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How to Save Money at Home

Customer Service

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Everybody loves to save money, but sometimes we don’t really connect how much money our homes are actually costing us, especially when it comes to our utility bills. We just tend to pay our monthly bill without giving it too much thought. However, a home’s heating and air comprises 40%-50% of the utility bill. If you add up the dollar amount over a year or more, it’s a significant expenditure. I’d highly recommend that you think about the efficiency of your HVAC system, whether it’s been maintained, how old it is, and whether it’s recently been checked by a professional. From there, you can take a few steps on your own to get the most efficient use out of your system.

 

Change Filters

By not changing the filters in your house, you’re slowing down the airflow to the HVAC system. It can only put out as much cold or warm air as it’s able to take in. So, if the filter is clogged up and there’s not much air getting in, you won’t have very much conditioned air or heat coming out of your vents, either. Dirty, clogged, or even the wrong kind of filter will harm the system both in the short term and long term. The system might even starve for air to the point that it could overheat or freeze up. All of these issues can be prevented by simply changing the filter.

Gas or Electric?

Most people don’t think about whether they have gas in addition to electric as an option in their home. If you have gas availability, it’s much more efficient for both HVAC and water heating. Whenever it comes time to replace a water heater or an HVAC system, gas is something you should definitely consider because of its efficiency.

 

Flush the Water Heater

In terms of plumbing, flushing your water heater can have a significant impact on efficiency. (Hard water causes buildup on the heating elements at the bottom of the heater.) The US Department of Energy says that ¼ inch of scale buildup caused from calcium or hardness in the water reduces the efficiency of an appliance by 30%. It’s very important to make sure your water heater is flushed so that any sediment buildup is removed.

 

Address Water Hardness

A water softener or water treatment system is probably the most significant step you can take to improve efficiency in your home. (Not to mention, you’ll have to use less soap with soft water.) Think of it this way: if you’re putting fuel adulterated with water into your car’s gas tank, the poor fuel quality will make its way through your car’s internals and mess everything up. A car just isn’t made to run off of fuel with water in it. The same thing goes for your plumbing system—water would be considered poor quality if it has hardness (calcium) in it. As it makes its way through the pipes, water heater, faucets, and drains, it’s going to cause problems in the system. It might lead to buildup in appliances like the washing machine or dishwasher and cause them to fail quickly.

 

Set A Lower Water Heater Temperature

I would encourage everyone to know the satisfactory temperature of hot water in their home. It’s pretty simple to find this out—you can even use a cooking thermometer or grill thermometer to take the measurement. Just turn on a faucet or shower, get a cup, and use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water you use every day. (It should be at a comfortable level.) The important thing here is you don’t want your water heater to be set too high. If you don’t ever run out of hot water, there’s no need to turn the water up way hotter than you need. It’s actually better to turn the hot water on or close to all the way on instead of mixing it with a lot of cold water to reach a satisfactory temperature. Remember, you’re paying to heat the water up from its incoming temperature (generally 50 to 60 degrees F). The higher the water heater’s setpoint, the more it’s costing you to heat the water. If you’re not even using water at that high of a temperature, setting it lower will prevent you from overpaying on your utility bill.

If you want a professional opinion, we can send a couple of different people to your home and give you an efficiency report. We have someone who specializes in HVAC, plumbing, and water treatment, and they are aware of how those components affect a home’s overall efficiency. To find out more, request an appointment, contact us, or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

 

 

 

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Right now, we’re really focusing on bringing on apprentices onto our team. We do hire people with no experience in all areas of the field, whether that be water treatment, plumbing, HVAC, HVAC/plumbing installation, or HVAC techs. Although someone might not have any experience or have absolutely no idea what they’re getting into, we can put them through a training program specifically suited for what they’ll be doing. One thing every technician within our company is definitely going to experience is a lot of training. It’s centered around the technical aspects of the job, but it also covers soft skills like how to communicate important details to our clients in an effective manner. The training process will take a different amount of time for everybody, but it generally takes around 6 to 8 months for someone starting at a very low skill level.

 

People coming from factory or assembly line work regularly tell us that they were tired of doing monotonous tasks. Some people just don’t thrive in an environment where they do the same thing over and over, every day. Fortunately, a tech’s day-to-day activities are very diverse. Our technicians visit one or more homes on a daily basis. The job could involve a shower faucet one day, then a toilet or a water heater on the next. The customer’s needs always keep things interesting and fresh.

 

Almost every aspect of a homeowner’s life is tied to relying on working plumbing (like running water, a working toilet, a working kitchen sink, etc.). Sometimes they can be upset about a problem or fearful about what it might cost to have it repaired. When we repair one of those fixtures to make them functional again, or even when we upgrade them to work much better, the job that we’re doing is extremely fulfilling. This is truly a customer service industry, and we sometimes say that we’re here to repair the client. I think we have the opportunity to really impact people and build relationships while we fix their plumbing problem.

 

One of our main values is family. (You can use the word team here whenever it’s in a professional setting). Whenever I think about family, what comes to mind is the people who have my back, those who I can count on, and those who I can be open with. But the idea of family also comes with expectations, tension, challenging times, and tough conversations. Those things exist in healthy families, and they are imperative for growth. I think it is very rewarding to be part of a family/team with all these qualities. If you get stumped on a plumbing problem as a technician, you can call another technician or manager for guidance and support. Our service managers have technical ability because they’ve been in the field themselves. I think that’s what brings the family atmosphere together.

 

For anybody interested in learning more about joining the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air and perhaps becoming an apprentice technician, visit WislerJobs.com. Once you apply online, Maryanne will field the application and start you through our process.

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We recently got together as a team and talked about trust and integrity. These two words are fundamental to our culture and all the team members who make up our organization. How we act as an employer along with how we act as a company to our clients and to the community at large is very important. When we build relationships with our clients and our fellow team members, those relationships are centered around trust. In my opinion, it’s the foundation of any relationship.

 

Being trustworthy is made up of two important components: first, honoring your commitments and doing what you say you’re going to do. The second is owning up to your mistakes and acknowledging when you dropped the ball. After all, we’re not perfect—we all have times when we didn’t follow through on something important. Trust is not built from a single service visit or one month of being employed on our team. It’s built over a much longer period of time. The more we’re consistent across many service visits or month after month of employment, the more trust we build within our relationships.

 

Our clients place their trust in us when we go into their homes, maybe to provide a product or service that they know next to nothing about. They trust that we are fulfilling our responsibility to do the due diligence necessary to offer a fair price. I group all that into just doing business honestly. Rarely does the work cost less than what we thought it would be—it usually costs more, but the important thing here is that clients can place their trust in our organization and can be confident we’re doing fair business.

 

Other ways we build trust with our clients is the fair and consistent pricing and the warranty we offer.  We ensure our prices don’t fluctuate so that each homeowner pays the same amount for the same service.  In addition, when a customer needs a service or replacement on a large appliance, the customer may feel vulnerable.  When a company offers a warranty on their products/services, there’s less risk for the customer.

 

We stand behind our warranty with our 100% satisfaction guarantee.  That means if there is a problem, the homeowner can pick up the phone and give us a call so we can take care of the issue.

 

If you have any questions or need our services, reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air today. You can request an appointment online, contact us, or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

 

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Most people don’t think about their water heater and how it needs maintenance, but it’s just like any other piece of equipment. Our car, house, and even our own bodies need maintenance. If we don’t exercise and eat healthy, we’re probably not going to last as long. If we don’t change the oil in our car, it won’t last as long, either. Maintenance is just a good idea, but it can also be a way to save money.

Most people don’t realize that buildup occurs in the water heater, especially if there’s hardness in the water. Calcium is dissolved in hard water, but as it is heated, the calcium solidifies and accumulates either on the element of an electric heater or on the bottom of a gas water heater. The layer of calcium buildup acts as an insulation barrier, which means the water heater has to work harder to do the same job. Therefore, it will cause over-payment on your electric or gas bill. To help reduce buildup, we will flush the water heater.

The tank that holds the water is kind of like a settling tank. If there’s debris, sediment, or calcium, it’s going to settle to the bottom of the heater. The tank will corrode very quickly if it’s got a bunch of sediment and gunk at the bottom. That’s going to cause premature failure, and we solve that by flushing the tank as well.

We also check the anode rod when we maintain a water heater. (The owner’s manual says this should be done as part of proper maintenance.) The anode rod is there to protect the metal that makes up the tank itself. Once the anode rod is completely depleted, there is no protection left. If we replace the anode rod when it depletes, we can add a couple of years to the life of the water heater (which saves you money).

If it’s been a while since you had your water heater checked and maintained, just reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing & Air. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

 

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When it comes to choosing a new heating and air system, I think it would be wise to pay attention to three main priorities: comfort, safety, and money savings. Here are some questions to ask as a good starting point.

Comfort

Improving airflow goes a long way toward improving a home’s overall comfort level. Someone might decide to replace the heating and air system because they always have to bundle up with a blanket on the couch, or because a bedroom or basement is much colder than the rest of the house. But before taking out an existing system just to put the exact same thing back in, you might want to ask the question, can the issue be solved by redesigning the ductwork or putting in an extra return instead? In many homes, the original design of the heating and air system isn’t very good. You’ll want to optimize the airflow (out of the vents and through the return) in bigger rooms and/or rooms with high heat loss.

There could also be issues with the sizing of the actual system itself, especially in tract homes or contractor-built homes where they try to skimp on the size of the unit. The basement might be colder than the rest of the house because the thermostat is upstairs and there’s no way to regulate the temperature (which we fix by using zones). The bottom line is, you should focus on comfort. On a hot or cold day, ask yourself, is there anywhere in the home that I’m not comfortable? The question could be explored by a consultant or professional.

 

Safety

When it comes to safety, air quality is a relevant consideration for every system. It’s pretty rare for a heating and air system to have mold inside of it simply because of the sheer amount of airflow. But if the system hasn’t been working properly, the filters haven’t been changed, or the vents have all been shut off, airflow will be drastically reduced. This can cause condensation and lead to moisture buildup, which is the perfect environment for mold growth when combined with a warm area. Mold is definitely a safety concern for the health of the individuals in the home.

 

For natural gas units, LP (liquid propane) gas units, oil-fired systems, or maybe even diesel units (if the system is extremely old), it’s important not to minimize the concern for safety. A good question to ask is, Do I have a gas system? From there, you might want to ask, is it vented properly? Is it up to code? Maybe have the flames tested to see if they burn clean. Those issues can influence carbon monoxide, which could actually go into your duct system and be dispersed throughout the home.

Money Savings

How much it costs for a heating and cooling system to do its job can result in overpayment. You’ll want to ask, how old is my system? What is the current SEER rating? Is hot or cold air being wasted from leaks as it travels through the ductwork? The current SEER rating gives you an idea of whether or not the system is as efficient as necessary. Technology has come a long way over the last 20 years, so if you have a system around that age, it’s probably largely inefficient and costing you extra money each month to heat or cool your home.

We offer both heat and cool checks, depending on the time of year. These checks are free right now, so if you call in and get it scheduled, we’ll uncover any issues when it comes to comfort, safety, and money savings. Contact us online or give us a call at 540-483-9382.

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James Wisler, Owner of Wisler Plumbing and Air

Our technicians have the biggest hearts. And, right now, we have a little extra time on our frequently-washed hands. So, we want to help.

Stuck at Home and Need Help?

If you’re stuck at home with plumbing or heating problems, you can talk with one of our certified technicians for FREE. We can troubleshoot on the phone or video chat. If your parents in Illinois need help, we’ll talk to them, too. Anyone with a phone or laptop can be a complimentary customer of Wisler Plumbing and Air. And, if needed, we can come to you for a more traditional visit. Sorry, visitations are only for those in our service area (although we may be able to recommend some of our plumber friends in other areas).

Call anytime: (540) 483-9382

Reducing Fear.

For some, uncertain times come with uncertainty around finances. We want to ease as much fear in your life as possible. That’s one reason we offer free Without Worry Comfort Checks and free phone consultations. The next time you speak with us, if you’re fearful of payment, ask about our payment plans. Water, heating and air, and plumbing are essential, money should not be an obstacle.

Look for the Helpers.

Mister Rogers once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.’”

We’re Wisler Plumbing & Air, and we want to help. We’re in this together. We have your backs, just like you have ours.

P.S. – And thanks, Dad, for teaching us how to be the helpers.

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