Filed under: Air Quality, Fort Collins Air Purification
Have you ever given a thought if your attic is properly ventilated? Did you know that lack of a proper air duct could have harmful effects on your house in Fort Collins? Also, the air duct opening may get covered up over a period of time. It is, therefore necessary to hire professionals to clean the air ducts at regular intervals
Why air ducts cleaning is important?
Ventilation is the only channel of air flow in and out of the attic. Proper air ventilation or clean air ducts help maintain a temperature equilibrium in the attic. This means the attic will remain cool in summer and dry during winter with proper air passage. This in turn, protects the structure from any damage and also reduces your energy consumption.
Heat builds up inside the attic unless there is proper ventilation. For example, on a day when the outside temperature is 90 degree Fahrenheit, heat inside the attic builds up to about 140 degree Fahrenheit. This radiates into the living room and you will be required to use air conditioners and fans more often.
How proper ventilation works?
Proper ventilation is one that balances inflow and outflow of air and with cleaned air ducts. Hot air moves up. Hence balanced ventilation may be achieved by having an exhaust duct placed high and an intake duct placed low. This leads to the cyclic movement of air.
It is essential to ensure passage of air in your duct, so make sure to hire professionals to clean the ducts.
Filed under: Fort Collins Plumber
As the owner of residential property in Fort Collins, you have a responsibility towards your neighborhood and community, to institute as many sustainable, Eco-friendly practices as possible. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness towards the environment, and the need for sustainable living has never been higher than it is today. When it comes to plumbing, there are a number of Eco-friendly options now available to you. These measures help reduce your home’s water consumption rates, particularly through lower water wastage mechanisms.
Why opt for Eco plumbing?
Many individuals are turned off by the high costs to implement Eco-friendly plumbing into their homes. However, what you must realize is that although the implementation costs may be significant in the short term, you will experience great benefits over a much longer term. Eco-friendly plumbing devices such as a solar water heater will help reduce your expenditure on electricity and water every month. Moreover, installing water-smart plumbing into your faucets, toilets, and sinks will also help in reducing your utilities costs in the long term.
Eco-friendly plumbing is not just about saving water. Certain systems even enable you to collect water from washing machines or dishwashers so that you can use them for other purposes. This water can be used for gardening and lawn maintenance. Even a small act like installing your own personal water filter will help you save money by reducing your expenses on bottled mineral water. You may even want to consider implementing rain water storage tanks around your property as well.
Filed under: Plumbing Repair
If you live in a house in Fort Collins, at some point or the other, you would have had to deal with the problem of a clogged toilet, drain or sink. A clogged sink is not an uncommon problem, but it needs to be addressed as soon as possible, if you are to avoid causing pipe cracks, leaks or even bursts in the most severe cases. If you have noticed that your sink is not draining water at the rate it should be doing so, you may want to use chemical cleaners to solve the problem. However, remember that these chemicals cannot solve more serious problems. If your clogging problem has escalated, your best option would be to hire a reputable pipe repair service in Fort Collins.
Some basic problems property owners face
Toilets, drains and sinks are usually subject to large amounts of chemicals and waste materials. While the plumbing in a home should be well capable of managing this waste, what they are not built for is solid waste. Over time, fallen hair from showering or shaving can build up in pipes, reducing water flow, and causing increased water pressure build ups. Disposing of sanitary napkins, diapers and other solid waste through drains and toilets can have the same effect.
Soap scum and grease are two of the most commonly found waste materials in clogged drains. While chemical cleaners may have some effect on removing them, more often than not, this kind of clogging problem can only be solved by removing the piping and cleaning them manually.
Filed under: Water Heater Service
Water heaters account for a large amount of electricity and energy consumed within a home in Fort Collins. More often than not, if you are looking to install a water heater in your home, it will set you back a few hundred dollars, not to mention the high utilities bills you will have to pay every month. The reality is that with water heaters that use a tank, it becomes difficult to determine exactly how much hot water is required, and in most cases, you will be using energy to heat up more water than you actually need. With tankless water heaters, this problem can be a thing of the past.
Benefits of water heater replacement
Perhaps the most important advantage of tankless water heaters is the amount of energy they consume. Since tankless water heaters use burners and heat exchangers to immediately heat up water, you will never have to worry about scheduling your bath times. You can use exactly the amount of hot water you need, without wasting any extra energy.
Tankless water heaters are also far more durable than their with-tank alternatives. Most water heaters that come with tanks typically have a warranty period of approximately 5 to 6 years. Tankless water heaters can work efficiently for periods of 8 to 10 years, as long as regular maintenance service is performed.
Finally, installing a tankless water heater will also ultimately allow you to save space in your home. Water heaters with tanks can be quite bulky and usually take up inordinate amounts of space in your basement. Tankless water heaters can be hung and installed anywhere inside or outside a home, allowing you to optimize space usage in your home.
Filed under: Drain Repairs
If all the sinks or toilets in your house in Fort Collins have water backing up then you can be sure that your main drain is blocked. In such cases an expert’s professional advice is required to understand the actual problem and carry out necessary repairs. You call in professionals from Allen Service in case you experience such problems. You can also try to carry out clogged drain repairs using a plunger or chemical drain cleaner, but if the pipe is broken in some areas, it has to be repaired after locating the exact spot.
Cracked pipes
Old drainage pipes tend to rust and crack due to natural wear and tear or due to continuous use of chemical drain cleaners. Under these circumstances, the drain gets clogged by surrounding mud and debris and can be repaired only by digging up the ground around that section and replacing that section of the pipe.
Paper, debris and tree roots
If you are living in Fort Collins, which is surrounded with trees, then debris like leaves, small branches and tree roots can lead to clogged drains over a period of time if not cleared on a regular basis. People sometimes even try to flush off face tissue paper which solidifies in pipes causing elaborate clogged drain repairs. In case of such issues in your home, a number of service providers in Fort Collins can help you in getting your drains unclogged.
Filed under: Bathroom Repair
If you plan to replace your bathroom plumbing or are in the process of remodeling your bathrooms in your Fort Collins home, it is vital that the bathroom install saves you energy and money. It is important not only to improve the comfort and aesthetic factors of your bathroom, but also its efficiency and save energy. You can hire experts, like the professionals at Allen Service to undertake your bathroom plumbing work in Fort Collins.
Water conservation
From shower installation to toilets and faucets, with any bathroom install in your house, it is essential that you maintain an optimum water flow. This has become increasingly important since water wastage is an important environmental concern. Installing low-flow technology in toilets, shower heads and faucets, increases the water pressure and helps conserve water. If you think replacing all the old faucets is an expensive affair, a much cheaper option is to simply install a faucet aerator to save water. Aerators reduce the water flow while adding air when you turn on the faucet. Low flow toilet may be an expensive investment, but you’ll be surprised at the amount you’ll save in the long run.
Energy conservation
If your existing bathroom is poorly insulated, it means higher heating and cooling expenses. Make sure you include insulating the hot-water pipes during your bathroom installation. You can also replace your old and inefficient water heaters with newer energy saving models. Try to install a tankless water heater in bathrooms that don’t get used much. Energy efficient lighting, when combined with natural lighting, will help cut down your energy costs.
Filed under: Fort Collins Plumber, Plumbing Repair
While remodeling your kitchen can be very exciting, it can also lead to frustration and stress if things don’t work out as smoothly as you had planned. Small glitches and minor setbacks at the time of remodeling can lead to delay and also cost you extra funds. Below are some very common kitchen plumbing mistakes made by Fort Collins homeowners that can be avoided during the process of remodeling:
Install sink before cabinets:
Usually, when customers ask the plumber to install a mounted sink under the counter, the piping in the wall ends up being extremely high which leads to the sink getting installed deeper inside. As a result, the backside of the new cabinet has to be trimmed or cut in order to lessen the height of the piping. You might also need to get the new cabinets pulled out completely to fix the piping.
New flooring for dishwasher and cabinet:
Many a times, when plumbers come to install a new dishwasher, it is difficult to get the old one out as no new flooring was put under it. In order to cut down on cost, it was simply put around the new cabinets or the old existing ones. Fix the problem by pulling out the dishwasher and cabinets and installing new flooring under them.
Leveling:
While installing a sink on their own, many people forget the simple concept of leveling which can actually save you a lot of repair expenditure in the future.
Filed under: Air Conditioner Maintenance, Air Conditioning
Maintenance service vs service call
With 300 days of warm sunshine a year, A/C maintenance is important in the city of Fort Collins. Maintenance service helps the A/C unit to last longer as well as save on expensive repairs. It will help a technician catch minor problems and inexpensive repairs. If maintenance service is not done, the minor problem can develop into a full-blown A/C breakdown which will mean a service call and shelling out big bucks.
Timing and frequency
Even though your A/C unit may be working just fine, it is a good idea to get your unit inspected by a licensed technician from time to time. A/C maintenance service should ideally be done once a year if it’s a fairly new unit and is under warranty. At least two service maintenance schedules are recommended if it’s an old unit. Timing the maintenance service before the hot months approach is a good idea. Doing this will save you from repairs and will cost you less energy to cool your house.
What to include in an A/C Maintenance Inspection
Your experienced technician should ideally check the unit for refrigerant leaks. If a leak is found it should be repaired immediately and refrigerant that’s leaked out should be removed. The inspection should ideally capture and repair leaks in the ducts. Measuring the airflow through the evaporator coil, checking the A/C capacitor and verifying the accuracy of the thermostat is also important. Moving parts need to be lubricated and electric controls and terminals should be inspected thoroughly.
Filed under: Bathroom Repair, Fort Collins Plumber
Plan well before remodelling your bathroom
A bathroom remodelling job is quite complicated. It involves a variety of construction areas, including plumbing, flooring, work on countertops as well as fixture install. In case of a new construction, there is a certain degree of freedom, which isn’t there in case of a remodelling job. So that needs to be taken into consideration as well.
Update bathroom fixtures but not indiscriminately
Before you update any bathroom fixtures, decide which ones will stay and which one you want to get rid of. Also to keep your budget within limits and reuse as much as possible. For example, if you want to update the tub or the sink, you can retain the commode as it is unlikely to have gone out of style. If the bathroom is small, you can think of ways to increase the space with innovative use of fixtures. If it is a master bathroom, the only limit to your imagination is your budget.
Professional help is important
On paper, a bathroom remodel might seem a simple job, but once you start the complications keep multiplying. Hiring a professional to get the job done in your Fort Collins home is ideal. Take for instance the tub; if you updated to a new tub then it needs to be fitted first before the drywall construction is carried out. Similarly, if you decide to retain the old toilet a lot of work needs to be done before you can start using it. New bathroom fixtures would mean that the old toilet would have to be moved, even if by a couple changes. To accomplish this, a major plumbing job would be required.
Filed under: Efficiency Tips, Fort Collins Plumber, Plumber Tip
Before leaving Fort Collins for a vacation, you need to perform several tasks to ensure that your home is safe and secure. It is also important to take care of the HVAC and plumbing system in your home to prevent an expensive plumbing system repair after getting back from the holiday. It is important to keep the plumbing system protected if you are on a long vacation away from Fort Collins, especially if you want to avoid stepping into a flooded home. Here is what you should do to prevent unnecessary plumbing system repair.
Shut down toilet valves and heaters
It is important to turn off the water heater and other valves in your home if you are away for more than a week. Turning off the toilet valves and heaters will help you reduce energy wastage and other accidents. When you are away from Fort Collins, there is no need for your plumbing system to be active especially if you want to prevent emergencies after getting back. Once you are home, you can always turn on the heater and wait a few hours for it to work again.
Check main water pipes
Water overflowing in your main water supply is a fairly common occurrence and can be prevented as well as controlled easily. When you are going on a vacation, it is important to turn off the main water supply completely. Allowing your pipes to dry over time can also prevent them from bursting in case of water freezing or clogging. Before you opt for plumbing system repair in the holidays, it is important to hire plumbing professional for a thorough inspection to prevent accidents.
Posted on December 10th, 2014 by admin
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