Are You Clueless About Plumbing? Look At This Piece
Fixing your own plumbing can be a difficult and intimidating thing to try. There are so many things to know, and it seems like it could be easy to accidentally break something and make the problem worse. However, taking care of common plumbing problems can be easy with the proper knowledge. Read on for some practical tips on solving and avoiding plumbing issues.
Before you start a plumbing project you should tighten all of the pipes that are easily accessible. Especially if your pipes are making a range of loud banging sounds, as this is a clear sign that there are loose pipes along the line. It is also a good idea in case there is a clog so the excess pressure released does not break a loose pipe.
In cold climate areas, sometimes the pipes in the plumbing system freeze. You can thaw them out without calling a plumber. Before beginning this process, open the faucet and begin thawing closest to the faucet and then move down the line as sections thaw out. One method you can use is to wrap the pipe with a heavy towel or burlap and then pour hot water over it, set a bucket underneath to catch the water.
Some people have problems with their plumbing system in that the pipes sweat and drip condensation. You do not have to hire a plumber to take care of this nuisance. You can purchase self-adhesive drip tape from your local hardware store. This drip tape will insulate your "sweating" pipes which are dripping with moisture built up from condensation. To make sure the tape sticks firmly, dry the pipe thoroughly before applying the tape.
You can remove unsightly mineral buildup from your shower head by soaking it in vinegar overnight. This loosens the deposits, and in the morning you only need to wipe off the residue with a rag. If your shower head is high up an not removable, place vinegar in a plastic bag, slip the bag over the shower head and hold in place with a twist tie.
Put strainers in the bottoms of your drains to stop any clogging agents from escaping down the drain. Your kitchen sink strainer needs cleaning every time something big gets stuck in it. Bathtubs should be equipped with strainers as well, and they too will need to be cleaned regularly.
If you have problems with a slow drain, there are easier things you can do other than removing the pipes to clean it. There are certain tools made just for this purpose that you insert into the drain to loosen the clog so it washes away or grab it and remove it completely.
Always HVAC Contractor clean the lint from your dryer. This will help your dryer to work better and may also prevent fires. Check your lint trap for holes to make sure the lint is not going in your plumbing system.
If you have an underground leak in your pipes, it is possible to detect the leak before digging. Today's leak detection equipment is very sophisticated and modern, allowing technicians to detect and pinpoint exactly where leaks are before they go about trying to fix them with professional grade equipment for you.
Plumbing can be a very effective skill to have in your tool belt for whatever needs you may have. You may already know the basics and want to know how to save time and money by doing repairs, yourself. No matter your reasons, hopefully, the tips in this article has given you some ideas.
Can the AC filter in your home, office or local mall protect you from Covid-19?
When New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that malls in New York could not reopen until they installed high-efficiency particulate air filters capable of trapping the virus that causes Covid-19, Harvard environmental health researcher Joseph Gardner Allen was thrilled.
"I've been writing consistently since early February about how healthy buildings should be the first line of defense against the novel coronavirus," said Allen, who directs the Healthy Buildings program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
"I'm really grateful that we have a leader in the country -- somewhere -- who was finally talking about healthy buildings, ventilation and filtration," Allen said. "That hasn't happened before. It just hasn't happened."
A push to action
Allen was one of 239 scientists who wrote an open letter to the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies, asking for a change in their guidance to the public on how the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2, can spread.
Current guidance only focuses on "hand washing, maintaining social distancing, and droplet precautions," according to the letter, published Monday in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The health agencies are ignoring the tiny droplets of virus that sputter and spray from our mouths, become aerosolized and then float away into the air, the scientists said, as a likely means of transmission.
"They don't want to talk about airborne transmission because that is going to make people afraid," co-author Donald Milton, a professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland, told CNN in a prior interview.
"The best vaccine against fear is knowledge and empowering people to take care of themselves," Milton said. "Why wearing a mask is important is because it blocks the aerosols at their source, when it is easy to block them."
MERV ratings
In his edict to New York mall owners, Cuomo was talking about HEPA filters, which have the highest MERV ratings, between 17 and 20.
What's MERV? It stands for "minimum efficiency reporting value," and it's how filters are rated in their ability to trap tiny particles. The MERV ratings go from one to 20: Filters with higher MERV ratings are more effective than filters with lower ratings.
At the highest end, HEPA filters are used by hospitals to create sterile rooms for surgeries and to control infectious diseases, and are able to remove 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria and other airborne particles with a size as small as 0.3 microns. For comparison, Covid-19 is thought to be between 0.06 to 1.4 microns.
"Filters are rated at their worst performance, so 99.97% is the worst it will do," Allen said. "And that's rated for a particle size of 0.3 microns, but smaller and larger it actually does better. So the point is that it's capturing nearly all particles."
Unfortunately, most businesses and home owners may find it difficult to retrofit their existing system to accommodate a HEPA filter, or any filter higher than the rating recommended by the system's manufacturer.
Doing so can actually impair the system's performance: Smaller pores in HEPA air filters make it more difficult for it to push air. Using denser filters can affect the efficiency of the unit and strain the fan, while decreasing indoor air quality -- the opposite of what you desire.
"HEPA filtration is not always going to be feasible or practical," Allen said. "But there are other filters that can do the job. What is recommended now by the standard setting body for HVAC is a MERV 13 filter."
High-efficiency filters in the 13-to-16 MERV range are often used in hospitals, nursing homes, research labs and other places where filtration is important.
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