Tag Archives: Leaks

Top 7 Plumbing Tips for Your Home to Save Money

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The plumbing system is a critical part of your home, and you may face many difficulties with it. If you don’t take care of the problems of your plumbing system, you’ll find yourself having to deal with a  significant repair or replacement cost.

Along with the price, some emergency plumbing problems are likely to happen if you postpone regular maintenance. To help you avoid emergencies, we gathered some simple but useful plumbing tips to reduce many major plumbing problems.

1. Do not allow leaks to continue

Leaks are common plumbing problems both in residential and commercial buildings. If you don’t pay attention to leaks, it can become a severe issue, leaving you with a significant repair cost. Therefore, you have to look out for possible leaks in your piping system and also your taps and fix them immediately.

plumbing tips to save money

The thing is that if you take care of the problem at the first stages, it would be so easy that you can do it yourself. But if you postpone it, you’ll need to call a professional plumbing team such as R & Z Plumbing.

This is the best option to have them check your plumbing system every often to make sure that there is not a problem.

Also Read: Health Risks of Bad Plumbing

2. Change the old valves

Changing the old-fashioned valves is another decision that can save your money in the long run. Although replacing your valves might have a huge initial cost, it will be offset when you receive your bills.

Try to go for eco-friendly valves because they play a significant role in reducing your water consumption. Some experts estimate that it will lead to a 30% saving which is a great deal.

3. Optimize your heating system

Heating systems also play a crucial role in families’ comfort and their living costs as well. Keeping your heater optimized can lead to a significant reduction in your energy bills. Try to ask a professional plumbing system to take a look at your system every winter and make sure that it’s working efficiently.

hydrogen-boiler

Remember that with the advances in tankless water heaters, you don’t keep using tank heaters because they’re not efficient at all.

You can be sure that the money you’re spending on a modern heater will return back to you soon.

4. Insulate your pipes

Another important matter regarding your heating system is the pipe insulation. Hot water that is passing through these pipes can release a great amount of energy to the ambient and therefore waste your money.

If you want to decrease your energy bills, you’d better think of good insulation for these pipes.

You have to insulate all your hot water pipes to prevent waste of energy. Also, you can insulate cold water pipes that go to your heater to prevent the water from being colder. This way, the heater will consume less energy when warming the water.

5. Check your toilet regularly

The toilet is the most critical part of your plumbing system no matter the building, residential or commercial.

A timely service can reduce many of the imminent problems of your toilet and increase the efficiency of your plumbing system.

It’s good to replace the toilet every 10 years to make sure that it’s up-to-date. Modern toilets are great in terms of water efficiency and can help you reduce your water bills.

6. Use washing machine/dishwasher to the full

The amount of load when using washing machines and dishwashers is of great importance. If you use them at partial capacity, you’ll have to face crippling water and electricity bills.

If you have a large family, the problem is easier because you’ll probably have masses of clothes and dishes to take care of.

But if you have a small family, you need to pile up your clothes or dishes to use your machines at full capacity. You have to think of small, eco-friendly machines to make sure you’re doing your tasks efficiently without extra water and energy consumption.

7. Go for smart homes

Fortunately, with the advances in new technologies, we have many other options to increase the efficiency of our plumbing systems and reduce the water bills.

The concept of smart homes is one of the newest advances that is considered to be the future of buildings. According to an expert from Condoly, the attitudes of people in advanced countries like Canada have shifted towards smart homes.

smart-homes

The plumbing system is an integral part of smart homes. You can add them to your plumbing system and see the results.

Here are some cutting-edge items in a smart home plumbing system:

a. Smart pipes

Smart pipes are one of the newest technologies in smart homes. The Internet of Things can connect your pipes to the central computer so that you can monitor the status of your pipes.

You can detect leaks, monitor water consumption, and finally save water using smart pipes.

b. LED temperature monitors

You can use LED temperature monitors to know the temperature of your water and therefore control the amount of your energy consumption.

Conclusion

ِYour plumbing system is a key part of your home and can have a crucial role in your living costs. If you want your plumbing system to perform efficiently, you have to make sure that the system has no leak or any other issue. Of course, a regular maintenance program by a professional team can be the best choice in this regard. Bear in mind that the cost of these regular services will return by preventing more severe problems. Most of the time, you can get a loan to pay for major plumbing work. Personal loans from GadCapital.com are ideal for emergency plumbing repairs because the funds are available the same day you apply.

9 Brilliant Tips To Save Energy In The Winter

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When those colder months come, it can feel great to blast on the heating. That feeling of being cozy in your home while it’s freezing outside is something many people love about winter. That’s until you see your energy bill and realize all of that energy has come at a steep cost.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here we look at 9 brilliant tips that are going to allow you to stay warm in your house while saving energy in winter months. This will be much better for the environment and also much better for your pocket.

1) Cozy clothing

We’re not suggesting that you have a coat, scarf, and gloves in your home. Rather you can wear jumpers, thicker pajamas and winter socks. This will allow you to be comfortable in your clothing while also giving you the ability to turn down your heating by a couple of degrees.

Also getting thicker duvets for bedtime and nice throws for snuggling up in front of the TV can help keep you warm without your boiler doing all the hard work. You always want to be comfortable in your home but sometimes that can be done without adjusting the heating.

2) A 21st century Christmas

The holiday is a wonderful time of the year and many people love putting up a vast array of Christmas lights. You don’t have to be a humbug and take them down; instead, you can do it all a little more efficiently.

In these modern times, you should be using LED bulbs for those lights. Many people are still using their old bulbs which are much less efficient, and also more unreliable. Also, put your lights on a timer so that they only come on when it gets dark and go off at bedtime.

3) Use a space heater

Do you only stay in one room during the day or evening? Heating just one room instead of them all could save you a huge amount on your energy bills.

To make the most of this you can turn off the heating in your home and switch on your space heater. This will prevent a huge amount of waste. This shouldn’t be confused with using a space heater on top of your heating as this would be more inefficient.

4) Maintain your humidifier and HVAC systems

Over time your air conditioning, heating, humidifier and energy systems will become less efficient. It’s always a great idea to service your systems such as a furnace humidifier, see if any parts need to be replaced and then enjoy their greater output.

According to the Mass Save program, a lot of energy can be lost by devices that are either outdated or in need of a service, with your boiler being a great example. It’s usually easy to check this yourself or call out a professional to do it for a small fee.

5) Seal any leaks

If there is a draft coming through your home, then you need to block it. One common area of concern is basements and sealing leaks will prevent the warm air of your home escaping outside.

Other areas such as doors could benefit from a draught excluder and if you have inefficient windows, using quilted curtains can prevent drafts. If you’re not sure where drafts are coming from, using an infrared thermometer can be a huge help.

6) Keep a stable temperature

Some people can fall into the trap of switching their heating on, getting too hot, switching it off and opening a window, then switching their heating back on when it gets cold. If you repeat this process, not only can you get uncomfortable, but it’s a huge waste.

The best solution is to get a thermostat that you can time. You need to know your ideal temperature and use this for when you’re at home. You will also be able to turn your heating off when you’re out of the house and down when you’re sleeping.

7) Use solar energy

There are many misconceptions about solar energy, with one of the biggest being that it only works in warm climates. The reality is that all they need is sunlight, even if it’s freezing outside. They also don’t need direct sunlight to be powered up.

If you live in a spot where you have the space and budget, then it doesn’t matter what the temperature is. While a solar panel won’t be as effective if there are fewer daylight hours, they can still provide a huge boost of clean energy in those cold winter months.

8) Avoid your tumble dryer

You can’t put your clothes outside to dry and therefore you put them in your tumble dryer, it makes sense. This they are brilliant for getting the job done quickly but use up a huge amount of energy in the process.

If your radiators are on, then you might as well use them. If you don’t need clothes to be immediately dried then they are only going to take a few hours in front of a radiator and you’ll save a lot of money.

9) Don’t block radiators

Okay, this is a direct contradiction to the point before but with clothing it is different. If you have a bed or other piece of furniture in front of a radiator, it will have a hugely negative impact on its ability to heat your room.

You need to allow the radiator to heat the air around it and then give enough space for that air to circulate. In terms of circulation, if you have a ceiling fan then it’s a good idea to put it on reverse and in its lowest setting. Hot air rises and a ceiling fan, when used like this, can push the hot air back down into the room.