You may already know that your heating and cooling equipment needs yearly HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) maintenance, but did you realize that you also need to call an expert for annual plumbing maintenance? Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning offers the Plumbing PLUS™ Maintenance Agreement for Longmont homeowners to help them locate issues before they become big problems. While we recommend calling immediately for plumbing problems and plan your plumbing maintenance yearly, here are a few ways you can get your home in ideal plumbing shape for spring.
- Verify any plumbing leaks
Look at both your faucets and toilets for any leaks. When you turn off your faucets check around the connections for water dripping out; if there is, replacing the fixtures or repairing the leak could help boost the faucet’s function and may even save you money on your water bill.
After the faucets, examine any exposed pipes for signs of leaks. You can often see visible pipes in the basement and under sinks. Sometimes pipes can freeze and then crack so spring is the perfect time to make sure the winter weather didn’t cause any damage or plumbing problems.
- Give your drains some much needed TLC
Examine your toilet for any leaks or cracks in both the bowl and tank. If it looks like it’s in good condition, go ahead and put about six drops of food coloring into the tank water. Wait half an hour and then check the bowl. If the bowl water is uncolored, you’re in the clear. If the color appears in the bowl, you possibly have a leak and should call a plumbing expert.
- Don’t neglect your water heater maintenance
If something foul seems to be drifting up through any of the drains in your home, it might be evidence that plumbing maintenance is necessary. A properly functioning drain shouldn’t release odors into the air. Verify there are strains inserted in all your drains to stop hair and other remains from spoiling in the pipes and resulting in a clog. Once you’ve treated them with a common drain cleaner, pour eight pints of water into drains that are not used often. This will fill the trap and help to avoid odors from sneaking in and filling up your home.
Your water heater takes great care of you so make sure you’re returning the love. Remember that newer water heaters have a higher efficiency, so if yours is more than 15 years old, it is probably about time to start looking into a new one in order to ensure you don’t have that unexpected burst of cold water for several days. Regardless if you plan on replacing your water heater, there are some things you can do to help keep it functioning properly.
Check the temperature setting on the water heater and make sure it’s not higher than 120°F. This will help decrease your energy consumption (and help lower your bills) while also evading scalding. As a safety precaution, you will want to remove anything from around the water heater. Your annual Plumbing PLUS Maintenance program includes a water heater maintenance; and it could even help your water heater operate more efficiently and avoid plumbing problems from happening.
These are just some ways of how you could help get your plumbing springtime-ready, but if you are not comfortable performing any of these tasks, you are welcome to call Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning and we can come out and perform your yearly plumbing maintenance and fix (or help prevent) any plumbing problems.