Plumbing hints and tips | Plumbcare Yorkshire, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

Plumbing Hints

• Keep your drains free flowing by running hot water down the drain once a month for a good 5 minutes. This will help to dissolve any fatty deposits from your kitchen sink which have built up over the month
• If you want to remove unsightly deposits and stains from your shower head try this: take a small, hole-free plastic bag and in it mix 1 cup of tap water with 1 cup of vinegar. Place the shower head in the solution, tie up the bag and leave overnight. In the morning things will be gleaming!
• Avoid using your toilet as a waste bin. Flushing anything but toilet paper down the loo (which is designed to break up very quickly) may cause a blockage. Tissues are a prime example of something which will quickly cause a blockage. Put a waste bin in the bathroom to avoid this!
• Getting annoying hammering noises, bangs and thuds when you turn the water taps on and off? This can be stopped by installing shock absorbers to the pipes. Call us for more details!

How to find your water shut off valve

The water shut off valve is likely to be situated where cold water supply enters your property. This could be in a garage, out house or at the point of the house which is nearest to the water main (nearest main road). The valve itself will probably look like a tap randomly situated half way up a pipe. Turn this tap clockwise to turn the water off and anti-clockwise for on – just like a normal tap. It’s good to check just in case of emergency. Turn the tap off then try and run the tap in the kitchen. If no water comes through, you know you’ve successfully found the water shut off valve!

Boiler Tips

Domestic hot water boilers have altered and improved remarkably in recent years. Today’s boilers are highly efficient, incredibly quiet and are able to handle both domestic hot water and central heating without the need for a hot water tank. We’ve come across many questions over the years which we hope to answer on this page. Of course, should you require any further help, we’d be only too pleased to speak with you.

What Type and What Size of Boiler Do I Need?

This is a tricky one - and calculating the correct size of your boiler really should be done very carefully to ensure you don’t get an under powered boiler. You need to consider the number of radiators you are going to need and the size and type of rooms you are wanting to heat. Call us and we’ll be able to help you every step of the way. What’s a “high efficiency condensing boiler” and is it going to be a cost effective solution for me? The most important advance in boiler technology in recent years has been the introduction of the condensing boiler. The beauty of a condensing boiler is its ability to recover a significant amount of heat which an ordinary non condensing boiler would ordinarily expel into the atmosphere.

Most of the boilers installed today are condensing boilers. The reason is simple - traditional boilers have typical efficiency rating of around 70%, whilst a high efficiency condensing boiler will be up around the 85% mark. An A rated boiler easily tops 90% efficiency.

Of course, the financial benefits of installing a high efficiency condensing boiler are substantial too, with savings of £100 per year being easily achieved.

What is the efficiency rating of boilers?

A boiler’s efficiency is rated according to the SEDBUK – the Seasonal Efficiency of Domestic Boilers in the UK. This Government Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme scheme was developed with help from the main boiler manufacturers to be able provide consumers with a fair comparison of a boilers efficiency and energy performance. Effectively, the SEDBUK is a nice and simple energy labelling system for the heating and boiler market, allowing you to choose a boiler according to its overall efficiency. Rating within bands A or B qualifies a boiler to be called a ‘High Efficiency’ boiler.

Water pressure in the shower is low, what can we do?

There’s a high likelihood that the water is heated by an ageing combi boiler. If it is, then it’s more than likely to have a poor water flow rate. This, in turn means there’s not enough volume of water getting to your shower so it frustratingly dribbles out of the shower head. Newer, more powerful combi boilers have a far better flow rate and provide far superior water pressure. Problem solved!