Kitchen Cabinetry - The Basics

            Your kitchen is a place where people gather together and make memories and food. It’s a place of comfort and warmth, fun and learning. Because your kitchen is such an important part of your home life, it should be a haven, a place where one can feel comfortable and which accurately reflects your (or your family’s) personality.

            One of the best ways to go about doing this is to have a nice looking kitchen. Cabinets tend to be the first thing people notice, followed by size and appliances. If you don’t like the way your kitchen looks now, try giving it a makeover. Today’s mini-DIY project focuses on your cabinets.

            If you don’t have enough money right now, it’s not a wise idea to try and switch out your cabinets, even if you dislike them. Instead, start with something smaller to change your kitchen’s look and feel a little bit.

            Changing your cabinet’s door handles can be a great way to personalize your kitchen and make it something more of what you want. There are many different styles of handle out there, and what you choose is entirely based on you. You could go with traditional and scour antique shops for the right vintage handle, or you could go sleek and modern and look for shiny chrome or stainless steel handles. You could go for whimsical and try and find unicorn, seahorse, or other animal handles. You could even go nerdy and look for Iron Man, Captain America, Superman, Batman, or other cool superhero or tv show logos.

            Regardless of what you pick, upgrading your cabinet’s handles can be a great way to personalize your kitchen while making it more of what you want it to be. This project can be done fairly quickly and requires little money and installation know-how.

            Have fun, be creative, and most importantly, happy holidays folks!

Why do my ducts need to be insulated?

            You may have heard of insulting your home to help keep the internal temperature stable during cold or hot months, but have you ever considered insulating your ducts? If you live in a newer home, your home might have already come with insulated ducts, but if it didn’t, consider the following information.

            Insulating your ducts is important because it’s used to provide better heating and cooling efficiency as well as prevent the duct from freezing during the cold winter months. Though insulation may sound like it’s only about keeping the warmth in, it’s also about keeping warmth out. On average, homes without insulated ducts see a 20% loss in efficiency when using their central heating or cooling. This means that 20% of the heated or cooled air is lost in leaks. This can add to an already high energy bill and if left unattended, this can result in disastrous wear and tear for the ducts as well as being unable to properly maintain the temperature in your home. But that’s only if you have a leak somewhere. If you don’t, you instead face the chance of accumulating condensation on the inside of the cut, which will eventually lead to rust and corrode you duct from the inside out. In either situation, if you’re using uninsulated ducts to transport air, you’ll have to eventually replace them.

            The good news is insulating duct isn’t expensive to purchase and install. By doing this, you skip over all the nasty consequences that may occur after years of use on your uninsulated ducts. Before you start surfing the web for insulated duct, let’s go over your situation.

            Start by considering your duct location. If there is a massive difference between the air that’s in the duct and the air that surrounds the duct, you’ll want to add insulation here. After you’ve mapped out these differences in temperature locations, consider what your duct itself is made of. Most commonly, you’ll see your duct is made of galvanized steel. Sometimes, the interior of these ducts are lined with insulation, typically 1” thick fiberglass. Take a peek inside these duct networks—if you notice they’re already lined, you don’t need to worry about insulting their exterior. If they’re not lined, then you have some choices on how to add insulation.

            If you’re planning on simply wrapping the exterior of the duct, all you need to do is purchase the insulation material. There are two general types of insulation wraps, insulation sleeves and fiberglass blanket wraps. Insulation sleeves come in a pre-measured length and may have one side that’s adhesive. Simply cut the sleeve to the proper length and wrap your duct within it. The other type of insulation wrap is the fiberglass blanket. With these, you literally just wrap it around the duct. If neither of these materials can be found at your local hardware store, try searching for foil-backed bubble wrap. Though this alternative won’t deliver the same type of insulation power and performance as the first two if you buy the cheap brands, this problem can be easily remedied by buying one of the more expensive brands.

            If that doesn’t sound to your liking, visit plumbersstock.com to browse their selection of insulating ducts. You may even choose to replace the entire duct itself with an insulated-interior duct. Whatever you choose, you won’t find it cheaper online anywhere else. 

How to Care for and Maintain your AC

            Today, our city got blasted by a massive snowstorm. Cars were getting stuck, visibility was poor, and people were slipping and sliding all over the quickly-forming icy roads and sidewalks. At a time like this, the last thing anyone wants to think about is their AC unit. Why would you think about something that’s meant to keep you cold, right?

            Even during the frigid winter season, it’s a good idea to think about the coming spring and summer seasons. If your AC unit isn’t properly protected during these cold months, when summer rolls around, you’ll find yourself sweating and swearing as your AC unit refuses to work. During the winter, you should make sure your AC unit is properly protected against snowfall and debris. The best way to go about doing this is to cover up the outdoor unit with a tarp or some other sort of protective material. This will protect the unit from the harsh winter weather and allow it to last longer.

            Protecting your AC unit from the bad weather is only one aspect of properly caring for and maintaining your unit. The main kind of maintenance includes doing routine checkups on you AC during those hot summer months to ensure it’s working at full potential with the highest energy efficiency possible. When it comes down to maintenance, there are two big things you always want to check: filters and coils.

            Filters are a huge part of your AC unit, as they’ll filter out dust from the air to make every breath cleaner and healthier. If your filter is clogged or dirty, it’ll block the normal airflow and make the air that does come through polluted. Because of this, a dirty and clogged filter can reduce your system’s efficiency by as much as 15% and may cause respiratory problems or even asthma attacks to those that are sensitive to pollution.

            When you’re looking replace your filter (say the filter is too worn to be cleaned), consider buying reusable filters for your unit. If reusable, you’ll be able to save some money on buying new filters. If not, your filter will need to be replaced every month to two months while you’re using the AC.

            Another huge part of maintaining your AC unit is making sure the coils are in good shape. By this, I mean make sure the coils aren’t covered in dirt. If the coils become too dirty, they won’t be able to properly absorb heat from the atmosphere and your home won’t cool down as nicely. Additionally, dirty coils means you’ll have your AC on longer to try and cool down your home, which means a higher energy bill and bigger energy waste.

            To ensure your coils stay clean, check on them every month to two months. Since these coils are found on your AC unit outside, heavy sandstorms, dust storms, and even windstorms can add debris and dirt to them. If the environment outside is particularly dusty, take preventive measures to care for your AC unit. If the unit is near foliage, make sure the plants are trimmed back to allow 2 feet of space for the AC system.

            When you think it’s time to buy replacement parts, check plumbersstock.com for some great discounts on the tools and equipment you need: https://www.plumbersstock.com/category/8/hvac/