1. Regular servicing

• ♦ Evaporative coolers need to be serviced regularly to keep the unit working efficiently and effectively.
• ♦ Servicing also keeps the air inside your home clean and fresh.
• ♦ Lots of dust is blown around in Canberra’s dry weather, which becomes clogged in the wafers and can even be blown throughout your house if it isn’t cleaned out! Imagine not dusting your home for a year – that’s exactly how much dust can become clogged in your poor evaporative cooler wafers. An evaporative cooler service will clean out this dust (as well as any other nasties) and keep the air inside your home fresh and healthy.
• ♦ Ideally you should have your unit serviced at the beginning of each season around mid-late spring, as this will ensure you get the best start to summer cooling.

2. Replace the water wafers every 3-6 years

• ♦ The wafers in your evaporative cooler are the pads which line the outside of the box. The water soaks these pads, and the fan draws in air through them, which is what gives you a cooling effect!
• ♦ Water eventually causes the wafers to deteriorate, as does the dust and other things which are blown in and clog together to block the wafers. Even with regular servicing to clean them, wafers should be replaced every 4-8 years, depending on the type installed.
• ♦ How often exactly will depend on the type of pads, water hardness and salinity level, as well as how often it has been serviced.

3. Prepare for Winter

• ♦ At the end of the season, you should prepare your evaporative cooler for winter to prevent any frozen and burst pipes over the winter and as part of your recommended seasonal maintenance.
• ♦ The most important preparation is to turn off the water supply to the unit. After that, you should drain it if possible.  This depends on the type of unit and your installation, but near the water supply you should have another tap which you can turn on after the water is isolated which will drain any remaining water from the pipe and unit.

We include isolation and drain down valves with every evaporative cooler we install because we know what can happen without them! Canberra winters can be freezing, and as water freezes it expands, which is bad news if it is in your pipes! Water from burst water lines can easily get into your roofing space, which means expensive damage to insulation, lights and even the gyprock. Even worse is that your insurance may not cover the repairs as the evaporative cooler was not installed in accordance with regulations.

If you would like an isolation and drain down tap installed for your evaporative cooler, or if you are interested in having it serviced, our technicians are always able to help. We service all brands and models of Evaporative Cooling Canberra, and you can contact our friendly office staff through our website here and by calling 0407 212 565 or 6288 5123

The post How to maintain your Evaporative Cooling Canberra appeared first on Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting.

• – Evaporative coolers are much cheaper to operate than air conditioning units, with an average running cost between 3-10 cents per hour.
• – Cheaper to install than refrigerated air conditioning.
• – They use up to 75% less electricity than reverse cycle systems
• – Fewer working parts mean less maintenance & cheaper repairs
• – Constantly draws in fresh air from outside
• – Air is not dry or recirculated, which is better for allergy and asthma sufferers and it never dries out skin, eyes, or timber furniture or indoor plants
• – You can have windows and doors open while its running– no need to worry about children or pets coming and going from inside to outside

Evaporative Cooling Canberra is a great alternative to air conditioning as it is  more efficient to operate, circulate fresh air throughout the house, and you can leave doors and windows open while it’s on! It is great for asthma and allergy sufferers, and the moisture keeps the air from drying out – meaning no dry and itchy eyes or throat!

Cons

This doesn’t mean that they are perfect for everyone.  Canberra, Melbourne and South Australia tend to have hot, dry summers which are perfect for evaporative cooling, but Sydney and Queensland are too humid to enjoy the same benefit.  Some people may also dislike the need to have doors and windows open even slightly, may prefer to have more control over the exact temperature inside.

Consider your own needs when it comes to cooling, but if you like fresh air in your home all the time, suffer allergies or asthma, and want to save on running costs, you can’t beat an evaporative cooler for a wise addition to your Canberra home.

If you’d like to find out more, or if you are interested in having an evaporative cooler installation at your property, contact us here

The post The Benefits of Evaporative Cooling Canberra appeared first on Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting.

How do I know if I have high water pressure?

• Does the water come out strongly when you turn a tap on?
• Do your taps leak frequently, even after replacement?
• Do your pipes make loud noises when water is turned on or off?

If your answer to any of these questions is yes, then you may find that the water pressure to your home is too high.

What are the problems caused by high water pressure?

Erodes fixtures

High water pressure is terrible for your taps, and causes them to wear out much faster than they otherwise would. If you’ve replaced taps before but found that the leak returns after a short period of time, you may find that the cause isn’t the tap ware, but high water pressure instead.

This also applies to garden hoses, which often burst under the high pressure they are subjected to.

Loud and noisy pipes

On a larger scale, the pressure may also cause pipes to erode or leak, and can contribute to a ‘water hammer’ or a banging/noisy water pipes when the water is turned on or off.    In worst-case-scenarios, the water pressure may even cause a pipe to burst, which will cause water damage to your home and may not be covered by your insurance.

Water wastage

Water wastage is a large issue associated with high water pressure because more water flows out of the tap in the same period of time, which means more water going straight down the drain whenever you turn on a tap.

Shortens the life of water-using appliances

High water pressure places strains on your appliances such as hot water systems, washing machines and dishwashers.  These appliances are not designed to handle pressure higher than the recommended 500kpa, and the parts inside deteriorate at a much faster rate than if the pressure was lower. This can cost home owners money in expensive repairs or replacements.

If you have high water pressure at your property, think you might, or are ever simply in need of a plumber Canberra, you can always rely on Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting to provide you with professional and old-fashioned service that you can trust.  Contact us on 0407 212 565 or via our website here

– By Samantha Jones

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Lennox heaters aren’t the most common of systems, and with multiple air filtration components this one called for some extra special care. Here you can see the filters in the process of getting a bath, and then the squeaky clean results!

Having your heater serviced is essential to keeping it in good working order and heating effectively.  You should have the furnace serviced at the start of every season, and clean the Return Air Filter every month of so during the high-use winter period. The wool will break down over time, and should be replaced every few years or as needed.

Good airflow from clean filters like this keeps the heater warming the house efficiently and effectively, and a service will clean the sensors and ignition so that the heater is in good working order.

Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting has fully licensed and qualified technicians who carry out Canberra Gas heater servicing across the Valley and Queanbeyan for any ducted heater or gas wall furnace. Call us today on 6288 5123 to arrange an appointment.

We also carry out heater repairs Canberra and heater replacement Canberra, so be sure to let us know how we can help you!

By Samantha Jones

The post Canberra Gas Heater Servicing? What about Giving a Heater a Bath? appeared first on Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting.

You may have seen the new ‘flushable’ wet wipes being promoted in Supermarkets. They seem like the perfect solution – a moist towlette that you can just flush straight down the drain – clean, and with no mess. WRONG! Very few actually dissolve, and most remain just as strong as cloth rags when they are flushed which makes them a hazard in your drains. They will block up your sewer pipes, get into the sewer mains, and cause a blocked drain Canberra which could have serious consequences for your home.

These affect not only your own household drains, but they also cause issues when they enter city sewer mains, and cost hard earned tax payer’s money when the council or government send their technicians to clear them. This is costing millions of dollars which could be better spent upgrading infrastructure or in other important fields like health and education.

The daily telegraph reported that in Sydney, over one million kilograms of wet wipes have been removed from the sewer over a two year period (and that’s only what they were able to take away!)

Let’s put that into perspective – If you laid those wipes end-to-end, they would reach from Sydney to Los Angeles AND BACK!

Icon Water (formerly ACTEW) is responsible for the management of Canberra’s sewer and water network, and have reported that Canberra is just as affected by this wipe pandemic. This is a major problem for the plumbing & water industry, and is something which is entirely avoidable if we all take a little care and remember to put wet wipes in the bin, not down the loo~

Remember,

• 1. Flushable wipes are not actually flushable.
• 2. Over 1 million KG of wipes were removed from Sydney’s sewer over 2 years
• 3. Don’t put anything other than water and toilet paper down your drains
  

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If you have a blocked drain Canberra, from wipes, tree roots, grease or are noticing that your fixtures are slow to drain, call us on 6288 5123 for a local drainage expert with experience and service you can trust. Alternatively, email us or contact us via our booking form here

The post ‘Flushable’ Wipes – the marketing lie of the century appeared first on Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting.

Cooking oils and fats cause trouble in drains when they come into contact with cold water and then solidify.  The grease clings to pipes and can build over time until you have a fully blocked drain and need to call someone for help!

We also come across a variety of objects which have been flushed or put down drains which do much the same thing. These often include kids toys, sanitary products, flushable wipes (or not-so-flushable wipes, as we like to call them), but we’ve also found random objects such as tennis balls, rubber gloves and others which have no place being in a drain!

Not only does this affect individual households, but it can become a problem for the community when these types of obstructions and objects end up in city mains. In 2013 this exact problem lead to a ‘fat berg’ which was reported in London.  This lump of lard was over 15 tonnes and threatened to leak raw sewerage out onto the streets as the pipes had been so severely obstructed they were reduced to only 5% of capacity!

Photo credit: Polylok.com

Recently one of these monster blockages was also discovered lurking underneath Melbourne, so let’s not allow it to happen to Canberra as well!

Remember:

• – Used cooking oils, fats and grease solidify if poured down drains and can cling to your pipes and create blockages in your sewer.
• – Always dispose of cooking and food waste in the bin and not the drain
• – Don’t flush, pour or otherwise insert any foreign object down drains
  

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If you suspect you have a blocked drain, or aren’t sure but would like some help , you can always call us at Woden Valley Plumbing & Gasfitting on 0407 212 565.

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