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September 25, 2008
Clueless About Flapperless
Q: Ed, thanks for being there for all of us "plumbing challenged" people! I am considering changing out our old '80s toilet with a new "high efficiency toilet." Looking around, I noticed that most of these HETs use "flapperless" flushing systems. I understand with my toilet when you push the handle down the chain pulls the flapper up and it flushes. But, now I'm confused. What exactly is a flapperless toilet and how do they work? Bob (California)
A: Bob, I'm getting up (Off my chair.) and giving you a standing ovation for wanting to change out your old water guzzling toilet for a new high efficiency model! Changing from an old 3.5 gallon per flush toilet to a new HET that uses 1.3 GPF or less can save over 15 thousand gallons of water per year, per toilet.
The good news is that these new HETs are designed from the bottom up to flush with more power, so you won't even have to change your lifestyle. As far as being flapperless, yes, most of these new toilets have switched from using a traditional flapper to a more modern type of flushing system.
For instance, some new HETs use an "eco-smart tower" instead of a flapper. Flushing towers look like a large vertical cylinder inside the toilet tank where the flapper used to be. The tower is lifted up by a chain, but instead of using a sideways hinging motion like a flapper, the cylinder is lifted straight up and instantly delivers a faster flush to the bowl.
Another type of high efficiency flushing system is called an "air assist" toilet. This type of toilet has a sealed chamber inside the toilet tank to hold the water. When the water fills the chamber, air cannot escape and it's pressurized by the home's water pressure. When you flush the toilet, gravity and compressed air pull and push the water at the same time, and this action creates a very powerful flush as well.
I only mentioned these two types as good examples of how a toilet can be flapperless. But look around -- other new flapperless systems are available. Some with features like "dual flush," where you choose the amount of water to flush with, and some toilets even have electric motors!
Who knows -- at this pace, someday we may all be driving around on our toilets!
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 11:28 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 3, 2008
Prepare Now for Fall and Winter Storms
For years now, at many of my speeches across the country I've been teaching homeowners on how to prepare their homes for severe weather. My usual message is that the secret is to prepare your home well in advance of seasonal storms. If you wait 'til a storm approaches before you do anything... well it's probably going to be too late to protect your home properly.
As a reporter who covered the devastation in New Orleans and Mississippi after hurricane Katrina hit, I've seen first hand what a major storm can do. In a direct hit, the best advice is to evacuate the area. I was happy to see so many homeowners follow that advice with the recent hurricane storm warnings. Chances are most of us will not get a direct hit from a major hurricane, but we may find ourselves riding out bad weather associated with a severe fall or winter storm. This type of bad weather is what we all can prepare for, since the major threats should be loss of electrical power, and basement flooding. With that all that said, here are my top three tips to protect your home and family from bad weather.
First: Loss of electrical power is the number one concern for most homeowners. Many years ago when things were not as complicated, most families could get through a storm power outage with some candles and board games. Today, we live in a "plugged in" society, and a loss of electricity -- even for a few hours -- could cause major problems for homeowners. Especially those who run home businesses or care for elderly and special needs family members. I recommend looking into installing a "standby generator" to protect your home from loss of power. A standby generator is a permanently installed outdoor appliance that runs on natural gas or propane. It's hard wired to your electrical system and will turn on automatically when utility power is lost. Usually you'll experience a simple blink of the lights during a power failure and then the generator takes over. If sized correctly, every appliance in your home can run as normal. Standby generators are a bit of an investment, but well worth looking into!
Second: Make sure you have a basement or crawl space sump pump installed. This is a fairly inexpensive piece of equipment that every home should have. Sump pumps can really protect a basement from flooding by continuously pumping out the sump pit and removing water from the home as it seeps through foundation walls and floors. A battery back up is key if your home does not have a standby generator. See tip number one!
Third: Have all the necessary odds and ends needed for a storm on hand. I like to store everything I'll need in a five gallon bucket with a lid and then have it on the shelf for easy access. The bucket itself can be useful to store and pour water, and inside the bucket should be emergency items in the original packing. Items can include flashlights, batteries, land line phone, candles, matches, first aid kit, duct tape, and a small radio. Also, additional things like a disposable camera can be helpful so you can take before and after photos of any related damage. This can help settle insurance claims and avoid a "storm of controversy" when you're looking to collect on a policy!
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 11:48 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 2, 2008
Sprinkler Woes
Q: Ed, every time I run my underground sprinkle system, the water pressure in my house drops to a trickle. Since all the heads come on at once it's only for about fifteen minutes at a time, but it's sill driving me crazy! What can I do to stop this? John (Ohio)
A: If your water pressure is in the normal range of about 45-75 psi, I would look into "zoning" the sprinkler system so all the heads no longer come on at once. Powering only one or two heads at a time should take less pressure away from the house.
But if your house pressure is below 35 psi, you can look into a pressure boosting system to supply more water pressure to your home first (before digging up your yard to zone the system). Personally, I'd just run the sprinkler system at night while I was sleeping!
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 10:48 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
It's Eco for Rico
Q: Ed, I have a question about the new "Eco" shower heads that are on the market today. I changed to my present shower head a few years ago because it uses only two and a half gallons a minute. Is this an eco shower head or do I need to update again? Thanks, since I live in a dry area I want to save as much water as I can! Rico (Georgia)
A: Thanks Rico for doing your part to save water! I mention in all my speeches across the country that "Nobody's making any new water, and we all have to do our part to help preserve the clean water we have left."
Getting back to your question, the shower head you have does meet the current government water flow regulations of 2.5 gallons per minute. So, technically you are following the national regulation for shower head water flow. I jokingly tell people that this means "you should be safe from the water police breaking your door down in the middle of the night!" However, always check local codes to be sure.
But, since the present 2.5 GPM regulation took place, more and more "eco-friendly" shower heads have popped up on the market. These heads are for homeowners that want to save even more water than the industry standard 2.5 GPM heads. Eco "performance" shower heads may use only 1.75 GPM and are designed to give a strong flow with less water. These shower heads have become very popular for homeowners that want to save more water, but don't want to give up a strong shower.
Even though your present head is not considered a water wasting shower head, it does make sense to change to an eco-friendly shower head, especially in your area. For example: A ten minute shower with a 2.5 GPM head will use 25 gallons of water. A 1.75 GPM head uses only 17.5 gallons of water for the same shower. You save 7.5 gallons of water per shower!
Remember, the key thing you are looking for is to purchase the "Eco Performance" style heads that are completely redesigned for strong flow with less water.
Bottom line Rico is that yes, you can update once again to a newer shower head that will save even more water for you and your community. You can even buy a few of these eco heads and give them to out to your neighbors as a gift.
Who knows, you might even make the newspaper. I can see the headline: "Local man showers his neighborhood with water saving presents!"
Posted by Ed Del Grande at 9:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
