The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that water heating makes up around 16 percent of your household’s annual energy costs. You can reduce water heating costs by making some changes. Here are three smart ways to reduce your expenses for household hot water.

1. Reduce Your Consumption of Water

One of the best ways to lower hot water costs is to reduce your household’s hot water usage. Replace older plumbing fixtures with new, water-efficient fixtures.

Whether you like vanilla, cinnamon, cranberry, linen, pine, or some out-there scent, candles are lovely, they smell good, and they can help transform the atmosphere of a space. For years, people have used candles for heat, light, scent, and even rituals. Today, candles are used for these reasons still, and they are used in 7 out of 10 households in the U.S.

Unfortunately, candles may harm your health, especially if you use them frequently. While they provide all those benefits listed above, some candles can negatively change the indoor air quality of your home.

Radiant floor heating is an option that homeowners often overlook. While radiant floor heating may seem like a luxury, this type of home-warming system comes with a bounty of benefits — including cost savings. If you’re considering this type of system, take a look at what radiant floor heating can do for you and your home.

Energy Savings

Energy efficiency is a major requirement for homeowners who are replacing or updating their home heating systems. Install the wrong type of system (or keep your old, failing heater) and you’ll waste energy. Along with the obvious environmental issue, wasting energy also costs you money.

In comparison to forced-air heaters, radiant flooring systems can cut costs via duct losses. A forced-air heater literally forces the air through the home’s ductwork. Add a gap in the ductwork, a clogged/dirty duct, or another similar malfunction, and this type of system has to work harder (using more energy) to heat the home. Radiant floor heating systems don’t rely on ductwork, eliminating this type of issue.

Allergy Reduction

Energy savings isn’t the only benefit of a ductless heating system. Like the name implies, radiant floor heating runs under the floor — radiating the heat through it and into your home. Decreasing air movement in your home by eliminating ducts, and the air forced through them, lowers the number of allergens.

Common household allergens include dust (and dust mites), bacteria, viruses, pollen, and pet hair/dander. Recirculated air that isn’t filtered properly spreads these allergens throughout the home, causing reactions that range from skin irritations to asthma attacks.

While a radiant heating system won’t completely eliminate every indoor allergen, this under-the-floor alternative can improve air quality. If your home has poor indoor air quality and someone who lives with you is very young, is elderly, has a chronic illness, suffers from allergies or asthma, has respiratory problems, or has a compromised immune system, radiant heating can make a major difference.

Added Space

Stand-up radiators and forced-air heating vents take up space. Arranging furniture in a room with radiators or vents requires positioning everything away from the heating elements. Covering or blocking radiators and vents dramatically reduces their effectiveness, leaving you with what feels like an unheated room.

Again, radiant floor heating is exactly what it sounds like — a radiant system that goes under the floor. This leaves your walls ventless and open, giving you more usable space and more decorating options.

Long-Lasting Use

A forced-air furnace may only last for 15 years, according to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. In comparison, many radiant flooring heating systems have a life span of 35 years. While radiant systems may have greater initial installation costs, getting twice the life span can dramatically reduce your overall costs.

With proper maintenance, these heating systems can serve you well, reducing the need for constant repair or an early replacement. Not only can this longevity save you money, but it also saves you time and home-improvement headaches.

Even Heating

Depending on the setup of the home’s HVAC system, it can leave cold spots or zones that don’t heat well. Radiant heating uses convection, not blowing air, to move warmth around each room. This provides an even heat, keeping the whole home warm.

Noise Reduction

The telltale sound of a forced-air furnace isn’t always welcome. Unlike the blowing noise and others sounds that non-radiant systems make, an under-the-floor heating element is almost silent. If you have noise-reduction needs (such as a new baby or you work from home), a radiant floor system has a definite advantage.

Are you ready to replace your home heating system with radiant floor heat? Contact Custom Comfort Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling LLC for more information.

Snow-melting systems can reduce the amount of snow and ice that is present on your driveway. These systems heat your asphalt, concrete, or brick patio, which melts snow and ice. Snow-melting systems come in two primary forms: mats and cables. Each option offers its own unique benefits.

If you want to reduce your driveway ice and snow this winter but aren’t sure which snow-melting system is best for you, take the time to learn about the different benefits that each system has to offer. Here are a few of the benefits associated with snow-melting cables

In general, most people give little thought to the air ducts in the home until an obvious problem exists. Unfortunately, signs of air duct problems mean you will likely need repairs, which can get expensive.

A lot of outdoor kitchen and cooking appliances require a gas line to fuel them. The nice thing about using a gas line rather than another fuel source — like charcoal or electric — is the ease and convenience a gas hookup allows. Adding that gas line to your outdoor appliances comes with several important considerations.

During the dead of summer, the last thing you want to deal with is a problematic air conditioning system. Although many folks are quick to point out that every mechanical device will eventually fail, the fact of the matter is that user error can play a role in air conditioning failures. Here are three air conditioning problems you may have caused and how to prevent issues in the future. 

Proper heating and cooling of your home is more important than you may think. Your HVAC unit’s key job is to keep your family comfortable throughout the various temperatures, but the unit is also an essential part of creating and maintaining healthy air quality. Unfortunately, issues can affect your heating and cooling system’s ability to maintain healthy indoor air. Therefore, a whole-house dehumidifier may be necessary.

This guide and your contractor’s assistance will help you understand the dangers of high humidity and if a whole-house dehumidifier will benefit you, your home, and your health.

You have many responsibilities as a new homeowner. When you rent, major repairs are for the landlord to worry about. When you own your home, you realize how important preventative maintenance is for preventing breakdowns and costly repairs.

For instance, your plumbing system can cause water damage that’s expensive to restore, and the damage is often preventable with routine maintenance. This guide lists four maintenance tips that prevent plumbing disasters.

At this time of year, allergies can be a problem for many people. Many allergy sufferers assume that they can do little or nothing to stop their allergies from impacting their lives. What they don’t realize is that their HVAC system can be used to control indoor air quality and reduce their symptoms.

By running the HVAC system regularly and by maintaining the various parts of the system, homeowners can reduce their allergy symptoms.