Know How to Keep Your Water Heater Running Efficiently

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Your water heater provides your home with hot water for showers, baths, dishes, laundry, and other household tasks. Using hot water can lead to higher energy bills unless you’re using your unit efficiently. The following tips can help ensure that your home has enough hot water without raising your energy bills.

Adjust for Vacations

If you’re going to be away on vacation, you don’t have to keep your water heater at its current setting. Instead, you can switch it to its lowest setting when no one will be home for a few days or more. This helps lower the amount of energy it uses during this time, leading to lower energy bills.

Look for Leaks

Check for leaks or water around your unit on a regular basis and have repairs made as soon as they're needed. You should also check for other signs of problems with your water heater, such as odd noises. Having repairs done promptly helps keep your unit in good condition over a longer period of time.

Lower the Thermostat

Turning the thermostat down on your water heater can help you save money on your energy bills. Lower the thermostat to 120 degrees and you’ll still have water that’s hot enough for household use. With a lower water temperature, your unit won’t use as much energy when it’s running, resulting in lower energy bills.

Clear Space

Your unit should have at least 2 feet of space around it — or as much space as the manufacturer recommends. Having this much clearance around your unit helps ensure that it’s able to run without any obstruction.

Add Insulation

Newer units might not need this, but an older unit should have insulation around it. This helps the unit maintain heat so it won’t have to use as much energy when it’s running. Adding insulation to older units can help during the winter, especially if your water heater is in the garage or another unheated location.

If you need additional help, please contact Air Assurance. We can help ensure that your Broken Arrow home has plenty of hot water for daily use.

Which Immediate Plumbing Issues Could Come Up This Winter?

Winter is the busiest period of the year for many plumbing companies. The challenges that the season poses to plumbing systems usually lead to certain household plumbing emergencies. Below are the immediate plumbing issues that commonly come up in the winter, along with what you can do to avoid them.

Frozen Pipes

The cold temperatures outside can make unprotected pipes freeze easily, one of many troubling and immediate plumbing issues. Frozen pipes are one of the most serious plumbing issues. Frozen pipes can crack or burst and lead to thousands of dollars' worth of damage in just minutes. You can avoid this issue by adding insulation to your pipes, especially those in uninsulated areas and on exterior walls.

Water-Heater Failure

Your water heater works its hardest in the winter, which increases its likelihood of breaking down. If your unit fails to deliver hot water or struggles to meet demand, it may be necessary to repair or replace it.

Having your water heater serviced every year is essential to keeping it performing as expected. Nevertheless, water heaters function optimally for around 10 years. If your water heater is on its last legs, consider scheduling a replacement.

Clogged Kitchen Drains

With low temperatures, kitchens, and kitchen sinks get a workout as people cook more. More fat, grease, and bits of food are sent down the drain. Clogs occur more often, as the food waste clumps, congeals, and freezes in the cold.

You can prevent your kitchen drains from clogging — one of many immediate plumbing issues — by avoiding putting any grease or fat down the drains and not grinding fibrous, sticky, or extremely hard objects in the garbage disposal.

Frozen Septic or Sewer Lines

The waste inside sewer lines can freeze as the ground around the lines freezes. The waste expands gradually as it freezes and may eventually burst a line or the septic tank. Have your tank pumped before the cold winter months to remove waste and prevent this problem. Schedule a comprehensive plumbing inspection if your sewer system has had any issues during the year.

Proactive maintenance goes a long way toward preventing plumbing emergencies. For assistance with any immediate plumbing issues or maintenance in the Broken Arrow area, contact us at Air Assurance.

What Winter Plumbing Issues Are Most Common?

Broken Arrow's cold winter weather tends to amplify certain plumbing issues. Knowing more about these winter plumbing issues, including how to prevent them, helps you save time and money on repairs. Here's a closer look at the common winter plumbing problems you may encounter.

Frozen Pipes

It's not unusual for outdoor and indoor pipes to freeze during the winter months. You can have a buildup of water around your outdoor spigots. Frigid temperatures can make the water freeze, which leads to excess pressure, which can cause your pipes to break or leak.

To prevent your pipes from freezing, disconnect all your garden hoses from exterior taps. Use insulated faucet jackets to cover the taps. If some of your water pipes run along exterior walls behind cabinets, open the cabinets at night to allow warm air to reach them.

Clogged Drains

Increased kitchen use in the winter can cause significant chaos in your plumbing system. Food accumulates more easily in your pipes during the winter.

If your home lacks a garbage disposal, you should throw as many food particles as possible into the trash. Even if you have a garbage disposal, you should throw any questionable food scraps in your trash bin, because your winter comfort foods could solidify in your pipes. Also, grease can significantly damage your pipes. Avoid pouring it down the disposal or drain.

Failing Water Heater

The temperature drop can overtax your water heater. You may suddenly have no hot water due to several reasons. The pilot light on your gas water heater may have gone out. The temperature gauge may not be at the right temperature. Excess residue may also be seeping into your water tank and overstraining your system. You can avoid significant problems by having your heater looked at by a professional early in the season.

Even if you don't have a winter plumbing issue now, it's always a good idea to schedule preventive maintenance to make sure your plumbing system is ready for the winter. For more information on winter plumbing concerns, contact the experienced plumbers at Air Assurance. We offer a range of plumbing services, including repairs, remodels, and a Plumbing Service Plan to ensure your Broken Arrow-area home's plumbing system works correctly.

From Cooking to Bathing, Keep Your Water at the Right Temperature

Your water heater does a lot for your home. It gives you hot showers, clean dishes, and much more. However, if it's not set to the right temperature, it can cause problems — especially in winter, as the cold weather can affect its operation. What's the right temperature for your water heater? Here's a guide to controlling the water temperature in your home.

The Sweet Spot

If your water temperature is too low, it can foster bacteria inside the tank, making the water unsafe to use. However, if the temperature is too high, the extra heat drives up your energy bills between three and five percent for every 10 degrees extra. Not to mention that water that's too hot can cause scalding, particularly in young children.

So what's the sweet spot for water temperature? It depends on a number of factors, but for the average person, the Department of Energy recommends 120 degrees. There should be a dial on the side of your water heater that displays the temperature and allows you to raise or lower it. Some people may require a higher temperature, but it should never, ever be lower than 120.

Special Circumstances

When controlling water temperature, there are certain factors that might require it to be a bit higher for your household. For instance, if you have someone in your home with respiratory issues, or problems with their immune system, you should turn the temperature up to 140, to reduce bacteria more effectively.

Another factor is your dishwasher. Does it preheat the water it uses or use the water from your water heater as-is? If it's the latter, you should turn your temperature up to 140, to make sure your dishes get clean enough.

On the other hand, if you have young children or elderly family members living in your home, keep the temperature at 120. Their skin is more sensitive, and hotter water can cause third-degree burns within seconds.

For more help controlling water temperature in your home, contact us at Air Assurance today. Our home-comfort solutions save money and energy for the Broken Arrow area.

Expansion Tanks & Why They're Important

If your home’s utilizes a boiler and radiators for heating, expansion tanks are an important factor. Hydronic heating produces energy-efficient home comfort as water heated by the boiler circulates through radiators in each room. However, one specific fact of physics presents an issue: Water expands when heated. As the water volume inside a closed hydronic system increases with heat, the mounting pressure has nowhere to go and could potentially trigger pressure relief valves, over-stress system components, and degrade reliability. That’s where expansion tanks come in to relieve that pressure.

Here’s how an expansion tank protects your heating system:

• Connected to the water line between the boiler and radiators, the tank is divided into two segments: an upper half that receives water expanding under heat and an empty lower half that contains only pressurized air. A flexible rubber diaphragm separates the two halves of the tank.

• When the system cycles on and the boiler is heating, water volume in the system expands. The resultant pressure increase pushes water into the top half of the expansion tank. The flexible rubber diaphragm expands downward to accommodate this influx and moderating pressure in the system, preventing actuation of relief valves and/or damage to components.

• When the system turns off, water cools and system water volume decreases. Air pressure in the lower portion of the expansion tank pushes against the rubber diaphragm to expel water out of the upper portion and back into the system. This ensures that system water volume always remains in the safe range, without admitting air into the system.

Here’s a quick way to check expansion tank functioin. While the system’s running, feel the upper part of the tank. It should feel noticeably warm to the touch. The lower portion, however, should feel like room temperature. If both the upper and lower portions of the tank feel warm, contact a qualified HVAC service provider to check the condition of the internal diaphragm and make necessary repair or replacement.

For more information about the installation and maintenance of expansion tanks, contact the professionals at Air Assurance.