Showing posts with label heating preventative maintenance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heating preventative maintenance. Show all posts
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Preparing Plumbing and Pipes for Winter
Before the Mercury Plummets, Take Some Preventive Plumbing Action!Winter time can wreak havoc on your home's pipes and plumbing system, especially in Horizon Services' service area of Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland where temperatures can yo-yo between moderate to sub-zero and back all within a week...and often do. Freezing and fluctuating temperatures can cause pipes to crack. Melting snow and ice can lead to leaks, flooding and structural damage all over your house.
Fortunately, there are many things that homeowners can do themselves to prevent damage and ensure that their home plumbing systems continue to work as efficiently as possible. A regular round of checks that can be easily carried out will help maintain the long-term optimal working of the plumbing system and save on costly plumbing repair bills.
Especially as winter approaches, make sure that any outside hose pipes are disconnected from faucets and that the water leading out to these faucets is turned off. If water in the pipes or hoses freezes, it will expand, causing hoses and pipes to crack or even burst. This can lead to very serious leaks and flooding. This can happen to plastic pipes as well as metal.
The shut-down of external pipes can be made easier if your home has shut-off valves installed, which will close them down and drain the water off. Once effectively disconnects, the exterior faucets can then be protected from the cold weather with lagging.
If you have pipes situated in areas of the home that are not heated, such as basements, attics or garages, these can be insulated from temperature extremes using heat tape or foam insulated sleeves. These materials are available at most hardware stores.
It's also important to keep as much heat inside your home to prevent pipes from freezing, especially in those cold rooms. To increase energy efficiency, seal doors and windows from drafts using materials you can buy in any home centers.
Water heaters work extra hard during the winter, so check yours to make sure that it is performing up to speed. Flushing it out periodically to get rid of any build-up of sediments, as these cause corrosion and greatly effect efficiency and longevity of the unit. Drain off a few gallons using the faucet situated near the base of the unit. Also check the pressure release valve, which should snap smartly back into place when lifted after allowing a spurt of water to the drain. If it is slack, get somebody in to replace it.
The water heater’s thermostatic control should be set according to the season. In winter you’ll want optimum performance, of course, at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Going away for a couple days over the winter? If you're not regularly running water, it can collect in pipes and freeze, especially if you lose power or the temperature takes a nosedive. It's a good idea to leave some warm water running at a slow drip...just so it keeps moving through your pipes. If you have a programmable thermostat, you can set it to turn on periodically while you are away to make sure that no room gets too cold.
In addition, you may also have to clean debris such as dead leaves from gutters and around the downspouts to allow for better drainage after the coming thaw. Clear ice and snow away from outside walls to prevent snow melt from getting inside your home. Make sure snow doesn't accumulate near vents. And if you can, try clearing ice and snow from roofs before it accumulaes too heavily. Many hardware stores carry telescoping rakes that can reach rooftops without having to use a ladder. You can also toss a few thermal cakes up onto your roof to chemically stimulate snow and ice melt.
To winterize your plumbing, you need only a very basic set of tools to maintain your home plumbing system, available from any home center. A pipe wrench is probably the most important, enabling you to get a good grip on pipes and fittings. A pair of pliers will help you to adjust nuts and bolts, but these can damage fittings if you slip up, so get some smooth sleeves to fit. These tools are fine for the small maintenance jobs you’re likely to be carrying out, but for bigger home plumbing jobs it’s best to get the professionals in, otherwise things could take a turn for the worse.
Related Plumbing Information from Horizon Services...
Monday, November 8, 2010
Keeping a Close Eye on Your Home Heating
Be Heat Vigilant and Observant This Fall and Winter!We tend to take our hot water and home heating for granted, but when something goes wrong with our home heating systems, we can easily go into panic mode. The professionals need to be contacted in some cases, but for a lot of smaller matters it’s possible with a few basic tools and some elementary knowledge of how the system works to fix the problem ourselves and save time as well as money. Here are the some of the things you need to be aware of and be prepared for before and during heating season.
The main components of any home heating system are the heat source, the system for distributing the heat and finally the thermostat which controls the temperature. A breakdown of any of these three will seriously interfere with your comfort and convenience.
A simple loss of power may be the cause of a failure in the furnace or boiler which supplies the heat in the first place. The fuel needed by the unit for it to work may not be reaching it. Even if it is reaching it, ignition may be the problem in the case of gas or oil. Or everything may be fine with the heat source but the heat itself is not reaching its destination, which would point to a problem either with the blower that gets the heat from the source or else the distribution system that carries it around the house. A fault in the thermostat will cause the unit not to switch itself off and on as it should in the heating cycle to control the level of heat in the house. So isolating the problem is the first step to solving it.
First off, check the power source for any blown fuses, and then try resetting the furnace or boiler using the reset button near the motor. The thermostat may not be set to the proper adjustment, so try raising or lowering it to see whether the unit will then activate. Check whether the pilot light is lit and that the gas supply is on, or in the case of oil that there is an adequate supply of it.
With gas heating systems you need to be especially careful, as the air quality is a major factor when these are replaced or undergo maintenance. By-products from the combustion process can damage your health, and ensuring that the chimney is unblocked and that there is proper ventilation for the gas heating system can help ensure no leakage of these harmful products into the home environment.
Keep an eye on the vent connection pipe and the condition of your chimney, as there is inevitable deterioration as time passes and repairs can be costly. In the case of the boiler or furnace, check the control settings for their provision of optimal temperature and water levels, and check for any cracks in the combustion chamber. Clean the blower and remove any debris such as soot that may have accumulated.
Just making a few regular checks to your boiler or furnace, and the distribution system of vents or pipes, will help maintain their condition and ensure a longer effective life.
Related Heating Information from Horizon Services...
Friday, October 29, 2010
A Few Words About Home Heating
Some Key Points About Heating To Keep In Mind Before Winter ArrivesGenerally speaking, most people usually don’t have major troubles with their home heating systems. But as Murphy’s Law states, “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” And with home heating systems, that is usually in the middle of winter...and at a time when you least expect it or that is inopportune.
Preparation and prevention are the best ways to deal with Murphy and his law. The autumn months are always a good time to familiarize yourself with the essential workings of your home heating system. Before grief strikes and you experience a heating system breakdown, take some time to review your system’s manuals and paperwork for proper operational instructions as well as simple adjustments that you can make yourself. Also, take some time to visit the manufacturer’s website; it’s always a great place to pick up a few tips on both operation and maintenance so the worst is less likely to happen.
Nothing Beats a Pre-Season Tune Up
During the year, your heating system accumulates dust and dirt, making it less efficient and costing you additional money in utility bills. The vast majority of heating service calls and repairs are caused by lack of regular heating system tune-ups and maintenance.
A pre-season tune-up, inspection and cleaning of your heating system is an easy way to prevent costly furnace and heating system breakdowns BEFORE they occur and to assure that your heating system is performing at peak efficiency throughout the winter. Without a doubt, it’s the smartest thing you can do to guarantee a warm, worry-free, energy-efficient home during those cold winter months. You wouldn’t think twice about giving your car a tune-up before a long trip; doesn’t it make similar sense to give your heating system a tune-up before the long winter ahead?
Use All Your Senses
Energy efficiency in home heating systems is a natural result of good maintenance, and regardless of your system type there are certain general rules which, if observed, can save you time and expense in the long run. Now’s a good time to stop, look, listen and feel; give your heating system a complete inspection using sight, sound and touch to see if something is out of place or if something odd is going on.
In terms of maintenance, there are a number of factors to bear in mind when seeking to keep your home heating system in good working order. Regardless of the system, always keep an eye on the condition of the chimney and the vent connection pipe. Problems with the chimney can be a real pain and expensive to sort out. The heat exchangers in boilers leak water, which is pretty easy to pinpoint. With furnaces it is a bit more serious as combustion gases will be mixing with air in the house, and this is why it’s especially important to have furnaces regularly inspected for leaks.
Make sure that the controls are always set appropriately to provide the recommended air and water temperatures. This will assure that you are not putting unnecessary stress on your heating system, as well as maximize your energy efficiency and comfort.. Consult the manual if in doubt.
Air quality is also an important factor in connection with home heating systems. Unintended air leaks in many homes provide some of the combustion air for the heating system, and a number of the combustion by-products can be harmful to health. Making sure that the chimney is properly cleared and maintained -- and that the system is adequately ventilated -- will reduce these risks. Purchasing a sealed-combustion unit is often recommended for safety and optimal efficiency.
If you have one of the old horizontal, plastic venting systems this should be replaced with a steel vent pipe, as all horizontal venting was recently recalled due to risks of gas leaking into the domestic air.
Upgrading Your Home Heating System
Autumn is also a great time to upgrade from an old heating system to a more modern, energy-efficient heating system. Nothing provides more peace of mind than going into the winter season with a factory fresh heater!
Furnaces and boilers are the main heat sources for homes in the United States. Furnaces distribute hot air through ducts, whereas boilers use hot water through pipes. The efficiency rating of both is measured in AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency).
Older furnaces and boilers can be upgraded for increased efficiency, although it may work out cheaper to get a new one. Fuel bills can be reduced by installing one of the modern systems which typically have energy ratings of around 97%. A heating contractor can recommend the type of furnace or boiler you’ll need after you optimised your home’s energy efficiency. Choose a unit of the appropriate size for your needs, and go for a sealed-combustion model which is more efficient.
Related Home Heating Information from Horizon Services...
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