Did you know that home and business owners typically need to replace their water heaters every 8-12 years? This means that in a typical lifetime you will need to replace 2 to 3 water heaters. While some water heaters can last longer than the typical lifespan this depends on impeccable maintenance and the quality of the water heater. Feehan Plumbing is able to provide you with water heaters that last and maintenance that helps keep your water heaters at their best condition. Feehan plumbing offers its customers one of the top brands of water heaters in the business, Bradford white water Heaters. What Is a Bradford White Water Heater? Bradford White’s history dates back to 1891 and has been at the leading edge of the water heating industry ever since. Bradford White manufactures gas, electric, solar and oil fed water heaters. They manufacture a water heater for almost any situation. Feehan Plumbing trusts Bradford White to be the leading product they install in their customers’ homes and businesses. What about Energy Star? Water Heaters consume the second largest amount of energy, behind heating and cooling, in any home or business. This means that often a substantial chunk of you energy bill is dedicated to heating your water. In order to reduce your energy bills, you want the most energy efficient water heaters on the market. In January 2009 the U.S. Department of Energy published its Energy Star guidelines for residential water heaters. Bradford Whites Energy star water heaters have the following qualifications and benefits: Minimum First Hour Rating (FHR) of  67 gallons Minimum Energy Factor (EF) of 0.67 Annual energy savings of up to 14% | Bradford White Has Your Safety in Mind Unlike many water heater companies, we only sell through distributor such as Feehan Plumbing. Water heater installation is not a DIY job. For that reason the only way you are able to get our product is if a qualified plumber installs the water heater. This means that if you come across a Bradford White water heater, you can rest assured that it has been installed correctly. Bradford White Maintenance Bradford White recommends you contact Feehan Plumbing for periodic maintenance. During the maintenance appointment Feehan Plumbing will check the ignition sources, inspect the unit and test the temperature gauge. Call Feehan Plumbing today to enjoy your new Bradford White water heater.

A toilet problem is one of the most aggravating things that can happen in a home. Here are a couple of commonly experienced Drexel Hill toilet problems and some simple fixes you can try. If you find that these don’t work, give Feehan Comfort Services a call at 484.352.2643 to schedule a service appointment as soon as you can. Water does not get into the bowl quickly enough Take off the cover of the tank and look at the flush valve as you turn its handle. Does the valve stay open long enough for most of the water to exit the tank when you let go of the handle? If the flapper (or flush ball, if you have one) closes too quickly, make sure the chain is has just enough slack to let the flapper or ball close. If the chain is too long the valve won’t open far enough, and won’t stay open long enough to let the water exit the tank. If the problem still exists, then replace the flapper or ball. Rim and jet holes are clogged Tiny objects can get into the jet channel or rim of the bowl and cause a clog, which is a big Drexel Hill toilet problem. First, take a small hand mirror and look at the rim holes as you flush to see how much water gets through them an into the bowl. Sometimes, mineral deposits from the water can clog these holes. Also, something from inside the tank can get into the rim channel and cause a clog as well. If you see greyish mineral deposits, they can be dissolved. Turn off the water to the toilet, flush to clear the bowl, then dry the bowl and rim as much as you can. Cover the jet hole and all rim holes with duct tape – the heaviest duct tape you can find. Pour white vinegar into the tank’s overflow pipe. The longer the vinegar stays in the channels, the better your chances of it being able to soften the minerals. Once the minerals have softened, ream out the holes with a small pick. Put your hand in front of the jet hole to test it. Turn the water back on, flush, and see if a strong stream of water is getting into the bowl. There is an old trick that has been used for years that says you can put a brick in the tank of the toilet to save water. But this really isn’t that good of an idea. The brick can disintegrate, causing crumbs to clog the holes by washing into the channel of the bowl. If enough crumbs clog the channel, you may even have to replace the bowl. If you are trying to save water, take a plastic milk jug and fill it with gravel to keep it from floating, and put that in your tank.

We receive a lot of questions on a weekly basis at Feehan Plumbing, Heating and Cooling. For minor plumbing problems in Berwyn, there may be some easy fixes that you can try. But if they don’t work, call the pros with Feehan at 484.352.2643 to set an appointment so we can have an expert technician get you back up and running as quickly as possible. There is an underground pipe leaking into my walk-in basement apartment. Is there any way to pinpoint and locate an underground leak before digging? Feehan has professional leak detecting equipment that allows a service technician to pinpoint the exact location of the leak. Modern leak detecting equipment is very sophisticated and accurate. Water keeps flowing out of the two holes in the front yard where they read the meter. My water bill has gone from about $50 to about $100. Any suggestions? It sounds like you will need to get either the city out or a professional plumber, because you may have a leak at your meter. Since your water bill has gone up so significantly, that probably means it’s leaking on the house side of the meter. Our water bill was extremely high this quarter. We were told by city that we must have a leak somewhere. We don’t have any obvious signs of a leak. Is there a way it can be checked? Here’s how to test for a leak on your water system. Shut off all the fixtures in your home and put red food coloring in all of your toilet tanks. Check the reading on the water meter. Wait at least one hour and recheck the toilets and the reading. If the water in any toilet bowl is red, then the toilet is leaking. If the water has not left the toilet tanks and entered the bowls, but the reading on the water meter has moved even slightly you have an underground leak. A plumber or leak detection company can use a sounding device to locate leaks in underground pipes. Our two bathroom sinks drain very slowly and water comes up in the other sink. What could be the problem? When the drainage from one fixture backs up into another, it means that the two lines are connected on one branch line before it enters the main drain. Water always seeks its own level so it will come up in a lower fixture or another sink at the same level if the branch line connecting the fixtures has a blockage after the connection. Sink lines get filled up with lint, grease and soap scum from the fixtures. As the water goes down the drain, a film is left on the inside of the piping, eventually building up so thick that they reduce the internal diameter of the drain and slow the water flow. A hand snake is designed to open minor clogs in small traps or branch lines. A hand snake can punch a hole in a clog, but it is often like punching a hole in jello. The sludge builds up so thick, when you pull the snake back the sludge just fills back in. Hand snakes are not designed to open piping under the floor, so if the clog is there, you’ll need a plumber. Once the line is cleaned you can use an enzyme-type drain cleaner to eat away biological material and prevent it from sticking to the inside of the piping, which keeps the line open and flowing.

At Feehan Comfort Services, we proudly feature the American Standard AccuClean air filtration system to meet our customers’ air cleaning needs. The AccuClean unit is the most effective on the market, cleaning up to 99.98 percent of allergens. Everyone in your home will feel comfortable no matter what season it may be. Irritating particles such as dust mites, fungus, lint, most tobacco smoke, dust, pet hair and dander, cooking grease and bacteria will be removed from the air. In addition, the AccuClean can catch allergens smaller than .1 microns. When you consider that 2 million particles, such as mold spores, bacteria, soot and dust that are .3 microns, can fit on a space no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence. Your nose and throat are unable to filter these allergens, so they can get deep into your lungs. However, the AccuClean will remove these tiny particles and eliminate the potential for allergy and asthma attacks. The reason the AccuClean is so much better than other systems on the market is because of the technology. HEPA filters, for example, force air through dense mesh screens to trap airborne particles. These are good at catching dirt, but they can be clogged over time and restrict air flow as a result. What results is known as “pressure drop,” which leads to the air being cleaned in a less efficient manner. The AccuClean system, however, provides consistent, long-lasting performance with the lowest amount of pressure drop and the highest efficiency available. This will result in your home having cleaner air than it has ever had. The AccuClean system is a whole-home air cleaner that works with your home’s cooling and heating system. If you wanted to match the effect of this whole-home system, you’d have to purchase several plug-in cleaners that could each cost as much as $500. And because a plug-in only works within a certain area, most of the air in the room would not be cleaned. The best way of making sure that the air in your home is incredibly clean, so that you can enjoy maximum comfort, is to use the American Standard AccuClean air filtration system. To find out more about AccuClean and to schedule an appointment to have one of our skilled technicians install it in your home, call Feehan at 484.352.2643.

There are many kinds of bathtub leaks, and they come in all manner of shapes and sizes. While many of them can be pretty easily fixed without the need of a professional, there are others that will need to be repaired by a trained plumber. If you have a problem that requires expert help, call Feehan Comfort Services at 484.352.2643. First, of course, you need to determine the source of the leak. There are normally five areas where bathtub leaking problems in Broomall take place. Here’s a look at all of them. 1. An old faucet More than likely, your bathtub is leaking because your faucet is old. If you have a leak around a faucet, you can fix it by replacing the washer and using plumber’s tape to seal the valve threads. Just make sure that, before you unscrew the faucet, you shut off the water. 2. The grout could be a problem Usually, bathtub leaking problems in Broomall, and shower leaks as well, are not caused by a leaky pipe. They take place when the grout in the tile shrinks. This causes water to run down behind or underneath the tiles. This is a fairly simply kind of leak to repair, but it can be challenging to locate the source because while you may notice the water in one spot, the actual leak could be in another spot. Once you determine the source, you can probably fix the problem by simply re-grouting the tile. 3. The body of the tub If you find that the leak is not coming from the faucet, fill up the tub and then turn off the water. If the tub itself is the source of the leak, you will quickly see it. While a crack in a bathtub is fairly rare, if there is one you will probably see some reddish-brown rust forming along that crack. However, if you do not see any signs of a crack, then a leaking overflow washer is more than likely the cause of the problem. 4. The overflow pipe Between the back of the tub and the overflow pipe that connects from the tub to the drainpipe you will find an overflow washer, which is a beveled rubber washer. You can, if you’re handy with tools, replace the overflow washer on your own. But more than likely you will need a plumber to fix this kind of leak. 5. The drain There is also the possibility that your outlet pipe is clogged, and that is causing a leak. If there is only a moderate clog, you can try pouring a half-cup of baking soda down the drain, and follow that with a half-cup of vinegar. It could take as long as three hours before you know whether or not this fix is working, plus it will probably be quite messy. If you do not treat the leak quickly – no matter what the source – then you could very easily have a mold problem. So if you find that you cannot fix your bathtub leaking problem in Broomall, please give Feehan a call at 484.352.2643 as soon as you get the chance.

There are several different causes of noisy pipes in Holmes, and while all of them are annoying, they can all be simply explained. And they can also be easily fixed by a professional. “Water hammer” is a sharp thump coming from the pipes. It is produced when water under pressure in supply pipes comes to a sudden stop when a faucet is turned off. A water hammer shock absorber should be as close as possible to the valve or faucet it services. Banging is a caused when pipes are loose in their anchors. This allows them to vibrate against floor joists or wall studs when water moves through them. Squeaking happens almost exclusively in hot water supply lines. It occurs when pipes warmed by hot water expand against supports or hangers. “Faucet chatter,” a rapid, rattling vibration in compression faucets, is caused by a poor fit of the seat washer at the bottom of the faucet stem, causing the stem to shake under the pressure of the water in the supply line. If left untreated, the causes of noisy pipes in Holmes can loosen joints and fittings, leading to a leak or a burst pipe. Fortunately, noisy pipes are easily corrected. Water hammer is remedied by installing a special shock absorber on the water supply line near the affected faucets and valves. The shock absorber houses a rubber bellows, hydraulic fluid and inert gas that absorb the shock of water under pressure coming to a sudden stop. On houses with built-in shock-absorbing air chambers, draining water from the plumbing and allowing air back into the chambers clears up water hammer. Banging is cured by fastening the pipes more securely to their support structures. Squeaking is fixed by preventing vibration of the pipe where it touches its hanger. Faucet chatter is corrected by reseating or replacing the seat washer in the faucet mechanism. It is critical, of course, that you choose the right plumber, one who is reliable, trustworthy and won’t bust your budget. At Feehan Comfort Services, our expert plumbing professionals have been providing affordable, top-notch performance for 35 years. We provide up-front pricing that will ensure no surprises, and we charge not by the hour, but by the job. Plus, we are available 24 hours a day because plumbing problems don’t have their own set schedule. To set up an appointment or to learn more, call us at (484) 352-2643.

Here are a couple of commonly experienced Edgemont toilet problems and some simple fixes you can try on your own. If you find that these don’t work, give Feehan Comfort Services a call at 484.352.2643 to schedule a service appointment as soon as you can. An obstruction in the main vent line above the toilet When all else fails, you may want to check the main vent line. You can eliminate a clogged drain or vent as the problem with this simple test: Pour a decent size pot of water rather quickly into the bowl. If the sudden addition of the extra water leads to a “normal” flush, then the drain or vent is probably fine. If you don’t get a normal flush after this test, you will need to run a snake through the vent from the roof. The vent is the short pipe you will find on your roof directly above the toilets in your house. This job requires a large snake and climbing up on your roof, which can be very dangerous. This job is best left to professionals who have the proper equipment and experience. A buildup of scale in the passageway of the toilet bowl A hard crust of scale can develop on the walls of the passageways of the toilet bowl and bowl rim that will restrict and slow the flow of water. The scale is a buildup of mineral deposits from the water. You may have a flower vase or glass that has a coating inside from water that is impossible to remove; this is similar to the scale in a toilet bowl. While you can usually chip away the scale that you can see, there is a layer coating the passageway that you can’t reach. This scale restricts the passageways and the holes in the bowl rim and reduces the flow of water. The toilet will have to be replaced unless you are willing to take some further rather extreme steps. When faced with this kind of problem, you can try removing the toilet and taking it outside to the lawn. Roll a golf ball into the bowl and rotate the toilet back and forth until the golf ball comes out of the bottom of the bowl. If the golf ball comes out, that will mean there wasn’t anything obstructing the passageway, and the problem was most likely a buildup of scale. Using a long piece of coat hanger wire, ream out all the holes in the rim and then scrape the passage with the wire. You more than likely won’t be able to see the scale, but you will be able to loosen a great deal of it with the wire. When you think you have loosened as much as possible, flush out the rim and bowl with a garden hose. The scale will probably be surprisingly thick. Then re-install the toilet. If it still does not work as it should, then you will probably need the toilet replaced.

Here are a few more commonly experienced Essington toilet problems and some simple fixes you can try before calling in a professional. If you find that these don’t work, give Feehan Comfort Services a call at 484.352.2643 to schedule a service appointment as soon as you can. An insufficient quantity of water entering the bowl For the siphoning action to get started in a bowl, as much water as possible must enter the bowl as fast as possible. Check to see whether the water level in the tank is as high as it should be. There is usually a mark on the back wall of a tank to indicate where the water level should be maintained. If your toilet is not flushing as strongly as it should, you want the water level to be as high as possible without it reaching the top of the overflow pipe. To raise the water level, bend the float ball arm “up” or adjust the clip on the refill valve cup. An obstruction inside the toilet bowl Use a plunger to try to dislodge anything that may be clogging the passageway of the bowl. Be persistent; it can take quite a few pushes and pulls to be effective. Apply the force on both the down and up strokes by pushing the plunger forcefully down and then quickly pulling it back. If this doesn’t work, try a toilet auger. If there is something such as a toothbrush or comb lodged in the bowl passageway, and you can’t dislodge it in this manner, the toilet will have to be lifted from the floor. You may be able to reach the culprit from the bottom of the bowl; if not, the bowl will have to be replaced. Obstruction in the drain under the toilet When you have the toilet lifted to examine the underside, always make a visual check in the drain line under the toilet for toothbrushes, etc. that may have made it past the bowl but lodged in the drain. The drain under a toilet is usually three to four inches in diameter and requires a large, electrically powered snake. The typical household snake sold by hardware stores and home centers won’t do the job.  

There are several types of tankless water heater applications, because a tankless water heater system can be used wherever a traditional tank-style water heater can be used, and in many other places where a tank-style heater cannot be used. Because of the compact nature of tankless systems and the minimal amount of space that they take up, there are many tankless applications that you may not have even considered. Some of these applications include:   Single-family whole home water heating A tankless water heater system makes a great replacement for a whole home water heater – whether gas or electric – for a host of residential applications, such as apartments, condominiums, houses, manufactured homes, recreational properties and guest homes. In applications where there is an extremely high demand for hot water, there can be multiple heaters deployed. Or, you can pair a tankless system with a conventional tank-style system in a type of booster configuration.   Multi-family whole home water heating Resort property owners, hotel and motel operators and property managers and developers can save thousands of dollars per year by having tankless water heating systems in their units. In addition, because floor space is always at a premium, switching to a tankless water heater system can save a great deal of physical space that can be used for other needs such as storage.   Point of use water heating A tankless water heater system, due to its small size, is well suited for point of use applications around a home and is great for bringing hot water to parts of the home that are located quite a distance away from the existing water heater system. They can also help provide low-cost water heating for organizations such as schools and businesses in areas such as cafeterias and lavatories.   Other business and commercial applications There are several other ways that tankless water heaters can be used in commercial water heating applications, such as restaurants, hotels, lodges, laundromat facilities, salons, spas and several more.   If you would like more information on a specific application in which you may be interested, or you would like to schedule a tankless water heater installation, please call Feehan Plumbing, Heating and Cooling at (484) 352-2643. We will be happy to help you determine the proper tankless water heater system for your needs and help steer you toward the right model that is right for your application.

Buying a tankless water heating system is a significant investment in your home, and there are several factors you need to consider when choosing the right tankless brand for you. Feehan Plumbing, Heating and Cooling sells and services many leading manufacturers of tankless systems, and we want to help you make the most informed choice you can make. Here are some general factors to take into consideration when choosing the right tankless brand.   The size of your home The biggest factors in this category are the number of bathrooms in your home and the amount of water your normally use for appliances. Tankless systems typically have ratings based on the gallons per minute, or GPM, that they produce. These various systems range from 4 GPM to 14 GPM. The right system, no matter what its GPM, will produce enough hot water for your needs. However, you should check with a professional to make sure you are purchasing a system that is not too small or too large. Call Feehan at (484) 353-2643 to have a professional help you purchase the correct system. Climate and temperature You next need to factor in the temperature of the groundwater that comes in to your home. You’ll need much more heating power in the winter, obviously, than you will in the spring or summer. The difference in temperature between the groundwater and the hot water temperature you prefer will have a significant impact on the size of tankless system you need. It is best if you use the temperature of the groundwater when it is at its coldest in order to calculate the size of system that you need. Warranty and certification You want to make sure that the model you buy has a warranty. You will be making an important investment for your home, and if something goes wrong, you will want the confidence of knowing that it is covered under warranty. Be sure to inquire with the company about this, and read the fine print to make sure you’re getting good coverage. If the company you’re having install the unit is certified by the manufacturer of the tankless water heater you choose, you can typically get an extended warranty. Choosing the right professionals to install the tankless water heater is just as important as what brand you go with. Reputation and quality However, when choosing a tankless water heater, you should always consider the quality and reputation of the brand you decide to go with. What are people saying about the tankless water heater company you are considering? Do they have good ratings? Are they recognized by the government for tax incentives? Are they partnered with environmental and energy saving programs? Answering these questions will help you find a quality tankless water heater that will help you conserve water and save money.