December 28, 2017 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
BRRRRRR!!! It's frigid here this week in central New Hampshire.
When I woke up this morning, it was -6 F. The high temperature is supposed claw it's way to 1 F. The wind is howling, it's just before noon and the thermometer says it's -1 F.
In other words, it's damned dangerous to be outside.
Great Teaching Moment - Heat Loss
Are you suffering from the cold too? Is your house cold even though the furnace is running non stop?
There's nothing wrong. This is normal when it gets bitter cold.
Furnaces, boilers, heaters, etc. are sized for an average low temperature. Professional installers look at the weather records and then select a temperature like 5, 10, 15 or even 30 F depending on where you live.
It's silly and wasteful to install a furnace in your home that's so large it can heat the entire Empire State Building! You want your furnace to be just large enough to heat your home and that's it.
Here's a coarse analogy. Imagine trying to heat a giant warehouse with a candle. The poor candle can't put out enough heat each hour to compensate for the HEAT LOSS through the floor, walls and ceiling.
Your furnace, boiler or heat pump is like that candle. When it's operating at full tilt, it can only generate a GIVEN AMOUNT of Btus per hour.
As it gets colder outside, the heat loss, measured in Btus, INCREASES per hour. At some point that Btu heat loss is greater than what your heater can produce.
When this happens, it's impossible to maintain your normal indoor temperature and you get cold.
The solution is to put on more clothes, long underwear and wear a hat. That's what I'm doing right now as I type this. Look at the photo just below.
Go Patriots!!! Want the NEW Patriots knit hat like I'm wearing in the photo above?
It's got a fantastic felt-like material liner and is SUPER WARM. My youngest daughter gave it to me for Christmas. I love love love it...
CLICK HERE to have it delivered to you home.
There might be a special deal at Amazon where it comes with a free air-pressure gauge you can give to any NFL official you might know. 😉
New Products at AsktheBuilder.com
I introduced two new products at AsktheBuilder.com in the past two days!
Did you know I've been a master plumber since age 29? Yes, it's a fact. I enjoy installing plumbing pipes. To me, it's like a jigsaw puzzle but in 3D.
The new products came about because of increased demand for a service I've provided for years but did a HORRIBLE JOB of marketing.
The first product is a service where I'll draw plumbing plans for your drain and vent lines in your new home or remodel job.
Draw Plumbing Plans
In the photo below, that's a washing machine drain line and it's associated vent line. You also see a vent line to the right coming up from a lower floor.
Do you think you could size all the pipes right and know how they connect in your home? I didn't think so.
Allow me to draw it all up for you.
Most DIYrs have no idea about the correct pipe sizes and the best way to connect all the pipes in a full layout.
That's what I do. As crazy as it sounds, I love making these drawings.
Here's an example of just PART of a drawing:
The second product is a short instant download of Best Practices for Installing PVC Drain and Vent Lines.
In this simple document I condense decades of hard-earned knowledge so you don't make the mistakes I did many years ago.
You can get professional plumbing results by following all of what's in this short document.
CLICK HERE to see what it covers.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
I'm about to start PRICE TESTING THIS NEW PRODUCT. The knowledge in this simple document is well worth hundreds of dollars. I know no one would pay that price.
But they might pay $19.95 or $24.95 to get just ONE of the tips. The way you determine this is to change the pricing and see what price sells best. Lowest price does not always win!
Right now it's priced at $14.95.
If you want it for $14.95, then PURCHASE IT NOW.
If you feel you may need this advice in the future - even if another plumber is putting in your system - you should get it right now.
You can include MUCH of what's in the document in your plumbing specifications so you get a fantastic system.
New & Revised Columns For You
I'd look at these columns if for nothing else but the photos and videos that are in them:
Bulletproof Undermount Kitchen Sinks
Secret Tip to Unclog Toilets FAST!
Load Bearing Wall Identification SECRETS
Granite Sealers - Bet You Didn't Know This
I'll be very busy the next three months revising hundreds and hundreds of older columns for you.
You'll benefit by CLICKING the links to them.
Orlando FL Meet Up
I'll be in Orlando, FL from January 8th-11th for the Builders Show.
I can do a meet up on the night of January 8th if you want. At this point I don't have anything scheduled. But after that, it gets pretty insane.
REPLY to this email if you want to get together. CHANGE the Subject Line to: Orlando Meet Up
That's enough for today.
Happy New Year!
Tim Carter
Founder - AsktheBuilder.com
Drawer of Plumbing Isometric Plans
Do It Right, Not Over!