Apr
13
One of the easiest ways to save some money and live a greener life too is by making your home more energy efficient. Making your home more energy efficient is not a difficult task – you can use the following tips to get you started. Before you know it, you will have an energy efficient home and you will save some bucks, too.
Windows – A home loses heating and cooling through the windows – especially if the windows are old. Weatherstripping around the doors and windows can also age, crack and chip away, allowing gaps for cold air to enter your home. By replacing your windows, you can save anywhere from 7 to 24 percent in your average electric bill each month. Make sure you reap the rewards by investing in energy saving windows and storm doors. Yes, there is an initial cost of installation, but over time, your investment will pay for itself in energy and money savings.
Insulation – Another way a home loses valuable heating and cooling is due to lack of sufficient insulation. You may think the insulation in your attic and walls is sufficient – but if you have an older home, chances are it could be improved. With conventional stud walls, blown in insulation can greatly improve your comfort level and help reduce your heating/air conditioning bills as well.
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Apr
12
What To Consider Before Buying New Bathroom Fixtures
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When you want to give your bathroom a quick makeover, adding new fixtures is an easy way to go. New bathroom fixtures can make your bathroom look brand new. You can choose to replace a few, key fixtures – or you can go all out and replace them all. Either way, adding new bathroom fixtures will give you the jazzed-up look you want without the price of a full renovation.
There are a few things to consider before you buy your new fixtures. Keep these things in mind and you will soon have the bathroom you want.
Choose a theme – before you hit the home improvement store, you need to know what theme you want throughout your bathroom. Do you want an antique look? A modern look? Retro? You have many options when it comes to a theme, so find the look that appeals to your sense of style. Read more
Apr
6
Why A Green Plumber Is Your Best Choice For An Energy Audit
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One of the most common misconceptions people have about going green is that you must make huge changes and give up all the luxuries of life to do any good. That simply isn’t true. Instead of looking at it like you’ll be giving something up, look at it for what you will be gaining instead. In most cases, it may not cost a lot of money up front to go green … and in fact you may end up saving money overall.
None of Earth’s resources will go on forever. Everything has a limited supply, its just a matter of how long we have until it disappears. And water is one of our most precious resources. We simply can’t exist without it.
Green plumbing puts the focus onto what’s most important … conserving our most precious resources. Right now, one in six throughout the world do not have access to safe drinking water. While that may not seem to be something we focus on here in the US, if everyone does their part, it really can make a difference. Read more
Apr
5
10. Toilets are musical – rumor has it the great majority of them will flush in the key of E flat.
9. Think we’ve always separated out mens and womens toilets? Think again. That way of life didn’t start until a high society party in Paris made it fashionable in 1739.
8. The US spent over $100,000 on a study to determine how people hung their toilet paper – flap in front or behind. The results: 3 out of 4 have the flap in front.
7. Just like beds have progressed in TV-land, so have toilets. The first toilet was shown on the television show Leave It To Beaver. The first flushing toilet was shown in the movie Psycho. And as you can imagine, the scene in Psycho caused an enormous amount of complaints about indecency. Read more
Mar
30
Who Invented Plumbing?
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When you flush your toilet or drain your bathtub, you probably never give a second thought to your plumbing – unless, of course, it is not working right.
Plumbing has become an essential part of our lives. It is needed for a variety of sanitary reasons and also for the comfort factor. Imagine living in a home with no plumbing – that would be quite a hardship. No running water to help cook dinner. No hot water to enjoy a shower on a cold snowy morning.
Plumbing has been around for a long time. But when did it start? What was the first attempt in history to make our lives easier with plumbing? Just these few facts from history will help you appreciate it every time your toilet flushes and your tub drains. Read more
Mar
28
If you’ve lived in your home for a number of years, you probably won’t think much about what type of water heater you should buy. Because your home is already set up using either an electric or gas water heater, unless you are willing to go through an entire home renovation, you’ll probably stick with the same system.
Yet if you are building your new home from the ground up, the choice will be there.
A gas water heater, in general, is cheaper to use and will create hot water faster. The larger your family, the more water you demand through a large home, the more benefits a gas water heater will have. Yet the one drawback is location. A gas water heater cannot be installed in a living area, and must be kept out of bathrooms or bedrooms.
Electric water heaters can be installed almost anywhere. While most people think electric water heaters are outdated devices, they have had major improvements since their invention. They can be installed under your sink or in tight locations – perfect for small living spaces, such as condos. Read more
Mar
23
What Is Green Plumbing?
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In today’s society, living a “green” life is becoming quite popular. Living green means you are doing your part to help protect and preserve the environment and the planet.
There are many ways that you can do your part for the environment and planet. You can drive a hybrid automobile or, even better, not drive at all and utilize bicycles. You can use energy-saving lights and appliance, and you can make recycling a part of your daily routine. Another way to live a green life is with green plumbing. Read more
Mar
22
As a green plumber and water conservationist, we look at water in a slightly different way. Which is why we are happy celebrating World Water Day 2012 today.
Do you know how much water you actually consume every day? Do you know how you can change your diet and reduce your water footprint? That’s the heart of this years World Water Day campaign, Water and Food Security.
With more than 7 billion people on earth in need of food and water, and another 2 billion expected to join Earth by 2050, food and water is at the heart of survival. Statistics show that it takes about 1500 liters of water to produce 1 kg of wheat. Yet it takes 10 times more to produce 1 kg of beef. If we are going to feed all the people on earth, we need to look differently at the way we create food. And because all food requires water to produce it, it ultimately comes down to water conservation. Read more
Mar
16
Nothing gives you a worse feeling than when you flush the toilet or pull the drain plug on your tub, only to find the water not draining.
This is a sure sign of a clog, and unfortunately, you have no idea how far-reached the clog really is.
Clogs are often the result of a build-up – for instance, hairs becoming stuck to the sides of your pipes. It may take weeks or even months, yet build up eventually occurs and the water will no longer flow.
If you are faced with a clog, your first instinct might be to get a liquid drain cleaner. These harsh chemicals may or may not work – all you can do is try them. However, not only are they not good for the environment, they may only remove part of the clog. In many cases, they do nothing at all for the clog and you have simply wasted your money. Read more
Mar
15
Whether you are buying a new home or upgrading your current home, one of the best ways to have a new look is to update your appliances.
When you first begin thinking about appliance choices, your mind will probably go straight to color. Do you stick with traditional white? Do you upgrade to stainless steel? Or should you try custom designs that will match your cabinets?
Once you have made your color choice, the next step is to examine whether you prefer gas or electric. If you have one or the other in place, you may prefer to stick with what ou have. Yet if you are redesigning your kitchen, now may be the perfect time to make a change.
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- Quality 1st Plumbing website - Quality 1st Plumbing website
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- WaterSense