Your plumbing system is a vital part of your home. Without it, you can’t take hot showers, wash laundry or dishes, or really do anything that requires running water. This is why you should inspect your plumbing system regularly to ensure that it’s working optimally and efficiently.

The following tips can help you as you inspect the various elements of your plumbing system, including your:

• Pipes
• Water heater
• Bathroom

Inspecting your home’s water pipes

Here are a few tips about checking your pipes:

• Inspect all of your pipes for leaks. If you spot a leak, contact a plumber immediately.
• Inspect your pipes, fittings and shut-off valves, which could indicate an issue either with your pipes or your water supply. Green stains can be a sign of corrosion or electrolysis.

Checking your water heater

If you’re planning on taking any hot showers, washing dishes or doing laundry, then you’ll definitely want to ensure that your water heater is working properly by:

• Inspecting the burner chamber for rust flakes.
• Making sure that the flame is an even blue. If it is yellow, you could be having problems with your gas-air mixture, or it could be a result of soot building up. Either way, it means that your jets need to be cleaned.
• Removing sediment from the bottom of the water heater by draining it. Allowing sediment to build up will make your water hard, which in turn will wear out your washers and cause your faucets to leak.

Checking your bathroom

From the toilet to the shower, most everything in your bathroom is used regularly and is very important, so you should:

• Inspect your water pressure. If the pressure seems low, it could be due to a buildup of sediment in your shower head or the faucet aerator.
• Flush all of your toilets. Wait a moment after flushing. If the toilet is still running, there could be a slow leak.
• Make sure that your drains are draining at a normal speed. Slow drainage could be due to a blocked vent pipe or clog.

For more information or for other home-comfort needs, contact Powers Heating & Air. We proudly serve residential and commercial customers in the Peachtree City area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree, GA and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about plumbing and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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