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How Small Plumbing Issues Can Raise Utility Bills

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One of the things I always like to mention when talking about utility bills is the word ‘overpayment’. We don’t think about our utility bills most of the time, and when we do, we accept that the utility bill is just what it is. But you may be overpaying much more than what’s necessary for your home. I don’t think any of us likes to overpay, so let’s look at how little issues with our plumbing fixtures could really be costing us each month.

If you pay for water, a dripping faucet—even if it’s just a drop every second—can add up to over 2,000 gallons a year. To get a better idea, there’s actually a pretty cool downloadable app that tells you how much water is being used by tapping your screen with the same timing as the drip. A lot of people don’t know about this, but if a dripping tub or sink faucet is using hot water, your water heater has to fill up and heat however much water is used. One drop per second is about 5 gallons per day. Imagine filling the water heater with 5 gallons of cold water that then has to be heated, even though you’re not actually using it. You’re not just using extra water at this point—you’re having to overpay on your electric or gas bill, too.

When we say a toilet is running, we don’t mean in the literal sense. It just means that the water is continuing to fill up or going into the overflow. A running toilet can use over 10,000 gallons per year, which gets very expensive if you’re paying for your water. Even if you don’t pay for water, a constantly running toilet or dripping faucet can damage the septic system. Septic systems are not made to receive a continuous amount of water. Instead, they’re only made to accept a few gallons at a time from a flushed toilet or from water going down the drain. Constant water will be enough to flood and leech out, or simply saturate the septic system and never give it a chance to dry.

Scale buildup on the water heater (e.g., an electric element with calcium buildup) is another area that causes homeowners to overpay their utility bills. On average, it leads to paying 30% more than what the bill should actually be. If you have one or two of these little plumbing issues going on in your home, you’re going to be overpaying way more on your bill every month. That’s real money you could be saving in your pocket.

We live in an area where energy is priced pretty reasonably, at least when compared to the rest of the country. Conservation might not be as much of a hot topic for us, but it’s definitely something which we should all be aware. I’d recommend people get their plumbing inspected no sooner than once a year, but no less frequently than every 3 years. Every 2 to 3 years is usually a good enough schedule. HVAC systems need to get checked twice a year, though, because they go from hot to cold depending on the season.

Diamond Club members can call to schedule an appointment for these inspections at no charge. Otherwise it will range from $150 to $200 depending on the situation. Our Diamond Club schedule is pretty full right now, so it’s definitely a good idea to call as soon as possible to set up an appointment. Reach out to the team at Wisler Plumbing by contacting us online or calling 540-483-9382.

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Garbage disposal aren’t really what they sound like they are. In reality, garbage disposals are supposed to catch the few items that might be left on your plates or pans. If you try to use a garbage disposal like a trash can, it’s simply not going to work very well.

The first problem happens if you try to put a lot of items down the disposal at once. It’s problematic because the garbage disposal simply can’t handle it—it’ll get bound up and either trip the reset button or completely stop up the drain. Even if the disposal does take the items, they’ll wash down the line and eventually cause a clog. To prevent this from happening, only use the disposal for remnants on plates or pans as you’re washing the dishes.

Next, stay away from large volumes of potato peels. They aren’t very fluffy and don’t grind up easily. Sometimes people peel a whole bag of potatoes in the sink and push the peels down the disposal expecting it to get chewed up. If you don’t have a very large garbage disposal, it won’t be able to handle the volume and texture of those peels.

Celery is another thing you should keep away from the disposal. It’s very stringy and strong, so if you try to put too much down the garbage disposal, the strings will wrap around the grinding blades and bind them up to the point that you’ll ave to take it loose and completely clean it out.

Another familiar food item that shouldn’t go down the garbage disposal is rice. Rice is capable of swelling, so it can be trouble if it’s put down the drain when it hasn’t swelled completely. When water hits it, it’ll swell and stop up the disposal or the drain itself.

Eggshells are another big no-no. They will get caught in the drain. They’re very thin and they don’t wash down.

Last is large volumes of grease. When people dump grease down the garbage disposal without running much water, it’ll sit and harden, eventually stopping up the drain.

The horsepower of your garbage disposal is also something important to consider. If you use the disposal a lot, you may want to make sure you get a 1 horsepower unit instead of a 1/2 horsepower unit.

The best thing to do is put a stopper on the drain and fill the sink with several inches of water before adding any solids. Then take the plug out and turn the garbage disposal on. All that water will help to wash the debris down as it gets ground up.

If you keep these common items away from your garbage disposal, it’s going to be in much better shape over the long run. Remember, use your garbage disposal as it’s meant to be used. It’s not a trash can. If you have any questions about keeping your garbage disposal working properly, or if you have any problems and want us to check it out, just contact us online, look us up on Facebook, or give us a call at (540) 483-9382.

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We get an influx of certain types of calls once springtime comes around. These are some of the different types of issues that we hear people running into most often.

  • Hose Faucets

First is hose faucets on the outside of the house. Most people have frost free hose faucets. If the hoses aren’t disconnected, if they’re installed improperly, or if the water was not shut off, they’ll tend to freeze. You won’t know something’s wrong until one day in the spring when you try to use the hose to pressure wash your car. Next thing you now, the hose faucet will start to spray. The reason why you don’t realize the burst happened is because it’s after the shutoff point. People often forget to take the hoses off, so they freeze and burst over the winter.

  • Outdoor Plumbing

A lot of times around the lake area, outdoor plumbing can have a burst water line if it wasn’t winterized properly. It’s usually an outdoor kitchen, plumbing on the docks, or showers around the basement area. When you try to turn the water back on, it will spray and need to be repaired.

Outdoor_showers

These problems happen most often with a second home. There are lots of things that tend to be forgotten. If any steps from the checklist are missed, you’ll have problems once you return to the lake house and get it ready for the summer season. That’s when people find issues and give us an influx of calls.

  • Bigger Items

We have a lot of main water lines and sewer lines that tend to fail in the spring. The water lines fail simply because when the ground has frozen and then starts to unthaw, it causes settling and movement to occur.

Because the trees are starting to get their leaves back, they’ll be looking for nutrients. Root growth happens most during this time, so that’s when they might make their way into the main line pipes. (We talked about this in our last blog post about drain clogs.)

If you get an annual checkup from us, these problems can be avoided. We winterize homes and outdoor plumbing systems. If you want to do an annual checkup in the spring instead, we can get everything checked out before the season starts.

No matter if it’s springtime or another time of year contact us online, check us out on Facebook, or give us a call at (540) 483-9382. We’ll get your home on the right track so you won’t have these common problems at the worst time.

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When you’re having plumbing issues, sometimes it is hard to decide whether to repair or replace your equipment. At Wisler Plumbing and Air, one of our standards is to always provide our clients with options. The costs and benefits of replacement versus repair should always be considered. In most cases, there will be more of a benefit from replacement instead of repair.

As an example, consider a homeowner that has an old toilet that continues to flush or run water nonstop. Most of the time, this problem is due to components in the back of the tank that are not functioning properly. Putting brand new parts in a toilet that is more than 20 years old will probably not be as beneficial as simply installing a new toilet. Newer options are comfort height toilets, soft close toilets, and toilets with seats that can be removed to allow easier cleaning.

While our clients still have the option of repair, these potential benefits should first be considered. It may not make sense to make a $200 investment in repairing a very old component. Considering the money spent as an actual investment instead of just a cost, it becomes a lot easier to look at the different options available and consider the advantages of looking further down the road. There won’t be any concern that the problem could occur again years in the future.

If the home was going to be put up for sale, the long term investment of replacing the component still makes more sense. The home will be more attractive to prospective buyers, and it will also likely increase the home’s overall value. Either way, the cost and benefit of replacement versus repair should always be considered. As a professional, it is our job to ask the right questions when we’re in your home. We will get the right information so we can guide you through the buying process.

There are many variables that can make a homeowner more likely to prefer replacement of a component. For instance, teenagers are usually harder on showers and toilets than a small child. Water quality and water pressure can also make a difference. High water pressure and low water quality may cause components to fail prematurely. If the component is new, it also would make more sense to do a repair instead of replacement.

Our technicians will use their years of experience to make sure they make the best recommendation. If you’re struggling with the decision of repair versus replacement, give us a call at (540) 352-4262 or contact us here.

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At Wisler Plumbing and Air, we want to make sure our customers don’t have to call us often with plumbing issues. One way we do this is by giving our clients extensive options after performing a thorough diagnosis of their problem. Those will consist of a repair option, if appropriate, and a replacement option. With a long-term solution in mind, a replacement is usually better than a repair. Whenever plumbing components fail due to age, it is probably a good time to replace them.

Components in the plumbing system have a finite lifespan, and bandaging them with a repair will mean they will need to be addressed again in the near future. This is not going to be a long-term solution. The replacement will be more costly than the repair, but it must be looked at as an investment instead of just an expense. Many times, the replacement will save money in the long run.

A specific example that comes to mind is a toilet. It would be very unlikely for us to hear a client say that they hated their new toilet. Toilets have come a long way in the last decade, becoming more comfortable and having better flushing capabilities. In just about every case, a replacement will improve the lifestyle of our client. Increased comfort from a smart investment goes a long way to prevent buyer’s remorse.

For customers who don’t know much about plumbing, we have on-site technicians that walk through the buying decision. They will give clients an understanding of the diagnosis so they can compare the products and make an educated choice. We try to do the legwork for our clients, so if and when they make a buying decision, the research has already been done for them. They will be able to get the best product for their money.

Our goal is to help save our clients money in the long run. Sometimes there may be higher costs up front, but we care about the best long-term solution so our clients will be satisfied for a long time to come.

If you have any questions about the best long-term solution for your home, give us a call at (540) 352-4262 or contact us here.

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Part of the communication training that we conduct at Wisler Plumbing and Air involves the importance of a thorough diagnosis. This diagnosis comprised of three questions: What is the problem, what caused the problem, and what are we going to do to prevent the problem from happening in the future?

While it’s possible to put a bandage on a plumbing issue, that makes it likely for the problem to resurface in the future. Instead, we must first properly diagnose the root of the problem. We have found that there are five common causes to plumbing issues: The age of the system, water pressure, water quality, improper installation, or lack of maintenance. We investigate those five main potential causes to make sure we give a thorough diagnosis.

First, is the equipment simply failing due to old age? Second, is there excessive water pressure in the lines? The high pressure could be causing damage to the fixtures. Third, is the water of poor quality? There can be high amounts of chlorine, iron, or minerals that led to component failure. Fourth, were any components installed improperly? Finally, was there a lack of proper maintenance, leading to a problem that could have been prevented?

A common example of plumbing symptoms indicating an underlying problem is a backed up drain. In the main drain line leaving the house, there could be a blockage caused by tree roots that grew into the pipe. The usual bandage fix is to send a snake or cable down the drain to open up the pipe. This does not address the actual problem (the tree root). As the roots continue to grow again in six months to a year, the problem will resurface.

At Wisler Plumbing and Air, we want to minimize callbacks. If we can fix the problem the first time around, customers won’t have to call us to bandage the same problem repeatedly. This is why we prefer to properly diagnose the underlying problem. Obviously, we don’t expect our clients to be able to know all the answers when they call our phone support. The best thing to do is to set up an appointment for a qualified technician to come to your home.

If you would like to have us take care of your plumbing’s underlying issue instead of just making a bandage fix, give us a call at (540) 352-4262 or contact us here.

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