Category: Plumber Regina Furnace

by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in Air Conditioning, boiler, Emergency Services Furnace Regina, Heating Furnace Regina, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, Regina Plumber

And that’s a wrap on the 2019 Spring Home Show! It was quite the weekend and was incredibly fun. Tyler and I had been working hard the past months getting our booth together. Neither of us had ever been in a trade show before so the experience was something new to both of us and we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We are already cooking up some ideas of what we would add to our booth for next year’s show. (Can you start planning too early? Is a laser light show allowed?)

We met a lot of great people and are thrilled with the exposure Family Plumbing and Heating received from being apart of the event. Thursday started off a little slow and had me second guessing our decision to enter the show but as I walked into the building at 1:10 Friday (Yes I know the doors opened at 1) and saw the lineup out the door of people waiting to get in, I knew we were in for a pretty busy weekend.

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If you asked us what we would do differently next year we would probably start by getting a bigger booth. This is both our first year in business and first time at the show so we decided to stay small so we wouldn’t over extend ourselves but we found while we were designing our booth that we were becoming too limited in what we wanted to display. We’d also like to develop more interactive displays for next year. Most of the plumbing/HVAC contractors that attended the show (us included) had quite a bit of product on hand, but if we can’t show off how it works is it really worth it? Third, I’d bring a dog. If this weekend taught me anything it’s that everyone has to stop and pet a puppy. The bed bug booth beside us had brought their bug sniffing dogs and were the stars of our row. Until I brought out the big guns….the kids!

Smith, Georgia, and Ginny showed up and were gracious enough to step in and act as my marketing team handing out pamphlets. Smith especially took to his new role in the company and showed us his inner used car salesmen. He was handing out pamphlets left, right and centre. At one point he turned to me with excitement

Smith: I’ve handed out 80 million flyers!

Me: Wow bud, good job.

Smith: If I hand out one more it will get all the way to the Mayor! Then the mayor will have to use you guys for his office.

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But there is no rest for Family Plumbing and Heating and no time to nurse our home show hangover. It’s back to work ASAP out in the field. Once we get back into our rhythm we will be able to draw for the awesome prizes we were giving away this weekend and contacting the winners. We would like to thank everyone who helped us with getting to the event and lended a hand this weekend. A special thanks goes out to our families, the suppliers who helped us out with our displays and prizes, and a big thank you to Colby and Amanda for helping out inside the booth. Hope to see everyone again next year.

– Brenden

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2019….so far.

by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in Emergency Services Furnace Regina, Heating Furnace Regina, Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, Regina Plumber

   Tyler and I have started 2019 off the same way we left 2018; hitting up call after call and having a blast while we do it. January has included quite a few starts to some renovation projects and the beginnings to what looks like a busy spring with clients asking us to quote them on their new builds. Working with clients on a new build can be very rewarding because A) there is nothing better than roughing in a house in the Summer, and B) you get the opportunity to help build what is potentially the client’s dream home and know you’re working on a project that will last a long time. 10 years from now when I’m teaching Smith to drive I’ll sit in the passenger seat and annoyingly point out every house in the neighbourhood I’ve built like every other trades-dad does.

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As usual furnaces and boilers are shutting down when you would least like them to. Furnace repairs in Regina love to take place on weekends and holidays for some strange reason, but fortunately it has not been an overly cold winter until recently, this has helped a lot of older equipment limp through one more cold season. For a lot of homeowners, remember to replace your furnace filter (obviously you have already read our last post though), get a furnace maintenance completed and you may be able to make it to spring in one piece.

We also have entered the Regina Spring Home Show and have been getting prepared for a busy weekend, meeting everyone excited about their home renovations and also seeing all the other exhibitors that are set up. I attended last year and couldn’t believe the amount of booths that were a part of the show. Whatever renovation you might be planning, this is definitely the event you want to attend. The sheer deck building prowess in the room is palpable.

As always please follow along with us on Facebook @ Family Plumbing and Heating and Instagram @family_plumbing and feel free to call us anytime 306-519-3722

-Brenden

Furnace Filters

by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in Plumber Regina Furnace, Plumber Regina Sask, Regina Plumber

It’s time again for another reminder to change your furnace filter. While I don’t have any statistics or researched data sitting in front of me, I would risk guessing that a large number of furnace repair service calls in Regina could be avoided if filters were being replaced regularly. I’m talking about maybe thirty or even forty percent of calls stem from this issue.

A clogged filter will reduce the airflow returning to your furnace that will then be heated and delivered to your heat registers. This reduction in airflow causes the furnace to overheat and shut down due to safety concerns.

Don’t feel bad though if you are one of those many people who had to call for service only to fin out a clogged filter was the culprit. Our lives themselves are very hectic and it’s easy to forget about the filter duct away in the furnace. Generally your standard filter should be change every three months. This time line varies though deeding on the type of filter you have. I personally use a filter that only needs to be changed once a year. Others are reusable and simply need to be cleaned.

Always remember to point the arrow marked on the filter TOWARDS the furnace, as well, another good tip is to write the month it was installed directly on the filter to help you remember when it needs to be replaced.

I hope this helps!

Thanks,

Brenden

Regina Plumber Emergency Furnace Repair Heating

When is the best time to replace my boiler?

by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in boiler, Plumber Regina Furnace

Recently Family Plumbing and Heating replaced a boiler for a home in South Regina. We were originally called on site for a no heat but after diagnosis, the conclusion was that replacement parts were going to be hard to source (if they were still even made) and the client’s money would be better spent on a new system. (The existing system was almost old enough to collect a pension!)

 

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Working tirelessly, we were able to bring this 1960’s system up to 2018 standards over the course of three days. Luckily we have been experiencing a fairly warm winter and Family Plumbing and Heating also provides portable heaters for our clients’ if they need to be without heat overnight. Now in the previous example when there is no other choice, replacements need to go in ASAP. But if possible, the best time to replace a boiler is in warm whether while it’s still operational.

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But why would I replace it when it still works? You’re going to have to hear me out on this one. Boiler replacements are not as straight forward as other heating systems. 9 times out of 10 furnace replacements are easily done in a day, while updating boilers systems can sometimes feel like you are starting from scratch. With all the work involved, the last thing you want as a technician is to feel rushed during an extensive install. And for the financial investment a homeowner is going to make would they want the technician to rush either? Doubtful.

This is why, if possible, homeowners should try and look ahead and plan for replacement before total failure and plan for a summer installation when turning the heat off is not a concern. Allow the technicians as much time as needed to ensure your installation receives the quality workmanship it deserves.

For any homeowners interested in the expected remaining life expectancy of their current heating system, Family Plumbing and Heating offers full system maintenances and free estimates on replacement systems.

Furnace Efficiency Explained…..I hope

by Family Plumbing and Heating, posted in Plumber Regina Furnace, Regina Plumber

Hello Regina, now I know that everyone who reads this blog is a bona-fide intellectual and wold never ever need anything dumbed down for them. But lets just say for the sake of argument there’s that one lost soul whose stumbled upon this website and isn’t as up to date on all the plumbing and heating happenings like you or I are. Today’s post is going to be about efficiency and what it means when a plumber talks about it.

Efficiency, generally speaking, means accomplishing a task using the least amount of wasted energy. In my examples energy will be represented as natural gas or propane, and our task will be heating a home. Furnace efficiency ratings are commonly expressed as AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). This rating will express what percentage of energy is used for actually heating the home vs. how much will be wasted. For example if a furnace had a AFUE rating of 80%, your furnace is using 80% of the energy to raise the indoor temperature while the remaining 20% is lost as exhaust. Financially that means for every $1 you spend on your heating, 20 cents is essentially wasted.

This is also taking into account your furnace is working to it’s best performance. There are plenty of furnaces in Regina that have been hidden away by their owners and denied proper maintenance. Blower motors packed with dirt, hair and who knows what else cannot operate properly and will cause you to run your furnace longer, which in turn costs you $$$. An 80% efficient furnace from 2000 will likely be closer to 70% or lower depending on how much it has been cared for. And for all you holdouts out there who vehemently argue that your 30+ year old furnace is just as good as any new one, your likely anywhere in the range 50%-60%.But money is not the sole reason a homeowner should be thinking about efficiency. The older the furnace, the more carbon being produced and released into the atmosphere.

Anyone in the market for purchasing a new furnace will be looking at what is considered high efficient. This means anything 90% or higher. What achieves that high rating is the inclusion of the secondary heat exchanger. Basically the secondary heat exchanger recaptures and extracts heat that would normally be lost in the exhaust of a mid or low efficient furnace.

To sum it all up, the higher the efficiency rating the more money stays in your pocket. I hope this little blog helped. Later this week I’m hoping to have some time to explain single stage, two stage, and modulating furnaces.

See ya soon!

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