Team Electric Plumbing & Air Inc.

The proper water heater size for your property will vary depending on the total number of people living in your house. For example, a family will require a larger water heater when compared to a single couple. An average household of 3 to 4 people will need a hot water heater with a 50 – 60 gallon tank.

On the other hand, a single couple that does not have children may only require a 30 – 40 gallon water heater. In rare cases, you may be required to purchase a water heater with a 80 gallon tank or lager if you have 5 or more people living in your household. An average family with 2 adults and 2 kids will be able to survive with a 60 gallon water heater or smaller depending on factors such as water usage behaviors and appliance usage.

If you are continuously operating 2 – 3 appliances that rely on water, you may require a bigger water heater when compared to other households. For example, you may run low on hot water while you shower if you are performing a load of laundry. An excellent way to preserve your supply of warm water is to spread out daily routines such as bathing, laundry, and dish washing. Prior to purchasing a new water heater, it’s important to talk with a licensed emergency plumber in your area about water heater sizes.

A water heater that is too small is required to operate continuously to fulfill your hot water needs. Ordinary issues with overactive water heaters include broken parts and expensive repairs. On the other hand, a water heater that is too large for your house will utilize too much energy to operate. This type of problem will cause your utility bills to increase each month. To avoid costly repairs and high energy bills, we will be required to determine the exact amount of hot water your family needs on a daily basis.

The best way to choose a water heater size is to calculate the “Peak Hour Demand” in your home. This metric refers to the maximum number of gallons of water you consume per hour each day. The majority of hot water in a standard household is allocated to showers, dish washing, and laundry. If you need help choosing a water heater size for your family, give our team a call by phone at (732) 201-3305. Our emergency plumbers offer dependable water heater repair and installation services in Brick and other areas of New Jersey.

If you’ve talked with your neighbors in the past about ways to save money on energy bills, you may have been told it’s a good idea to keep your air conditioner on throughout the day when you’re not home to save money. Some people believe that it will cost more money to continuously activate and deactivate a central air conditioner when compared to keeping it on.

This is a myth that is being spread by inexperienced technicians in the HVAC field. In reality, you will spend more money each month operating an air conditioner consistently when compared to deactivating it when you’re not home. Operating a central air conditioner throughout the day will decrease the life cycle of the parts and components in the system. An easy way to add a couple of years to the lifespan of an air conditioner is to turn it off when you’re at the office or school. Another way to save money on your electricity bill is to increase the temperature on your thermostat by a single degree.

Pick a reasonable temperature to use throughout the summer to keep your household livable. In addition, purchasing a programmable thermostat is a quick and easy way to decrease the amount of electricity you utilize on a daily basis. If your cooling bills are too high, give our team a call by phone at (732) 201-3305 to discuss updating to a new two-stage or variable-speed central air conditioning system. We offer safe and dependable air conditioning repair services in areas of New Jersey such as Trenton, Middletown, Tom’s River, and Brick.

The compressor in a central air conditioner is engineered to distribute refrigerant to different components throughout the system. Once a compressor reaches the end of its life cycle, your air conditioner will be unable to remove heat from the air in your household. To help prevent issues with your air conditioner, it’s important to become familiar with the main causes of compressor failure.

Low Supply of Oil

The interior of a compressor includes motor oil that is designed to preserve internal parts, wires, and hardware. Once the supply of oil becomes too low, the total amount of friction between parts in the compressor will increase. If the oil is not restored, the parts in the compressor will begin to break. The only way to preserve the parts is to hire a licensed technician to refill the oil when it becomes too low.

As your air conditioner becomes older, the oil may begin to mix with the refrigerant. On the other hand, a low supply of oil may be due to a leak in the central air conditioner. In some cases, the cause of excess friction in an air conditioner may be due to deteriorating oil. If your system does not have enough oil, the interior temperature will start to rise and the compressor will eventually become inoperable.

Clogged Expansion Valve

Your central air conditioner is equipped with an expansion valve that is engineered to inhibit the distribution of refrigerant to the evaporator coils. The valve is integrated with the refrigerant line that connects your outdoor condenser to the evaporator coils in your house. Once the refrigerant is processed by the expansion valve, the pressure and temperature will start to decrease. After the cold refrigerant reaches the coils, it absorbs excess heat energy from the air in your household.

Due to the miniature size of the orifice on the expansion valve, it is not uncommon for a blockage to form near the valve. A majority of blockages are caused by dirt, dust, and debris in the central air conditioning system. Once the clog in the expansion valve becomes too severe, the refrigerant will be unable to reach the evaporator coils to extract heat from the air. A clogged expansion valve may lead to a backup of refrigerant in the refrigerant lines and outdoor condenser.

If your evaporator coils and compressor are not able to receive a sufficient amount of refrigerant, the compressor will become inefficient and burn out. Unless you have an HVAC license, you will be unable to eliminate the blockage in the expansion valve. To receive help with an emergency heating or air conditioning issue, give our team a call by phone at (732) 201-3305. We offer safe and trustworthy air conditioning repair, maintenance, and replacement services in areas of New Jersey such as Tom’s River and Trenton.

An obvious advantage of using PEX pipes instead of copper is price. This type of piping material is a fraction of the price of copper. In addition, it costs less money to install PEX pipes since they eliminate the need for soldering. PEX pipes are flexible and easy to bend around tight corners of households. The only way to turn a corner with copper is to integrate two pipes together. PEX pipes are also preferred by licensed plumbers because they can be color coded to configure hot and cold water lines.

Blue PEX pipes are used to distribute cold water while red PEX pipes are utilized to circulate hot water. The biggest advantage of investing in PEX pipes rather than copper is resistance to deterioration. PEX pipes do not deteriorate like in suburbs or cities with acidic water like copper pipes. If you want to replace copper pipes in your household with PEX, give our team of emergency plumbers a call by phone at (732) 201-3305. We offer water line and plumbing repair services to homeowners in Brick and other areas of New Jersey.

Loose Temperature & Pressure Valve

An ordinary location for a leak on a water heater is the temperature and pressure (T & P) valve. If the valve was recently removed to fix an issue, it’s important to confirm that it was attached properly. To fix a water leak, you may be required to tighten or reattach the temperature and pressure relief valve to the hot water heater. On the other hand, a moderate leak near the valve may be a sign the water is too hot in the tank. To alleviate this issue, we recommend adjusting the thermostat to decrease the temperature of the water in the tank.

Malfunctioning Drain Valve

If you notice a water leak near the drain valve of your hot water heater, it’s important to confirm the valve is completely closed. It is not uncommon for old water heaters to form a leak once they are drained. The easiest way to fix this type of water leak is to connect a hose cap to the valve. On the other hand, you may be required to replace a malfunctioning drain valve to eliminate the water leak in your house. Prior to replacing the drain valve, you will need to deactivate the hot water and flush the water from the tank.

Although it may be easy to conclude that the water on the floor near your water heater is due to a crack in the water tank, we do not recommend jumping to conclusions. The excess water may be due to a loose or damaged water supply line. In some cases, a crack or hole may form in the flexible supply pipes above the tank. To confirm if your water pipes are damaged, disassemble the insulation surrounding the pipes and perform a visual inspection.

If you notice a crack on a water supply line, use the water shutoff valve that is integrated with the cold water pipe to deactivate the water. Once the water is deactivated, remove and replace the flexible water supply lines that are integrated with the water heater. If you need help removing a damaged water pipe, give our team a call by phone at (732) 201-3305. We offer water heater and plumbing repair services in areas of New Jersey such as Manchester, Jackson, Howell, Brick, and Tom’s River.