The Plumbing Blog

BIGGER IS NOT BETTER

2009-07-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

Lets change your mind set to one of my favorite topics... "saving money" there are hundreds of ways I have always saved by using less. Car pooling, shutting off the lights when I leave the room, changing over to more efficient light bulbs, properly tuning up my car and work vehicles, and tire pressure to name a few but one of the things I have been doing for over twenty five years is putting in proper size equipment into peoples homes including mine today. We call it going GREEN.

It's exciting to be in a profession that has promoted this and adapted well. We are removing old equipment at 35-55% efficiency every day and installing up to 96% efficient saving the homeowner approximately 50% on there utility bills. Also, what is not talked about much is down sizing. For example, a large amount of the homes is our neighborhoods were built after WWII with approximately 1,800 square feet, this would be a Cape Cod style home and in California possible a Bungalo style home. When these homes were built fuel was cheap unlike today. These homes had single pane glass which has since been replaced with double and triple pane windows. The front and back doors had very little if no weather stripping and today they are replaced with insulated core door and factory weather stripping. They also had very little insulation in the walls and attics, today they have all types of wall and attic insulation with over a foot in most of the attic today.

The question is why we still have the original heating unit in the basement most of these homes? We are pulling out 120,000 BTU units when they only need about 75,000!

A rule of thumb for a house that has been upgraded since WWII is...
1,800 square feet home x 40 BTU's per square foot = 72,000 BTU's
120,000 - 72,000 = 48,000 BTU's this is a major savings in heating unit size alone and now we have the privilege to install equipment that uses half the energy. This is truly a win-win for your back pocket and the environment. We will be able to leave behind for our children and grand children.

P.S That's why bigger is not better. Going green is better and feels good 24/7
P.P.S Did I forget to mention the Federal rebate money $,$$$

Kohler Commercial

2009-06-11T05:02:00.000-07:00

Three Stooges: A Plumbing We Will Go

2009-06-03T11:50:00.001-07:00

Cash for Cool, and I’m talking thousand$

2009-06-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Cash for Cool, and I’m talking thousand$

Sounds crazy but the government and the utility companies have some awesome incentives for you to add or upgrade your air conditioning system.

Why the government: They want you to go GREEN and one of the quickest and easiest ways for them to do that is for you to install a high efficient cooling system saving the country millions a year in energy by burning less coal and oil.

Why the utility companies: They need us to reduce the amount on electricity in our homes during cooling season in an attempt to prevent brown outs during the hot weather. While in extreme cooling mode the utility companies can run low or run out electricity. When they run low of electricity they have to buy it from Quebec Hydro at four times the cost. Unable to build new power plants they have come up with a more cost effective way to reduce to energy and help save the planet.

How to Conserve Water Video

2009-06-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Green Plumbing: How To Conserve Water