July 17, 2019

Hey Everyone!

After heating and cooling, water heating is typically the largest energy user in the home because it is necessary for so many domestic activities. So it pays to keep your water heater working as efficiently as possible like lowering the water temperature thermostat by ten degrees and wrapping the water tank in an insulating blanket.

But there is a simple and very important part of maintenance that many people ignore or don't even know about.

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Handy Hints Holly
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Hint 1:

In the course of normal use, minerals and natural sediment in your water condense and settle to the bottom of your water heater. This sediment can seriously impede the efficiency of your water heater and can eventually cause it to malfunction, not to mention the fact that the sediment will eventually start to get into your tap water.

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Hint 2:

Drain a few gallons of water from your water heater each year to remove sediment and improve efficiency!

Learning how to clean hot water heater sediment is easy:

First turn off the power so you don't risk electrical shock or burn out your element. Then turn off the cold water valve to the tank. Attach a garden hose to the tank drain valve and then drain a few gallons of the hot water in the tank through the hose. Then close the drain valve and open the cold water valve and you're ready to use the tank again.

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'Go Green' Hint:

Conserving water by only washing full loads and saving energy by using warm or cold water instead of hot are not the only ways you can be environmentally conscious in the laundry room.

Detergent ingredients such as colorants and fragrances really aren't necessary. Just about every supermarket these days offers "earth friendly" detergents and usually you'll find they are cheaper due to the no-frills, low active chemical approach.

If you need a bit of extra punch to your wash in terms of bleaching, consider adding a 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the wash cycle. By the way, lemon juice can also help your clothes to smell fresher.

Other more environmentally friendly alternatives to brightening are a half cup of baking soda thrown into the wash, or half a cup of borax.

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