and eventually start keeping you awake. You feel like they can be heard all over Capistrano Beach! Luckily, there are simple solutions for knocking pipes that do not require a plumber or expensive parts.

First, it is good to know why your pipes are knocking in the first place. In most cases, knocking pipes are caused by variable water pressure in the main supply pipes coming into your home. That pressure is important because it keeps the water moving freely between pipes and into your faucets. However, when the air used in pressurizing those pipes leaks or is depleted, water moves suddenly and violently, creating the knocking sound as it traverses the length of the supply lines.

The easiest fix for this kind of knocking is to first turn off your main supply valve. Make sure you communicate to anyone in your home that you are shutting off the valve as it will stop ALL water coming in. Now, flush the lines by opening all of the faucets and flushing your toilets. Water can still leave your home through drainage pipes and this will ensure all of the supply lines are fully empty.

Once the lines are cleared, feel free to turn your main valve back on. It is important to do this slowly so that the air chambers between and around your pipes have time to refill before the water courses back into them. However, now that the pipes were fully emptied, the knocking sound should be completely gone.

It is as simple as that. In most cases, you should not need to call a plumber to help, but if you have any problems finding your main valve or shutting it off, a plumber can be helpful with the proper tools and the knowhow for various kinds of shutoff valves. Additionally, if you live in an apartment building or a shared space, you may not be able to perform this fix. Rather, you should contact your superintendent or landlord and make sure they know exactly what is happening – with any experience, they should recognize the problem and be able to make similar fixes to your pipes.

Knocking pipes can be incredibly frustrating if not dealt with as soon as they start. Now that you know how simple it is to make the fix, make a habit of regularly flushing your lines and the knocking likely will not start up again.

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The Advantages of an Air Conditioning System in Aliso Viejo

Monday, August 1st, 2011

Just about everyone knows that air conditioning systems keep your indoor environment cool and comfortable during the hot summer months, which is very important when you live in a place like Aliso Viejo. While this may be enough of a benefit for you, there are also some other benefits to having a central air conditioning system installed in your house as well.

For instance, if you have someone in your household who is more susceptible to extreme temperatures than most people, an air conditioning system can actually help improve their overall health. Babies certainly fall into this category, as they have more difficulty than older children or adults do controlling their body temperature.

Also, many elderly people or people suffering from certain medical conditions, particularly heart conditions, are especially sensitive to the heat. If they are unable to stay cool, it can be very dangerous and damaging to their health, and an air conditioning system helps to guarantee that they will be able to stay cool and comfortable even on the hottest days of the year.

Aside from direct health concerns, air conditioning systems can also help to alleviate the symptoms of colds and allergies. They do this by controlling the level of humidity inside your home. If the air in your house is too moist or too dry, it can exacerbate cold and allergy symptoms, as well as dry out skin and make the indoor environment generally uncomfortable.

Proper humidity control is also important because it helps to ensure that any air filtration or purification system you have in place is able to operate at peak efficiency. Many of these units have a hard time extracting particulate contaminants from the indoor air that circulates through them if that air is too humid or too dry. With a state of the art air conditioning system in place, however, you will not have to worry about whether or not the humidity level in your home is out of balance.

It is also worth noting that a central air conditioning system can be preferable to a window mounted unit because it provides for a more even distribution of cool air throughout the house. Also, when you have a central air conditioning system, the condenser which is the source of most of the noise and vibrations that air conditioners make will be located outside and out of earshot. With window mounted units, on the other hand, there is really no way to block out or diminish the noise.

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