Energy requirements for Hot water can account for 20% of an average homes fuel use but with Solar Hot Water Heating you can reduce or eliminate that cost from your budget. The average home even in northern areas can expect to reduce their heating costs by 50% or more with average paybacks within 15 years.
The only downsides of Solar Water Heating is the initial expense. However there are a number …
Although there are many parts that you can get to fix your sink faucet sometimes you get to the point where it is best just to replace everything.
If this is your situation then performing the work yourself is not that big a deal. You will need a few common tools and the appropriate faucet to fit your sink. Once you have everything ready the work should take you …
Active Solar depends on movement from a collector to the area that the heat will be used. Sometimes the heat is used for water heating and other times it is used for space heating.
There are two basic types of active heat collection: Air and Liquid.
Hot water heating is a good example of an Active Liquid Heating System.
A collector is placed on the roof of the building and a insulated hot water storage tank …
Black Decker Complete Guide to Home Plumbing is another coffee table book from their howto series.
It seems that more and more of the howto books that large manufacturers provide are not really for the professional but for people that like to watch professionals.
The information in this Guide is not Complete as the title says but …
Over 10 years ago back in 1994 a Federal Law mandated the use of 1.6 Gallon per flush Low Flow Toilets. This meant that companies had to rush to market designs that were less then up to the task of the standard 3.5 gallon tanks that most home owners were use to but today there have been many advancements.
As a matter of fact …
Most homes will have an outside faucet to hook up your hose in the front and back of your house but sometimes the faucet is not in a good location for watering your garden or washing your car.
Here we will cover the steps needed to install a Sillcock.
You should have a good understanding of basic plumbing.
If you feel this job is outside your basic abilities then you may want to ask a friend to help or have …
Sometimes there is a need to have access to pipes or other things that hide within our homes walls. The easiest way to provide a clean looking solution is to install a plastic access panel.
They come in a variety of sizes.
Install with only a few simple tools.
Can be painted to match your wall.
In our example we are building a basement wall. Behind the wall is our waste line clean-out.
To be able to access the pipe at a …
The newest innovation in water heaters is a tankless system. The first versions of these appliances were found in point of use installs. Point of use water tanks only support the sink or appliance they are connected to. Some point of use water heaters still have a small tank of under 10 gallons and may be installed in out buildings like a detached garage or in cabins or other low volume demand areas.
The difference between a small tank system and …
Drano www.drano.com Chemical Drain Cleaners
Oatey www.oatey.com Plumbing parts and pipe fittings
Nutone www.nutone.com Bath Fans
The main line that brings water into your home is called your service line.
For most new homes this will be a 1 inch line made of ABS or similar flexible plastic pipe that resists cracking and is considered safe for drinking water. Older homes may have various types of metal lines: Galvanized Steel, Brass, Copper and sometimes lead.
Important if you find that the line that feeds your home …