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plumbing services Archives - Sirius Plumbing and Air Conditioning

June 25, 2019
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To Tankless or Not to Tankless

By | Plumbing and Air Conditioning Dallas TX

Tankless waterless systems, three myths debunked and three reasons to love them.

While tankless water heaters may be all the rage amongst the home improvement projects, they may not be all they’re cracked up to be.

How do you know if it’s a worthy investment or just very, very good marketing on the part of manufacturers?

In the spirit of full disclosure, we are a fan of tankless systems. We’ll tell you why, but first let’s debunk some of the myths that are pushing these tiny wonders to the forefront of the market.

Myth 1: You’re gonna save a ton on your utility bills. The small monthly savings that you’ll notice on your utility bill will hardly be noticeable.

Myth 2: You’ll have instant hot water. Gee, we wish this one were true. But in fact, a tankless water system still needs to convert cold water to hot. The only way you can do this instantly is via a circulation pump. So in truth, a tankless water system does not provide instant hot water in and of itself.

Myth 3: The whole thing is maintenance free. If you have soft water, that’s mostly true. But if your house runs on hard water, you’re going to need a plumber to come and flush the system on an annual / bi-annual basis. (Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.)

Now you know that tankless water systems aren’t the money saving, maintenance free, instant hot water miracle workers they are advertised to be. But they’re pretty darn close.

Here’s why we love them.

Reason to Believe 1: You’ll love the luxury. Remember when you ran out of hot water if you weren’t the first person in the house to grab a shower? Those days are over with a tankless water system. You’ll have a seemingly endless supply of hot water, no matter what the rest of the house does. The performance is unprecedented in such a small package.

Reason to Believe 2: Space considerations galore. A tankless system has such a small footprint, you can practically put them anywhere. For us in Texas, that means we can even put it in the attic, freeing up all of that great real estate in your house.

Reason to Believe 3: The thing is going to last 20-25 years. Eurpoean and Japanese technology makes the tankless water heater one of the things in your home system with an expanded lifespan.

Well, did we convince you? If you’re ready to update or replace your current hot water tank, consider going tankless. You’ll save a little bit of money, a whole lot of space, and you’ll never run out of hot water. What’s not to love?

 

Sirius Plumbing and Air Conditioning services Dallas/Ft Worth or any one of these mid cities:

Dallas, Plano, Carrollton, Richardson, Garland, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Coppell, University Park, Highland Park, Fort Worth, Richland Hills, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Bedford, Euless, Colleyville, Keller, Southlake, Grapevine, Trophy Club, and surrounding DFW communities.

We are committed to treating our customers like family. We make sure that we’re there for them when they need plumbing repairs, air conditioning repair, and hot water heater repair. We also help when people have a leaking toilet, clogged drain, or gas line repair. What’s more, we do tankless water heater installation and HVAC replacement. Get to know us better at siriuspac.com/about/.

 

June 14, 2019
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 Things I Wish My Parents Taught Me Before I Left The Nest  

By | Plumbing and Air Conditioning Dallas TX

Words of wisdom about plumbing and air conditioning from our family to yours.    

 Like many adult children who did not grow up around handy parents, the care and upkeep of your home can be a real head scratcher. What to do when certain very common problems arise can seem like a very big deal when you don’t have the experience of seeing someone fix them.

As plumbing and air conditioning pros, we get a lot of the same questions; things you probably should know as a homeowner.

Conversely, we’re parents, too, so we get it. People just not as well versed in the mechanics of our home systems (and how to maintain them yourself) as we used to be in our grandparents’ day.

The following is a list of things we wish that every up-and-coming adult is armed with the knowledge that they need to run a household — without having a panic attack every time the drain gets clogged.

Change the filter on your air conditioning system every two months. Period.

Picture this, you’re sitting at home in the middle of summer and the register just won’t kick out cold air. You mess with the thermostat, reset the system, and you just get neutral air. You stockpile on box fans, dress for the desert, and wait for the HVAC pros to come and diagnose the problem. They pull out a filter that looks like the bottom of the Dead Sea and BAM! — you just spent hundreds of dollars to get someone to change your filter. They aren’t expensive, buy 6 at a time and set a ping on your calendar to change them every two-to-three months. A clean filter will keep you snug as a bug in a rug in winter and cool as a cucumber in summer.

If you’ve got a clogged drain due to nasty hair and other gross stuff, start with an over-the-counter drain unclogger first.

Most bathroom drain clogs result when dirt, skin flakes, and especially hair binds to soap scum on the walls of drain pipes. Over time, this gunk accumulates and reduces water flow. Before you call us (and we love when you do), troubleshoot the clog by removing and cleaning the drain stopper. Next, try using the humble drain plunger, keeping in mind to block the overflow drain in the tub or sink. If that doesn’t work, remove the drain elbow joint and clean it out. Clean drain stoppers routinely to prevent clogs and use a hair strainer drain-cover to trap hair before it goes down the drain.

If you’ve noticed a sudden drop in water pressure, it might not be the plumbing.

Don’t panic. There are many possible reasons you may be experiencing low water pressure. First, check each faucet in the house to see if the pressure problem is isolated, running hot and cold water separately to see if they have roughly the same pressure. If it’s only the shower head and/or a faucet that are weak, they may just need a good cleaning. To clean a shower head or faucet aerator, simply soak them in vinegar. If pressure problems persist, the source of the problem lies elsewhere.

 If you ignore a running toilet, the water company will laugh all the way to the bank.

When you hear your toilet running, there’s usually a sign that your water bills are going to start getting unnecessarily high. Think of how much water is wasted when the toilet is constantly running. Often, it’s just a quick fix that you can do yourself. The problem is often just an open flush-valve or something small within the tank. Take a look inside — it may not be as bad as you think — and it’s definitely costing you money. (Need to make a major repair? Check out our step-by-step instructions.)

Taking the time to understand your home systems doesn’t require trade school or a budding genius. Many of the everyday items that keep the water flowing and the house heated / cooled have been built the same way over the last one hundred years, you just have to know what to look for.

And now that you’re armed with your newfound practical knowledge about plumbing and air conditioning, you can avoid the high-stressed reaction when things don’t work quite right.

In over your head? No worries, we got you. Ask “the water guys” at Sirius Plumbing.& Air Conditioning. We’re here for you.

Sirius Plumbing and Air Conditioning services Dallas/Ft Worth or any one of these mid cities:

Dallas, Plano, Carrollton, Richardson, Garland, Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Coppell, University Park, Highland Park, Fort Worth, Richland Hills, North Richland Hills, Hurst, Bedford, Euless, Colleyville, Keller, Southlake, Grapevine, Trophy Club, and surrounding DFW communities.

We are committed to treating our customers like family. We make sure that we’re there for them when they need plumbing repairs, air conditioning repair, and hot water heater repair. We also help when people have a leaking toilet, clogged drain, or gas line repair. What’s more, we do tankless water heater installation and HVAC replacement. Get to know us better at siriuspac.com/about/.