With winter almost officially here, now is the best time to ensure none of your pipes, or your water meter, are exposed to cold air. Pipes within any outside-facing walls are at special risk of freezing.

Consider the following simple tips to prevent frozen pipes:

• If your pipes run through cabinets on outside-facing walls, keep the cabinet doors open during cold spells. This lets the interior warmth reach your plumbing.
• If your water meter is in an outside pit, ensure the cover fits properly and has no cracks.
• If a pipe freezes, never attempt to thaw it with an open flame.
  • Shut off your main water valve.
  • Call a licensed plumber immediately.

Water utilities are responsible for water mains and pipe lines that connect to your home, but not pipes located on your property. If a pipe bursts on your property, call a plumber immediately for repairs. Help protect your pipes from potential damage and avoid costly repairs by following these steps.

If you suspect your meter might be frozen or suspect a pipe burst in your community/neighborhood, call your water utility’s customer service line to let them know so they can schedule a service call to fix it.

For all of your plumbing needs, whether it is frozen pipes, no hot water, or a leaking water heater, the plumbing experts at Total Mechanical Systems are here to help. Call us at 860-314-8867 and keep it cozy this winter with our 5-star home comfort services.

Heating System Issues? We can take care of those too! Contact us today!

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Sources: https://www.aquarionwater.com/docs/default-source/community/water-watch/water-watch-november-december-2023-ct.pdf, https://protectyourpipes.org/frozen-pipes

Winter can be an unpredictable season, and power outages are common due to heavy snow and ice storms. This is where a generator comes in handy. However, your generator must be well-maintained to function correctly and effectively during the winter. To ensure your generator is in top shape, we’ve compiled some essential tips to keep it running smoothly.

Firstly, keeping your generator clean is crucial to its performance. Dirt and debris can accumulate over time, which can affect your generator’s performance. Regular cleaning is essential to keep your generator in top condition. Use a soft brush to remove dirt and a damp cloth to clean the air filter. Also, ensure there’s no ice or snow buildup around the generator’s exhaust to prevent blockage.

Secondly, check your generator’s fuel level and use a fuel stabilizer to prevent gasoline from freezing in cold temperatures. Ensure you’re using fresh fuel and store it in a safe location away from heat sources.

Thirdly, test your generator’s battery before winter arrives. Cold weather can affect the battery’s performance, and if it’s old, replace it with a new one. Keep the battery charged throughout the winter season to ensure it’s ready to go when you need it.

Fourthly, ensure your generator is kept in a dry and well-ventilated area. Moisture can cause damage to the generator’s electrical components, which can be expensive to repair. Also, make sure the generator is covered with a waterproof cover to protect it from rain and snow.

Lastly, regular maintenance by a professional Total Mechanical Systems‘ electrician can help keep your generator in top shape. Our electrical experts can check the generator’s oil level, air filter, spark plugs, and other critical components to ensure that they’re functioning correctly.

In conclusion, maintaining your generator is essential to ensure it’s ready to go when you need it. By following these maintenance tips, you can avoid costly repairs and ensure that your generator is functioning correctly throughout the colder months. Don’t take any chances this winter; be prepared with a well-maintained generator with Total Mechanical Systems as your electrical service and safety provider.

As a proud partner (Connecticut’s only one!) of EcoWater, our water treatment pros are here to help you take control of your home’s water.

Say goodbye to dry skin, spotty dishes, worn-out clothing, and plastic water bottles and HELLO! to healthier, cleaner, and safer water everywhere in your home.

Learn more about our water treatment services HERE.

Make comfort a priority this year!

2024 is here… what are your new year’s comfort resolutions? 

Investing in comfort, safety, and health in all areas of your home will benefit the whole family. 

Heating & Cooling

• Change your filters: Commit to changing your system’s filter monthly. A dirty filter can cause the air to be restricted as it moves through your heating and cooling system, making it work harder and potentially leading to a breakdown.
• Schedule your annual maintenances: Schedule your seasonal HVAC tune-ups to optimize your comfort. Just like an oil change on your vehicle, maintenance can help keep your heating and cooling system running efficiently throughout the season.
• Get service when you need it: Never let a heating or cooling concern go neglected! Call our TMS pros at the first sign of trouble… a system issue that is not corrected can lead to more extensive damage and an even more costly repair.
• Correct hot and cold spots: Do you have an upstairs bedroom, a room addition, or a sunroom that struggles to keep up with the thermostat? A ductless system can help add more comfortable living space to your home. These highly efficient systems provide excellent heating and cooling solutions without installing invasive ductwork in your home. It’s worth noting we can install a new ductless system in your home for less than $3/day!
• Upgrade to a new HVAC system: Your HVAC system can account for 50% of your home’s energy usage. If your heating and cooling system(s) are 10+ years old and aren’t running efficiently, it may be time to consider upgrading to a new, high-efficiency heating and cooling system to maximize your home comfort, as well as your energy usage.

Water Heating

• Protect with maintenance: A water heater usually only lasts 8-12 years. But water heaters can have problems at any time, and that’s why it’s important to have it evaluated by one of our experienced plumbers annually. Give us a call so we can ensure that your water heater is running correctly.
• Replace when needed: You shouldn’t have to celebrate the simple fact that your clunky old water heater miraculously survived another year. It’s better to be proactive rather than simply waiting for the inevitable breakdown to come. An aging water heater will develop issues with more and more frequency, so whether it is a depleted anode rod or a leaking water tank, it could be time get a recommendation for a new unit that will work best for your home and family’s needs.

Water Treatment

• Get your water tested: Whether your water comes from a well or a municipal supply, it’s important to get it tested every year. Monitoring drinking water is necessary for our health and safety as it reduces the risk of exposure to contaminants causing acute or chronic effects.
• Invest in better drinking water: Harmful contaminants can present themselves in well water or municipal water. So no matter where your water comes from, filtration may be necessary.
  Reverse osmosis is a great method of filtration. Especially when it comes to protecting your family and household.
• Remove unwanted contaminants: Contaminants come in all different shapes and sizes. And the EPA regulates dozens of them. The presence of contaminants in your water can negatively impact your home and health. But some contaminants have no color, taste or smell. Which makes them difficult to detect without a professional water test.
• See, taste, and feel the difference with cleaner, healthier, safer water: Focus on achieving your new year’s water resolutions with a custom water treatment system for your home. It’s not enough to see the difference. And it’s not enough to taste the difference. You have to see, taste, and feel the difference that better, cleaner water makes in your life.

Plumbing

• Don’t ignore the little things: Ignoring that leaky faucet, that odd pooling around the toilet, or those weird banging sounds coming from your pipes is just asking for trouble. Understand that even little problems should be given the attention they deserve, because when little problems are ignored, they can turn into bigger, more expensive problems quicker than you’d expect.
• Keep your pipe’s cozy: Pipe insulation is a key aspect of proper plumbing system maintenance and care. Ensuring that your pipes are properly lined with high-quality insulation can be a small investment that pays off in a major way down the road.
• Respect your garbage disposal: Remember that garbage disposals are not garbage cans. Hard, difficult food waste like coffee grounds, fibrous vegetables, bones, pits, or other items that have the potential to damage the blades should never come into contact with your disposal. You should also never pour oils, grease down your disposal either. Once this waste cools, it will solidify, potentially leading to clogs and running the risk of decommissioning your garbage disposal altogether.
• Ditch your old appliances: The average person in the United States uses about 80-100 gallons of water each day. Of that amount, almost all of it comes from appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, toilets, and faucets. Toilets alone account for approximately 27% of the water consumed in your home and many older toilets use up to seven gallons of water per flush. Installing a high-efficiency toilet that uses less than 2 gallons per flush can save up to 18,000 gallons of water a year – about $120 off your water bill annually. Washing machines, on average, account for around 20% of a household’s water use, and switching to a high-efficiency washing machine can cut that water consumption in half. These appliances may have a higher upfront cost, but when you save 30%-75% of your water bill each month, these investments quickly pay for themselves. For a more affordable option, updating fixtures such as showerheads and faucets around the house can significantly reduce the amount of water you use.
• Invest in annual professional inspection and maintenance: There’s no harm at all in having our home’s entire plumbing looked over in detail by one of our friendly, qualified TMS professional plumbers. It’s a good idea to have a technician visit your home at least once per year to give everything a thorough once-over. These annual maintenances don’t cost much and they can go a long way in ensuring that you avoid any unseen trouble popping up when you least expect it.

Indoor Air Quality

Did you know that the air inside your home is 5x, sometimes even 100x times, more polluted than outdoor air? With a considerable emphasis on health, the start of the new year is a great time to consider ways to improve the indoor air quality of your home.

• To ensure a healthy humidity level indoors (roughly 40-45%), installing a whole-home humidifier is an excellent addition to your HVAC system. Proper humidification will help alleviate dry air in the home, which may aggravate allergy and asthma triggers.
• Another air quality enhancement to look into is a UV light purifier. Using a 20-watt lightbulb, the UV light treats every room in the house by destroying bacteria and viruses that move through your HVAC ductwork and removing foul odors to improve the quality of air that you breathe. At TMS, we utilize the trusted Fresh-Aire UV APCO-X system that is proven to neutralize odors, allergens, mold, germs, viruses, and VOC’s found in the air and within the HVAC equipment surfaces.

• A polarized-media electronic air cleaner is a great replacement for your standard one-inch furnace filter. These advanced filters can be easily installed directly into the filter rack in the existing heating and cooling system and are effective at filtering indoor contaminants at a rate of 97%, removing mold’s food source, and trapping odors to keep the air clean and healthy in your home.

Electrical

• Energy-efficient lighting: Switching to energy-efficient LED lighting not only reduces your electricity bills but also contributes to maintaining a comfortable ambiance in your home. LED bulbs produce less heat compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, preventing unnecessary warmth that can interfere with your heating system’s efficiency. Additionally, these bulbs possess a longer lifespan, cutting down on the need for frequent replacements.
• Whole house surge protection: When thinking about options for an electrical wiring upgrade in your home, the issue of adequate surge suppression is an important consideration. Many expensive electrical devices, including major appliances like stoves, washers and dishwashers, as well as garage door openers, security systems, and HVAC equipment, are hard-wired directly into your home’s electrical circuits. Only a whole-house suppressor which protects all circuits from exterior-originating surges protects hard-wired devices. A whole-house surge protector installed by one of our qualified professional electricians at your main electrical panel continuously “sniffs” incoming electricity before it enters household circuits. If it detects a surge, the suppressor automatically diverts the dangerously high voltage to ground instead of letting it enter the house’s circuits, protecting your home for up to 40,000 amps.
• Make use of smart devices: Consider the addition of timers and a WI-FI-programmable thermostat to automate the usage of your home’s most frequently used systems. Having the settings programmed around your schedule, specifically for your HVAC system, will help make best use of your heating or cooling operation.
• Panel upgrade: A home can experience many issues relating to electrical wiring because of an outdated electrical service panel. Flickering lights, unusual sounds coming from a fuse box, breakers constantly tripping, smoke coming from outlets, or burning smells are just some of the reasons why you might need a service panel upgrade. 
• Whole house generator: There is nothing quite like a whole house generator to bring you comfort and peace of mind when you need it the most. A home backup generator delivers power directly to your home’s electrical system, backing up your entire home or just the most essential items. Whether it’s from routine power outages or a full-on emergency, the inside of your home will barely notice the difference when the generator starts.
• Annual electrical inspections: Most of us get an annual physical whether we feel sick or not so that health issues can be caught early. Your electrical system needs the same attention – a once-a-year checkup. You need to get your electrical system inspected and maintained frequently to prevent unexpected issues. Electricity is incredibly useful, but it’s also very powerful and dangerous. Your annual electrical inspection is important because it could save your home and maybe even your life.

Ready to act on your new year’s comfort resolutions?
You’re in luck, because our TMS team can help with everything talked about here… and more!

Rely on Total Mechanical Systems‘ team of professionals
to assist you in achieving total home comfort and health in the new year!

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Sources: https://apollohome.com/blog/is-whole-house-surge-protection-necessary/#:~:text=Do%20Whole%20House%20Surge%20Protectors,but%20are%20hard%2Dwired%20instead., https://sierrapacificsolar.com/whole-house-generator/, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sponsor-story/logan-ac-heat-services/2020/12/15/make-these-new-years-resolutions-more-comfortable-home-2021/6542089002/, https://theplumbingworks.com/blog/2021/02/18/5-plumbing-resolutions-to-make-for-the-new-year/, https://myreliablepower.com/blog/panel-upgrade/#:~:text=A%20home%20can%20experience%20many,need%20a%20service%20panel%20upgrade., https://www.culligannation.com/new-years-water-resolutions, https://tataandhoward.com/saving-water-for-the-new-year/, https://www.mrrooter.com/portland/about-us/blog/2016/december/plumbing-resolutions-for-homeowners/, https://www.snappyservices.com/blog/press-releases/usher-in-the-new-year-with-a-new-water-heater

How Do Humidity Levels Impact Your A/C Performance?

The combination of high temperatures and high humidity outdoors and inside your home can both negatively affect the cooling potential of your system. Your A/C works by collecting and removing hot air from your home. It then returns the air, now cool, to the rooms of your house. Most modern A/C systems include a dehumidifier function.

Why this feature is important is because of the answer to this question: Do air conditioners work harder in high humidity? Yes. Humidity requires your A/C system to work harder to compensate. And since high humidity makes your home feel warmer than it actually is, you might run your A/C longer and at a lower temperature just to feel comfortable.

How Does Humidity Affect the Temperature In A House?

Humidity doesn’t affect the temperature in your house, but it does make you feel warmer. Your thermostat may say 75°, but you could still feel overheated if you have moist air inside. With air conditioning and humidity, how hot you feel, known as the heat index, is what matters when it comes to comfort.

The impact of humidity on perceived temperature is so significant that meteorologists use a measure called the “heat index” to communicate how hot it feels when humidity is factored in. On average, homeowners prefer a cozy 72° temperature. However, when the relative humidity rises to 70%, the perceived heat or heat index increases to 78°. This high humidity can make the air feel about 5 degrees warmer than what the thermometer shows. This is not just uncomfortable, but it also has financial implications. For every degree that you reduce your home’s temperature, your cooling costs can increase by up to 3%, leading to higher energy consumption and increased bills. Maintaining an optimal humidity level can enhance your home’s energy efficiency, save on your monthly bills, and do your part for the environment. If you are feeling the effects of high humidity levels, it’s likely your air conditioner will too.

When the humidity is high, your A/C system may not be able to keep up in providing comfort. Thankfully, you can do something about this issue. Taking care of humidity inside your home will make you feel more comfortable and help your A/C run more efficiently.

These fixes to lower humidity in your house can all be part of the solution:

• Schedule regular A/C maintenance. An expert can ensure that all parts of your system are in good working order, minimizing the effects of humidity. Frequent service will also extend your HVAC lifespan.
• Install a more modern, efficient A/C system. Newer units are simply more efficient in both cooling and removing humidity.
• Install a dehumidifier on your HVAC system. If your A/C doesn’t have a dehumidifier, you can add one, dramatically increasing your comfort level.
• Purchase a dehumidifier. An inexpensive, yet highly effective option is to buy a separate dehumidifier unit–or several. Place them in rooms where you spend the most time or where moisture is a particular problem. Be sure to look for energy-efficient dehumidifiers.

Worried about humidity in your home or have questions? TMS is here to help!
Call our HVAC experts today… you’re way too cool to be uncomfortable!

TMS… Where Trust Meets Service. “TMS Does It Best!”

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Sources: https://blog.constellation.com/2023/08/31/air-conditioning-and-humidity/, https://www.groundworks.com/resources/how-much-warmer-does-your-home-truly-feel-at-different-humidity-levels/