Welcome to Ready & Able, formerly known as David LeRoy Plumbing! Although our name and brand have changed, we are still here to serve you and all of your plumbing, heating, cooling, and air quality needs!
As utility bills seem like they’re constantly rising, many homeowners are turning to more energy and water-efficient products for their homes. These are great for not only reducing your bills but also making your household more eco-friendly. Here, we’ll discuss some of the best upgrades you can make this year to your plumbing system.
A great place to start with boosting your household efficiency is investing in installing new fixtures that use less water, like high-efficiency toilets. These use significantly less water than your standard toilets, which can lower your water bills. Most standard toilets use about 1.6 gallons for every flush, while high-efficiency toilets use 1.28 gallons or less.
Another really easy method for reducing your water bills is to install faucet aerators. These are specialized devices that screw onto the end of your faucet and mix air into the water. This allows the water to come out at the same pressure but uses significantly less water. Most homeowners don’t even notice a difference when using their water when they put on a faucet aerator.
One really great option to make a big impact in your water usage is a low-flow showerhead. These work by mixing air with the water like an aeration device and can allow you to use up to 60% less water for every shower without sacrificing any water pressure. Since household showers are one of the biggest contributors to your home’s water consumption, it only makes sense to ensure you’re doing your best to reduce that usage.
One way to address your energy usage is to invest in a tankless water heater. These use significantly less energy than traditional tank-style water heaters. Instead of constantly running to heat up water on a tank, tankless water heaters only use energy when you actually turn on your hot water faucet. They can provide you with an endless supply of hot water and come in a more compact design that’s better for smaller living spaces.
If you’re looking for a cost-effective investment to reduce your energy bills, a great option is to install pipe insulation. Insulating pipes allow the water inside to remain at a more consistent temperature instead of losing its heat. This can be great in the wintertime to help keep your hot water lines warm so that you don’t have to constantly run your faucet to wait for new hot water to arrive or turn up the temperature setting on your water heater.
Another fantastic investment you can make to upgrade your plumbing system is to install a rainwater harvesting system. By collecting rainwater from your property, you can reduce your water consumption from your city’s water supply or your well for activities like gardening, washing your car, and irrigating your lawn.
If you have an irrigation system at your home, one must-have plumbing upgrade is a smart irrigation system. This controller will automatically adjust the watering schedule based on your local weather forecast and the moisture conditions in your soil. This allows you to ensure you’re using your water as efficiently as possible so you’re not wasting excess water when it’s not necessary.
If you’re like most people, you may be wasting water by leaving it running just because it’s inconvenient to shut the faucet off when you’re in the middle of an activity. For example, when you’re brushing your teeth, you may leave the water running. Unfortunately, this can lead to a lot of water waste.
A really great upgrade for your home is motion sensor faucets. These have a built-in sensor that will turn on the water when it senses motion underneath the faucet. Then, it will shut off the water when it senses there’s no longer activity going on. This is great for minimizing your water waste while making using your faucet more convenient.
One must-have for every modern-day household is a whole-house water monitoring system. This system will track your water usage, detect leaks, and even allow you to remotely shut off your water supply. This gives you full functional control over your entire plumbing system from the convenience of your smartphone. You can actively work to reduce your water usage and see how your saving tactics are working in real-time.
If you have hard water at your home, it can take a toll on all the different components of your plumbing system. From your valves to your piping and fixtures, calcium and magnesium can prematurely deteriorate any metal component and cause a buildup of sediment that can restrict water flow. A water softener system will remove those excess hard minerals from your water and work to extend the overall longevity of all the components of your plumbing system.
When it’s time to upgrade the piping in your home, a very eco-friendly choice is PEX. This holds many advantages over traditional copper lines. PEX requires much less energy to produce and fewer raw material inputs. It’s very flexible so it can bend around corners and doesn’t require extra fittings like copper does. PEX also retains heat better than copper and is resistant to corrosion.
Many of us are guilty of allowing fresh clean water to go down the drain when we’re waiting for the water temperature to heat up. One way to minimize this waste is to install a hot water recirculation pump. This allows all the hot water lines to continually recirculate through your hot water heater to keep the temperature of the water nice and warm. This way, when you turn on your hot water faucet, you get instant hot water.
Ready & Able Plumbing, Heating, and Air offers professional plumbing services for the Harrisburg, PA community. In addition to expert plumbing installation, we can also help with all your plumbing replacement, repair, and inspection needs. Simply call our office today to schedule your next service consultation.
Welcome to Ready & Able, formerly known as David LeRoy Plumbing! Although our name and brand have changed, we are still here to serve you and all of your plumbing, heating, cooling, and air quality needs!