A plumbing safety tip for your holiday trip.

The end of year is in sight and some of us are already planning those well deserved holidays. Besides this planning of your trip, you also need to safeguard your possessions which your will be leaving behind. That is if you do not want any nasty surprises when you return.

Well we all know about having someone watch over your house; feeding the dog; removing the mail., etc. But what about unexpected plumbing problems that may occur like a burst geyser.

Geysers use thermostats to regulate water temperature, switching off the element when the maximum temperature is reached. The problem arises when the thermostat gives in. In this case the water reaches excessive temperatures which can cause a valve to burst.

Grief with Geysers

1. Geysers do leak a bit through the pressure relieve valve overflow pipe. This is normal as the water heats and cools. Anything more than a couple of litres per day (up to 8 litres on a “busy” geyser) often points to a faulty pressure control valve. This should be replaced if you note a steady flow rather than dripping.

2. Poor hot water pressure could be a number of things. Most often blocked pipes, faulty pressure valve or an old low pressure geyser (100Kpa Latco type). It’s best to ask Saban Plumbers to  evaluate the problem. It will be done as a quote if you are in our area, so there is no charge.

3. Hot water and steam coming out of a overflow pipe. This may indicate a release of the safety valve because of excessive temperature (or pressure). The most common cause is a stuck/faulty thermostat. This is a serious situation that must be attended to immediately. Switch off the geyser until its fixed.

4. Boiling geyser. Faulty thermostat. Switch off until it’s fixed. A faulty thermostat is prone (by design) to fault in the open or “off” position. In this case you just dont get any hot water. Sometimes it faults in the “on” position any the water will eventually boil. A dangerous situation that must be attended to immediatly. Switch the geyser OFF until the thermostat is replaced! See Geyser Safety .

5. Water coming out the ceiling -   if your geyser should burst or spring a major leak, switch off the water supply and open a hot tap to relieve pressure. Remember to switch the geyser OFF on the distribution (DB) board. If you know where the tap is that supplies the geyser (often close to it) then you should rather switch that tap off. You will then still have water to the rest of the house. Call a plumber to investigate. Call your insurance company!

6. Hot water coming out the cold tap during a water supply failure. This is because the geyser is not installed correctly. Don’t allow the geyser to drain dry without switching it off. This is potentially dangerous for smaller children (and plumbers!) and should be fixed.

7. No hot water. Check the geyser circuit breaker. If it’s tripped you should reset it once. If it trips again call an electrician or plumber to investigate the cause. If there is power to the geyser then it is either the element or the thermostat. Remember that you should always replace a faulty element and thermostat together, but only the thermostat by itself  if it’s only  the thermostat fails.

8. Not enough hot water or water not hot enough. Setting on the thermostat too low or geyser too small. Move the setting to 65 degrees. Geysers calcify over time and it may need to be replaced. Modern geysers work better than the old ones. It is not recommended that you run the geyser at it’s highest setting!

So out tip for your holiday trip is simple, switch off your geyser at the circuit breaker (electricity box) when going on a holiday.

Handy tip when buying a home

It is always good to do your research when buying a new home. Besides the usual checks like the beetle and electrical certificates what else do you need to know? From a  plumbers point of view, you should know the following:

if it is an old house, what is the condition of the piping in the house and do you see any signs of internal leaking for example wetness/mould in the walls?

how old is the geyser and is there a guarantee on it and has it been installed correctly with an overflow pipe and drip tray?

are there any trees growing near to the external drainage systems and are the roots of these trees affecting them?

and most importantly where are all the stopcocks?

For the first 3 questions you may need a plumber to do the check for you because you need to get a proper evaluation for these very technical questions. Your plumber will be able to give you a good evaluation as well as a the cost involved should repairs be required. Which you could then use to discount the price of the house for the use of the repairs.

Question number 4 is very important as you need to know where to cut off the water supply if you should be unfortunate enough to experience a burst geyser. Knowing where to shut off your water supply could save you a lot of frustration, money and stress.

Cape Town Plumbing Company Discounts

The Cape Town rain has been slowing down progress in the building Industry which includes the plumbing sector. Such unavoidable natural occurrences means that  companies affected need to change their strategies and concentrate on other services. At Saban plumbers we have a special on offer which applies to all our plumbing maintenance services. Our offer is to beat any written quote from any registered plumbing company.

Cape Storm Wreaks Havoc

I read a piece on my Muti rss feed last night called the calm before the storm and I never thought that the message it conveyed, would somehow be a warning to me.

Images of nature’s destructive power was visible in all the areas I’ve traveled today.  Rosmead Avenue, the street on my doorstep was filled with debris of broken branches-some piled up on the sides of the road- some still in the road.  Along the M5 closer to the William Herbert soccer grounds , fences were pumbled and the golf course flooded beyond recognition.  Along De Wet road in Ottery the scenes became worse as images of damaged roofs with missing tiles left a sense of helplessness in the pit of my stomach.  The Ottery Hypermarket was cordoned off because a gust of wind ripped apart the barge boards from the entrance overhang which resulted in many people getting injured.  The day was filled with wailing sirens from all forms of state services such as police vehicles, fire fighters and disaster management trying to aid the victims of angry Mother Nature.

Scene at the Ottery Hypermarket.

Many feel that this is just another incident in the world that we live in today and as long as it doesn’t happen to us personally, well……. that its a bullet dodged and no skin off our backs.  A close relative of mine was affected when he lost his roof today and I tell you, it is horrible to lose your most valuable form of security in such a freak manner.  I haven’t seen anything on the news yet but I know we will hear about people in shacks being displaced by today’s occurrence.  The question is how are we going to help?  Please give some ideas because South Africans need to stand together in such times and show compassion to those who have been affected.

M Saban Plumbers and Contactors

Plumbers and plumbing contractors are not necessarily the same thing. When you have a leaky tap, a clogged drain, or another common plumbing problem, you’re most likely dealing with a plumber. With smaller plumbing companies, the owner is probably a plumber and a plumbing contractor. Often, though not always, this distinction also falls in the same categories of service plumbing and construction plumbing. Self-employed plumbers may deal exclusively with plumbing services.

Plumbing Contractor Tasks
You may be surprised by just how many different services a plumbing contractor can offer. Plumbing contractors deal with anything involving water supply, the disposal of fluid waste, and water temperature control.

Here is a list of tasks that can fall under the purview of a plumbing contractor:

+ Construction of waste disposal systems

+ Gas connections and flues for systems, not including forced air units

+ All water heating units, including solar panel and hydronic heating and cooling systems

+ Installation and maintenance of safety devices such as gas control valves, water conditioning equipment and back flow prevention.

This is far from a comprehensive list. Larger plumbing companies are usually equipped to handle both service and construction requests. In this type of company, an expert plumbing contractor is often in charge of training and supervising a team of service and construction plumbers. These contractors may also consult with you at the beginning of your project, providing you with the written estimate and ensuring all building and construction codes are met. Typically, they will also inspect the final installation and/or follow up with you to guarantee your satisfaction.

Preventing Kitchen Drain Clogs

No plumbing problem is more common or more frustrating than a clogged drain.

• Kitchen sink drains clog most often because of a buildup of grease that traps food particles.
• Hair and soap are often at fault in bathroom drains.

Drains can usually be cleared easily and inexpensively, but taking some simple precautions will help you avoid stop-ups. Proper disposal of kitchen waste will keep sink drain clogs to a minimum.

• Don’t pour grease down the kitchen sink.
• Don’t wash coffee grounds down the sink. Throw them out.
• Be sparing with chemical cleaners, particularly if you have brass, steel, or cast-iron traps and drainpipes; some caustic chemicals can corrode metal pipes.
• If used no more than once every few months, cleaners containing sodium hydroxide or sodium nitrate can be safe and effective.
• Clean floor drain strainers. Some tubs, showers, and basement floor drains have strainers that are screwed into the drain opening. You can easily remove these strainers and reach down into the drain with a bent wire to clear out accumulated debris. And be sure to scrub the strainer.
• Clean pop-up stoppers in the bathroom sink and the tub regularly. Lift out sink pop-ups once a week and rinse them off.
• Every few months, remove the overflow plate on a tub and pull up the pop-up assembly to reach the spring or rocker arm. Remove accumulated hair and rinse thoroughly.
• Keep the sewer pipes from the house free of tree roots that may invade them. If roots are a particular problem in your yard, you may need to call in professionals once a year or so to clear the pipes. They’ll use an electric auger to cut out the roots.
• Flush the drain-waste and vent systems whenever you go up onto your house roof to clean out downspouts or gutters. Run water from a garden hose into all vents, giving them a minute or two of full flow.

Taken from www.allabouthome.com

Exactly how much will this plumbing job cost me?

We feel that it’s only fair to you as to know exactly what it will take to get the job done.  By allowing us to diagnose your plumbing problem, you will know exactly what needs to be done and how much it will cost you……

Great deals on plumbing maintenance

Email or fax us your best quote from any registered plumbing company and allow us to better your deal. At M Saban plumbing, our work is guaranteed and a discount in price does not mean a sacrifice of workmanship.  So call us about those leaking pipes, faulty geysers, toilets, showers, blocked drains and any other maintenance.

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Saving energy

In most cases, a home’s single largest electricity expense is water heating. This typically accounts for about 30% to 40% of the electricity account.

1. By taking a shower instead of a bath you can save hot water,
2. Normally, you use less hot water for a shower than a bath. In a bath, 12cm of hot water represents half the content of a 3000-Watt geyser, about 4 kWh of electricity is needed to heat it,
3. Get the family into the habit of plugging the water basin when washing or shaving,
4. Try not using running water. Allowing hot water to pour out of the taps and down the drain is wasteful (wasting both water and electricity),
5. Do not set the thermostat too high. A setting of 50-60°C is recommended.

Geyser

1. In order to ensure that cold air outside the geyser does not increase the heat lost from the water inside, installing a geyser blanket can be very effective. A geyser blanket may cost a couple of Rand, but the payback in electricity efficiency and electricity savings make it a good investment. It should take less than an hour to install a geyser blanket and it can last over twenty years during which it will save you much more than the installation cost,
2. To optimize electricity efficiency, geysers should be located as close as possible to the points where hot water is being used,
3. Insulated hot water pipes maintain their temperature at constant levels and prevent heat loss. Pay special attention to the insulation of the first 1.5 to two meters of hot water pipes nearest the geyser. Water pipes can be insulated with ceiling insulation material, or through the use of pipe insulators that wrap around the pipes. This also can save a lot over a twenty-year period.
4. A long one, but very important! Every time your geyser switches on it uses the same power as 50 light bulbs! The average family uses less than four hours of hot water a day. This means that the average family is paying for 600 hours of hot water a month that is never used. Most families shower / bath at particular times in the day such as the morning or evening. However, your geyser goes on and off 24 to 30 times a day. Every time the temperature drops 2 to 3 degrees, the thermostat puts the element back on and heats the water back to 65°C. The suggestion is to regulate your geyser with a similar type of time switch that regulates the swimming pool pump. Get a qualified electrician to install it next to your power board and connected to the geyser trip switch. You can then set it to switch on the geyser for example from 04:00 am to 08:00 am and then again at 04:00 pm to 08:00 pm. You can choose the times and duration to suit your family’s specific needs.
5. The alternative to 4 above is to manually switch off and on the geyser trip switch at the specified times. The two disadvantages to this is firstly that very few people will get up at 04:00 am to do this and secondly should you forget to switch the geyser on, then you’ll have to cope with all kinds of problems in the morning.

Taken from www.money-saving-tips-online.com