Rheem

For the past year, I’ve enjoyed having a brand new hot water heater in my home thanks to my partnership with Rheem in bringing you information and experiences regarding their company. Today I wanted to pop in and have a very candid and real post detailing my thoughts on the whole experience from finding a contractor, to the pick up and install to actually living with the unit. I hope you find this bit of raw unorchestrated real talk helpful.

There were so many variables at play with my own personal hot water heater upgrade. It made it absolutely necessary to bring in someone who knew what they were doing. Our previous hot water heater was located in our garage. Which isn’t even attached to our house. When it was winter, we never had hot water because of the length the water travelled before it even got to our house. And then our unit was working infinitely harder because it was constantly battling the surrounding freezing temperatures come winter.

We absolutely had to move the unit. And honestly, I expected this decision to have a bigger impact on our utility bills than it really has. You can see the previous 2 cost comparison reports I did here for Winter and here for Spring. But the reality is that we came out of pocket quite a bit purely for comfort.

I pretty much have hot water wherever and whenever I want now. And as I mentioned before, I have osteoarthritis so having hot water to soak in directly impacts my quality of life. And truly, honestly, this past year of life has been significantly better than previous years. I’ve spent less time cocooned under blankets praying for Spring and I’ve been a lot more active. While it would be a stretch to claim that was all because of hot water, it definitely did make a difference.

One thing I haven’t touched on much since we first installed the unit is the econet. Surprisingly, this has been an awesome feature. I didn’t think I’d use it. I like being able to temporarily bump up the temperature when I’m out hiking in winter so that I can have a steamy hot bath or shower when I get home. I don’t normally have to do that but the few times I’ve done it, it’s been awesome.

I’ve also never realized how convenient it would be to have a user friendly digital display. The hot water heater was always something that just sat there and I left it alone because I found it daunting to mess with. I no longer avoid my hot water heater, but rather work with it to maintain a comfortable home.

I’m certainly not a professional and I couldn’t tell you much difference between a Rheem unit and a competitor. I can tell you that I haven’t had any negative experiences with the unit. A year later and it functions perfectly. I haven’t been dissatisfied once. When I’ve gone to do something, it’s gone smoothly. When I have a question, the manual and website make information easy to find. Looking around, their prices seem competitive.

Getting to know Rheem as a brand has been a joy. I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along on my experiences going through a remodel involving the movement and upgrade of a hot water heater. Next month will be my final monthly post in this series, and it’ll be another cost comparison. But I’ll definitely be sure to pop in with more thoughts later just to keep you in the loop.

Have you been on the internet lately? I have and I’ve been getting bombarded with pumpkin, fall, sweater weather everything. A sun loving gal like myself isn’t the most thrilled but I am getting excited. Before I dive into the prettier aspects of this new season upon us, I wanted to do the right thing as a homeowner and make sure my home is actually ready for the inevitably cooler weather coming. Fall prep will save us all a few headaches later in the season.

How To Keep Utility Costs Down As The Temperatures Go Down

Service Your Furnace

Easily the most recommended project this time of year is having the furnace serviced. And you really should! Just like a car and oil changes, having a pro come out and service your furnace helps it run better, more efficiently and extends it’s life. This post is in partnership with Rheem, a manufacturer of furnaces, air conditioners, hot water heaters and more. If you need a new furnace, here are some tips for choosing a furnace from Rheem.

Reseal Around Doors & Windows

This isn’t a set it and forget it task. Ideally with every season, you’ll inspect the caulk and seal around your windows and doors. Ensure the caulk is still in good condition and that any seals are still functioning properly. Do the same with weatherstripping. Don’t have any? It’s time to install some!

While you’re doing this, also give the exterior of your home a good inspection. Cracks and gaps around doors and windows aren’t the only places cold air can creep in and warm air out. Here are some places to check:

 

• Around heating and/or cooling units.
• The seal around room air conditioners.
• At corners formed by siding.
• Openings around drain pipes in bathrooms and kitchens.

Inspect Your Roof

I don’t want to find out I have a problem with my roof when there’s a few inches of snow atop it. And I don’t want you to find out that late either. While the weather is still pleasant, pull out a ladder and get on your roof. Make sure the shingles are still in good condition, that none are missing and that everything is laying flat as it should. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, most handymen will take a look for a small fee.

Clear Gutters Of Debris (and ensure they’re working properly)

I’ll attempt to scare you again with the idea of snow destroying your home. Imagine we’re halfway through winter, warmer weather should be here in just a short bit of time but we’re getting hit with a snow storm at the present moment. If your gutters are blocked, all that snow will have nowhere to go when it starts to melt. This is very bad!

While you’ve got that ladder out from checking on your roof, clean out those gutters. Make sure the downspouts are working right too.

Drain and winterize outdoor faucets, hoses, water storage containers, sprinkler systems, etc.

Water expands when it freezes, did you know that? Water in garden hoses, pipes or water collection barrels will expand when it freezes. These containers will crack or burst at any weak points when this happens. A busted pipe is not the kind of repairman bill you want to see. Let’s not see one, okay? Drain and store it all.

Winterize Lawnmower

This is a new one for me! I had wondered if I was missing something for my lawn mower. I use a lot of manual lawn tools but I do use a gas powered lawn mower. I knew that gas sitting was bad, but that’s as much as I knew! Apparently best practice is to drain the fuel or add a fuel stabilizer.

Prepare Air Conditioners for Dormancy

Vacuum internal parts of air conditioners. Take down window units or cover outside box with a tarp or plastic air conditioner cover in order to prevent rusting of the internal parts.

Prune Landscaping

Preparing your existing landscaping for the colder months will make getting the beds tip top condition for spring easier. Plus, you’ll want to make sure everything is cut back so animals and bugs don’t have an easier time making your home theirs.

Hopefully you’ve found these tips helpful! I know in my research I found a few new things to add to my routine. What’s the first thing you’ll be tackling?

 

Gosh, is it blazing hot outside for anyone else? We’re still in the beginning of summer here so the evenings and mornings are still bearable, but here pretty soon it’s going to be indoor season and the AC is going to be earning it’s keep. So naturally I’ve been doing a bit of research on ways I can help keep those utility costs from skyrocketing because I need to preserve my thrifting budget, haha.

We have a couple of things in place that are already working in our favor: Metal awnings on most of the windows (I recently removed a few when working on our curb appeal) to keep the sun from heating up rooms unnecessarily and our unit is on a side of the house that gets less sunlight than the other sides of the house. As part of a year long collaboration with Rheem, I want to chat a bit today about this heat and the effect it has on our utility bills.

Short of paying a fortune to have all our walls ripped down and reinsulated with the best stuff, what else can I do?

Low Cost & No Cost Ideas for Saving On Utility Bills:

1. Because I live in an older home, some rooms seem to be more prone to getting hotter during the day than others. Instead of turning my beloved temperature of 75 down, I can get a small window unit for cheap on craigslist to cool those rooms when we need them to be more comfortable.
2. Replace filters. I know this now that I’ve started looking into these things (I was a first time homeowner before my parents so I didn’t grow up knowing an awful lot) but at least every season check, clean and replace those filters.
3. Lower drapes or even close them when the sun is on the side of the house the windows face. This helps to reduce the natural warming up the sun provides much like our awnings.
4. Toaster ovens, crock pots, microwaves and outdoor grills. Avoid using the oven and stove if you can help it. A 350 plus degree fahrenheit oven is definitely going to heat up the kitchen.
5. Make up for the increase in electric use by lessening other bills. I rely heavily on rainwater collection during the summer months to help makeup for the extra electricity use. We use this for wet outdoor play, gardening and rinsing off the car/patio/bikes/etc. I also save extra water from my kitchen sink to water plants!
6. Caulk. The caulk around my home is in very sad shape. So one of my upcoming “not so fun” projects is going to be tearing out the thick old caulk and replacing it with fresh caulk.
7. Let timers and solar power do their thing. Utilize lights in the yard that will run on solar and for lights you need extra reliability from, choose motion sensing and dusk to dawn lights to save on the power draw. See more landscaping lighting advice here.
8. Air dry dishes.
9. Wash clothes on “cold.”
10. When I feel like I’m getting hot in the house and want to crank the A/C down, I go outside for 20 minutes. Perspective is everything, isn’t it?

Do you have any low cost/no cost ideas for keeping those electric bills down this summer? I feel like some of these things takes a bit of a lifestyle shift but I’m happy and I hope you’ll give them a go, too.

Hot water heaters. It’s not something I’d ever shopped for before and I imagine it’s something the rest of you don’t do very often either (house flippers excluded ;)). Since it’s something I’ve done recently in my partnership with Rheem, I thought I’d share some tips for buying a hot water heater.

1. Determine what your power type is. Most likely it’s one of these: Electric, Natural Gas, or Propane.
2. Figure out which type of system makes sense for you. Here’s a helpful, interactive page from Rheem that can break down in an easy to understand way: Selecting A Water Heater.
   • Traditional Tank-type
   • Tankless
   • Solar
   • Point-of-use
3. Have a contractor help you calculate what size system you need. This chart from The Home Depot can help, but it’s always best to consult a professional to be certain. For example, our household is a family of 3, so per the chart we need a 46 – 56 gallon capacity tank. And our home’s required temperature rise is 120 degrees fahrenheit – 55 degrees fahrenheit ground water temperature = 65 degrees fahrenheit. The gallons capacity and the required temperature rise are what you’ll need to see which units will work for your home and it’s location.
   • Tank-types are based on capacity.
   • Tankless are based on gallons per minute.
4. Do the homework. Don’t settle for replacing your unit with the same thing you’ve had. The manufacturers of these units are always coming out with different models with different features and it’s more likely a different unit will work best for you. Did you know your water heater makes up nearly 20% of your home’s energy usage?Definitely worth investing some time shopping around. (For us, this went way deeper than simply replacing the unit. We moved ours, reran pipes and went from a gas to an electric unit.)
   • New high efficiency water heaters are more efficient at heating water and keeping it hot. This means a lower annual operating cost and more available hot water.
   • New features, including Rheem’s EcoNet Smart Home Automation system utilize wifi-enabled technology, to control your water heater and receive maintenance alerts.
   • Advanced, energy-efficient products, such as the new Rhem Professional Prestige Hybrid Heat Pump Water HEater offer over $4,000 in lifetime savings with less than 2 years payback.

I don’t think choosing an appliance like this has to be hard. It’s intimidating but it’s not hard to buy a hot water heater. Contractors and associates at The Home Depot stores are always there to help you but I think it’s smart to understand what goes into the decision so you can play a role in the purchase.