For more than 43 years, Muccia Plumbing & Heating has been servicing Bergen County, NJ. Governor Murphy has instituted a lock down due to the Coronavirus. Muccia Plumbing & Heating is considered an essential service, allowing us to continue to provide our customers with the best in plumbing, heating and AC services. Our office staff is on duty from 7 AM to 5 PM Mon-Fri and we maintain a unique after hours call service for late evenings, weekends and holidays.

This lock down means that throughout New Jersey, people who do not provide medical, pharma, grocery and other essential services, are required to stay at home. If you have a plumbing or heating problem, Muccia Plumbing is helping in several important ways:

Dispatch prioritized based on age vs service required

We are attentive to the needs of people in our #BergenCounty community and providing priority service to people who are over 60. The Federal and NJ Health Officials indicate that Senior Citizens who may have lung or heart problems are the most susceptible to the virus. Being centrally headquartered in Hackensack, NJ in Bergen County allows us to balance service priorities, based on the severity of the problem, with our commitment to support our older community.

Doing Our Part, and More

Muccia Plumbing is taking any risk of spreading this disease seriously. We realize that letting anyone into your home or even close to you may present an opportunity for the Coronavirus infection. Therefore, we are taking extra steps to avoid any contact between you and our techs, and vice-versa.
First, once your job is scheduled, we will call you when we are on our way so you can plan accordingly. Whether it’s giving you time to put on a mask or wrap your nose and mouth softly with a towel.
Next, we will remove any reason for our tech to engage with you on a face to face basis. For example, if the tech needs your approval to proceed, he’ll go outside if you wish so you can review and approve the estimated fee for service. If, in a rare situation, he needs to return to the warehouse in Hackensack to retrieve parts not typically carried on board the truck, once again, he will let you know when he is approaching your location.

We Dress for our mutual protection from the Coronavirus

While this is part of our normal process, it’s worth mentioning that our techs wear booties over their shoes much like physicians wear in a hospital. They also wear special rubber gloves so that there is no opportunity for COVID-19 to the cross the barrier from any of our personnel to anywhere on your home. Lastly, we clean the area we serviced so that it is cleaner than when our tech arrived.

We realize that some plumbing repairs may require two technicians to move heavy boiler heaters and hot water heater tanks. Regardless of how many people are required to service your home, each member of the Muccia Plumbing team works the same way. Despite the dangers presented by the coronavirus, you can feel confident that the work you need done, does not need to stop.

Now we can service you without a premium charge

A silver lining in the cloud. Many people who hold down 9-5 jobs are faced with paying the weekend or after-hours premium we charge. But if you are home-bound, our service can be rendered at whatever time you prefer, from early in the morning to the late afternoon. We’ll let you know how long your job will take to make it most convenient. You may choose to remain home and read a book or watch TV, if weather permitting and you’re able you can take a walk or just relax comfortably at home. Put your trust Muccia Plumbing’s 43 years in Bergen County to treat you like family and quickly resolve your plumbing, heating and/or ventilation issues.

Take a $25 discount for your job

Did you know you can visit our website at https://mucciaplumbing.com and instantly download a $25 coupon to use towards your service call? Just press the blue box, enter your e-mail, and the discount coupon will be delivered to your email mailbox. And you can DOUBLE the value to $50 if you leave us a positive review on Yelp, Facebook or Google. Need help writing a review? No Yelp account? We’ll help. Just send an email to mail@mucciaplumbing.com

Trust Muccia Plumbing to deliver quick, reliable service and with your health on the top of our mind. Call us today and speak with our office staff at 201-343-1414. Together, we’ll get through this Coronavirus together.

Movin’ Out.

Leaving #BergenCounty? It’s true. New Jersey, whether it’s a change of jobs, costs of commuting or high real estate taxes that are only deductible to the $10,000 limit on a Federal Tax return, is losing its population to warmer and lower cost of living southern states. If you are thinking about a move and remaining in the Garden State or heading to another state, your home will have to pass an inspection by a certified pro. You can avoid surprises discovered on an inspector’s report by doing some of your own checks. Here’s a quick list of things to check:

Check the Hot Water Heater

Inspect your hot water tank or tankless system for leaks and other problems, such as rust on or around the pipes of the hot water heating device. Open the drain screw and let some water out into a bucket. If it looks dark brown, or a rusty-color, it likely means that the water heater has decayed to the point that it is overdue for a replacement. As we have said so often, check the label of the water heater to find out when it was installed or look for the town inspector’s approval sticker. Hot water heater tanks should be replaced every 8-10 years. Rather than be forced to compensate the new owner at closing for a replacement, call Muccia Plumbing and schedule a new hot water heater install. Not only will you get our top-notch, white-glove service, but you’ll find coupons on our website for discounts available that can result in a lower cost than the “recommended adjustment to sales price” provided by the home inspector. You’ll also get our recommendation on brand, size, capacity and any updates to be compliant with changes in NJ i.e., a 4″ exhaust venting pipe.

Check the Water Pressure

You can tell a lot about your home’s plumbing system by turning on the faucets and flushing the toilets. Just by watching the flow of water can let you know a lot about the health of your pipes. Clean pipes will consistently deliver a strong, high-pressure water flow that drains quickly and easily when rinsed or flushed. Slow flow can be as simple as a clogged shower head or faucet. Slow draining can indicate blockages somewhere in the pipelines. Muccia Plumbing partners with Drain Busters to clear any clogs. We can also remove and clean any faucet or shower head.

Check Washing Machine Hoses

Did you know that one of the most frequent reasons for flooded basements is burst washing machine hoses? If you’re washing machine is over 5 years old and you’re still running on your original hoses, it’s possible for those hoses, which are always under pressure whether the machine is on or off to burst. You can purchase non-leak hoses on-line of at home improvement centers that will block water at the supply point. If getting behind and changing those hoses are beyond your ability, Muccia Plumbing offers that as a service.

Check the Sump Pump(s)

Older homes which have “settled” may allow rainwater to make its way to the basement. If your basement is completely or partially finished, carpeting can become waterlogged, and furniture can be ruined beyond repair. The most popular solution is installing “French Drains” which involve cutting a track around the perimeter of the concrete basement floor, creating a route for rainwater to travel, and have it flow to a pit for the sump pump. The flow of water into the pit will raise the float attached to the electric pump which will move the water outside and away from your home.

Why Muccia Plumbing ?

Muccia Plumbing is Bergen County’s Premier Plumbing, Heating and AC Services company. If you’re selling your home, a home inspection is a mandatory step in the process. Home inspectors are paid to find problems, even minor ones in order to justify their fees. And you would want the same if you were buying a house. However, by doing a bit of work on your own, you can knock down any issues a home inspector might find and getting to them first. To be fair, plumbing problems tend to start off small, and if not caught early, can snowball into epic proportions. A full inspection from the finest plumbers in Bergen County is just what you need to feel at-ease. For more information about Muccia Plumbing and our extensive menu of services—including full-service inspections, emergency 24/7 on-call attention, and more, give us a call.

Welcome to 2020

As we begin yet another new year, it’s time to have a realistic look at your home or businesses heating, ventilation, air conditioning and overall plumbing. Some of these items are easy to plan and budget for, while some unfortunately are not. No matter how many times your plumber warns you about the remaining, if any, life expectancy of your hot water heater tank, you’re likely going to wait that one day too many. At that point, it’s no longer a hot water tank replacement. If you’re home is like many, there is a utility side where the heating system sits alongside the hot water heater tank. On the other side is a finished basement, usually carpeted with, depending on who else lives there, a sofa, a big screen TV, some electronic game console like a Microsoft Xbox or a Nintendo Switch. There might be a table for snacks during NFL, NBA, or MLB games. There could be an exercise bike, bought with the best intentions 4 years ago, and a total of 21 miles on its odometer.

Hot Water Heater Tank

Bradford White Tank Let’s start the new year with our first lesson on the ubiquitous hot water heater tank. You see unlike the boiler or furnace, which last decades, hot water heater tanks have a life expectancy. The better the brand, the longer the life span. Determining the age can be easy of challenging. It’s easy if your town’s plumbing inspector placed a signed and dated an inspection sticker, from when he approved the work. Since the adoption of a 4 inch exhaust from the hot water tank to and through the chimney, closer inspections to ensure installations are up to this new code have become a vital step in ensuring that no CO2 (the exhaust from burning gas to keep the hot water hot) is escaping into your home or business possibly causing a serious health exposure. Alternatively, regardless of when you purchased your home or last replaced the hot water heater tank, there is a manufacturer’s plate of when it was built, and it can be used to confirm the build date. Hot water heater tanks do not linger in wholesaler’s or plumber’s warehouses very long, so a manufacturer’s date is a viable choice to determine its age.

Regardless of when it was last replaced or installed, water in Bergen County, NJ water has become “hard”. What is hard water? Hard water is water that has high mineral content. Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicarbonates and sulfates. In addition, and, despite water filtration centers throughout Bergen County, the pipes that deliver the water to your home have been underground for decades. As bits of those pipes loosen, they become part of the water supply that enters your home. Now before you think these are 5-pound rocks, in reality they are no bigger than sand. But they combine with the aforementioned deposits of multiple minerals. And unless you have installed a whole house water filtration and purification system, the cold-water supply line to your hot water heater tank contains these imperfections. Here is a link to a 2016 report on Bergen and Hudson Water Contamination http://bit.ly/37ndPzA

The Proof.

Try this test. On the edge of most kitchen faucets, there are a series of screens to minimize that sediment from becoming a part of your morning cup of coffee. If you visit the Muccia Plumbing Facebook page, we review the components and the process of cleaning the screens to which helps to renew water pressure when the get clogged with sediment. Basically, there is an aerator housing screwed into the faucet end which you likely need to remove with pliers. Because you don’t want to damage the finish, we recommend wrapping a rag to loosen the cap. You will then see several screens and you want to take note of their sequence in the cap as you gently flush some running water to remove any sediment. Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, and again a rag should be used to avoid marring or scratching a chrome fixture when tightening the threaded aerator housing, though hand-tight with no leaks is acceptable. Start slowly to avoid crossing the threads.

Draining the Tank

Back to the hot water tank heater. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a similar screen, and therefore over years the sediment can build up at the bottom of the tank. It’s possible to extend the like of the tank by draining it through the hose fitting and continue to allow fresh water to enter the tank. You should see brownish color water as the tank and the sediment empty out to whatever drain you have close by. Once the water is clear, you have gotten as much sediment as possible out, but certainly not all.

Anode Rods

One other choice is to replace the anode rod that is placed in every hot water heater tank. These anode rods are made in different materials.

Aluminum rods were made many years ago, and you had parents buying bottled water since consuming aluminum is unhealthy.

Magnesium anode rods are the most popular EXCEPT where hard water is present, like Bergen County, NJ. In fact, replacing the manufacturer’s anode rod may actually accelerate the corrosion and with it, the end of the life of the hot water heater tank.

Zinc rods are made of a combination of aluminum and zinc, 1 proportion of zinc to 10 proportions of aluminum. Zinc serves to reduce the smell of sulfur which can affect some water tanks, although modern water heaters are not typically supplied with zinc anode rods installed at the factory.

Impressed Current Rods – These are anodes which use electricity to attract corrosion. These rods do not have a sacrificial metal, nor lack the self-created currents which the anode rods are typically capable of. Impressed current rods do not need to be removed and replaced, as they don’t corrode, but they do need to be infrequently cleaned in order to maintain the electrical charge. Please note that impressed current anode rods are usually found in large commercial water heaters, where the risk of corrosion is higher than usual.

Combination Anodes Rods – The combination anode is an ordinary anode which is attached to an unusual place. Most anodes are at the top of the heater, attached by a hex head screw. Some water heaters have an anode attached to the hot water outlet. This anode is installed inside the pipe, and can be difficult to reach, often involving the removal and breakage of the pipe, and the unscrewing of the hot water pipe nipple section. You can add a combination anode by lowering a rod into the pipe after removing the nipple attachment and replacing it with a rod.

Henry's Plumbing Supply Before heading off to your local plumbing supply house to replace an existing anode rod, there are some important considerations. First, if you look at the top of a typical 40-gallon tank, you’ll see a 6 sided “nut”. That is the part holding the anode when it was delivered from the manufacturer. It is installed by a machine, set to an exact torque, and is extremely hard to loosen. Next, within a 3-4-year span, in Bergen County, NJ and other parts of the US dealing with hard water, it’s likely that the original anode rod is a mere skeleton of its original self. Between the difficult position and tight fit of the factory anode nut, even the strongest do-it-yourselfer might be ale to crack it open and remove it, but the costs of a typical anode rod of $25 may make it seem like a wise decision, but if you do make sure you take the make, model and capacity of your current hot water heater tank. While I am certainly a fan of saving money, the best choice is to budget for a new hot water heater tank every 8-10 years, and most plumber offer financing since the cost of a quality hot water heater tank, if it needs the expansion for the exhaust from 3” to 4” will average between $1,700 and $2,000. Play it safe. If the nut on top crack due to the pressure necessary to remove it, you will have no hot water until it can be replaced.

Summary: Muccia Plumbing, Heating and AC Service has been serving Bergen County homes and businesses for over 43 years. We service any brand of hot water heater tank. We recommend Bradford-White tanks because of their superior performance and longevity. The are proudly built in the USA. Muccia Plumbing overs 24 x 7 x 365 including weekends, holidays and late-night. Our technicians are factory trained to not only service HVAC systems, but to offer advice on how to get the most out of your hard-earned money. Call us at 201-343-1414 or visit our website at www.mucciaplumbing.com for discount coupons and subscribe to our newsletter for special offers, new products, tips for the “Do-It-Yourselfer” and more.

As we enter the Fall season in NJ, storms and heavy rains have become the norm. For those homes with French Drains installed, functioning sump pump(s) can mean the difference between a warm, dry and cozy basement, and a potential flood-destroying carpets, and ruined electronics left on the floor of a finished basement.

Is there anything worse than a clogged toilet? If you have a toilet that frequently gets clogged, Muccia Plumbing can help you resolve any plumbing, heating, drainage, cooling or ventilation.

We often bring up water heater replacement in our online and Facebook posts. Some readers might assume it’s not just sound advice. Today we’re going to go a little deeper on why hot water heaters need to be replaced.

Like any other home appliance, it can be a surprising hit to your budget. Just like your refrigerator, microwave or even your car, replacing the water heater will result in one less headache you can count on for several years. Consider that neglecting to replace your water heater before it fails ends up costing far more in repairs and operational costs. So here’s some additional points why it’s important to recognize the signs that your ready to need a replacement:

Your current water heater no longer meets your needs.

Whether you have a tank or tankless water heater, every water heater is meant to be installed according to power and capacity. Simply put, if your family has grown by adding children or parents, you may need one of the bigger storage tank heaters 50-75 gallons. Alternatively, empty nesters likely will only need a 40 gallon or perhaps a tankless water heater. Muccia Plumbing techs will guide you on the best choice based on a discussion rather than merely a one for one replacement.

Muccia guidance combined with family changes you provide, ensures the right size, type and capacity to install. We’ll recommend the right size water heater to keep your heating bill low while maintaining both comfort and convenience.

Loss of Efficiency

In the context of water heating, the word “efficiency” means how much you must spend on average. Efficiency and utility bills are one of the first indicators that your water heater needs replacing. If you do not see your water heater usage suddenly doubled or tripled, there should be no reason for your water heater costs to rise.

More frequent calls for repairs

Have you found yourself calling in for water heater services in #BergenCounty more than once in the same year? That is a huge clue a complete failure is close. Water heaters more than any other home appliance should never require more than one repair. If you have needed to call a plumber twice, or just once every year, it is clearly a sign that your water heater needs replacing.

Here’s the “but”. If your water heater is 8 years old or less and giving you these signs of problem, call Muccia Plumbing. One of the frequently early failures is the purchase of a new water heater from a home improvement center. If it’s a plumbing-supply-only brand like Bradford White, it may be eligible for replacement under the manufacturer’s warranty. Of course, using a general “handyman” instead of a NJ licensed master plumber such as Muccia Plumbing, may be proving unqualified repairs to generate revenue or simply incompetence.

Age is still the #1 reason to replace a water heater.

As we have stated many times, age is usually the most frequent reason for water heater replacement. A quality brand water heater, still under 7-8 years old, can be solved with a maintenance check or a repair. Leaking water, high fuel costs and poor efficiency on a 10 year or older unit requires replacement. Imagine having guests on a holiday stay-over and suddenly there is no hot water. The table to the left is Bradford White’s guide to determining the manufactured date one of their hot water tanks. It’s tough to read here so please visit https://www.bradfordwhite.com/find-your-model-and-serial-number#

However, regardless of the brand, its usually easier to read your town’s inspection and approval sticker.

If you look at the date row, the bottom is dated 08/22/16 and signed by the inspector.

Bottom Line: How long should a tank or tankless last?

The life expectancy of water heaters varies between each type.

Tank water heaters: 8 to 12 years.

Tankless water heaters: Over 20 years.

While there is no hard rule, where your water heater lands on the scale depends on 1) the quality and brand of the water heater 2) installation and right-sizing by a master plumber 3) proper maintenance such as draining the tank to remove scale or sediment.

Muccia Plumbing features Made in the USA Water Heaters, both tank and tankless, from Bradford White. Our techs are trained by the manufacturers of all products we service to ensure proper installation and use.

The choice is simple. Now that we’ve given you a detailed lesson on water heaters, there’s only one thing left to say “I call Muccia” and schedule an appointment 201-778-0885

The venerable hot water tank has finally met it’s match. For the last ten years, debates continued about the efficiencies and longevity of tank vs tankless water heaters. However, the match is over. Recent updates in materials and processes for on-demand hot water from a tank unit can stand up side by side with a new tankless.

First, the obvious, there is no need to run precious water up two stories until it’s warm enough to take a shower. In fact, there is a tiny learning curve that avoids pushing the handle to the furthest heat position. Do that and step in to the shower and you may get scalded!

Next, the life span of the tankless system is now easily 20 years besting the typical tank system by double the lifespan.

Efficiency: While these systems are more expensive, they are also more efficient. In fact, Consumer Reports indicates that tankless water heaters are 22% more efficient than standard models. The monthly savings might be nominal, but homeowners can expect to save hundreds of dollars annually.

Space savings: Whether you’ve been using a 40 gallon, 50 gallon or 75 gallon tank, the space needed for a tankless water heater is a fraction of what those tanks take as tankless are bolted onto a wall using no floor space whatsoever.

Tax breaks remain: Because they are more efficient, tankless heaters qualify for federal tax credits, which help offset the steep installation cost, usually 10%. In sum, if your existing 8+ year tank is headed to obsolescence, consider a Bradford White tankless system.

The program will run from Monday May 20, 2019 and conclude June 30, 2019. There is no fixed discount until the initial inspection is done, and “stacking” i.e. using TV ad discounts or downloaded $25 discounts cannot be used with this program. However, we expect the discount to be pleasing to our customers.

Mike’s Tips: Spring is here in #BergenCounty. Please, before you start your A/C compressor, it’s very important to remove any #cover you have for it. Also if there is green overgrowth or debris, you don’t want it bending the fan blades.
The cover photo is an example of what NOT to have around your compressor. #Ridgewood #Ramsey #Oradell are just 3 towns that called us this weekend with a cover or branches or overgrown ivy that was sucked into their compressor.

Mike Muccia’s first 4 tips to get ready for winter

Mike’s Tip #1

In a recent edition of Mike’s Kwik-Tip on Facebook, we recommended that you remove the timers off any hose bibs since a quick unexpected freeze will destroy the internal plastic parts. (In English please!) There is a fitting where a hose can be attached to a home water supply (usually more than one) so watering the lawn and garden is simplified. The part that the hose screws onto is called a hose bib. We received many “thank you”s for that tip, but now that we are in October, it’s time to go one better and it’s a 2 step process.
First, stretch out the hose(s) and remove any water just by rolling them up. This is extra easy if you have a hose reel.
Next, it’s not enough to simply shut the valve off where it’s sticking out of the basement and through the wall outside. You’ll need to go into your basement or crawl space and shut the pipe off at the valve inside the house. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a pipe which is split in the middle. (see an example on left)

Mike’s Winter Tip#2

Draining the hot water heater. Yes, we realize this is a terrible waste of both energy and water, BUT draining and rinsing the sediment that ends up on the bottom of the tank will extend the tank’s life and now’s the time to do it. NOTE: This may not be for every do-it-yourself homeowner since it requires turning off the natural gas and the water supply, then running a hose from the bottom of the tank until it’s empty, refill it again, draining it one more time, and one final refill. Then turn on the gas line and lighting the pilot light. If you have any misgivings about doing this, either skip this step or call Muccia Plumbing. While this will improve the tank’s operation and lifespan, we don’t want you to accidentally shorten your own. If your tank was installed in the last 2-3 years, you’ll be fine. If you’re not sure, look for the town inspection sticker. Their dates are usually easier to read than the manufacturers. If your tank is near end of life, be aware that Muccia only sells and installs Bradford White Made in the USA hot water heater tanks. For example, Bradford White fittings are all brass, not plastic and are guaranteed to provide you with years of excellent service.

Mike’s Winter Tip#3

Replace your rubber washing machine hoses. If your washer was installed by the company that sold it to you, they most likely used the rubber hoses that came with the machine. These hoses are holding back the full pressure of both hot and cold water until the washer timer calls for them to release their water supplies. They are OK for a year or two but living in NJ, we are subject to brutal hot days and frigid cold days, and those fluctuations in ambient temperature cause the hoses to fail. The standard for several years was braided stainless steel. Those held up better, but over time the stainless steel wrapping would also fail. We recommend the Danco Flood Anchor washing machine hoses. What’s great about these hoses is they have a ball bearing built into the connector at the water supply. No matter what happens to the hose, the ball bearing will prevent a flood by stopping the water from escaping the fitting. These are not cheap, and if you’re handy and can remove and replace the hoses, they are worth the price. You can sometimes find them at Sears or True Value. They come in a 6-foot length, so before you start taking things apart, make sure 6 feet will work for you or look for another brand. You can purchase them anywhere you wish. The Amazon ad example is simply that – an example.

Mike’s Winter Tip #4

Now it’s time for you to do a simple inspection. In one of our first blogs, we discussed what leaks or just water on the floor around your furnace or boiler may mean. There are three parts that can fail about 6-10 years into the life of a new boiler.

The first part is the boiler pressure relief valve. Here’s the exact explanation from the NJ Master Plumbing manual: A safety valve is a valve that acts as a fail-safe. An example of the safety valve is a pressure relief valve (PRV), which automatically releases a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or another system when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits.

This is what it looks like:

The second part is the water pressure relief valve: Again, from the Master Plumber manual: Back Pressure Valves. Back pressure valves are pressure relief valves used in pipes and pumps. They are essential in the plumbing industry. Their function is to maintain a set pressure, particularly at the pump’s outlet port or discharge, and doing so ensures correct metering. This is what it looks like:

The third and final part is an air expansion tank. Once again, directly from the plumbers manual: An expansion tank is a metal tank connected to a building’s water heating appliance designed to accommodate fluctuations in the volume of a building’s hot water supply system. These fluctuations occur because water expands in volume as it gets hot and loses volume as it cools.

NOTE: This should not be confused with the hot water tank. This is meant as a fit for a home that is running on a hot water system. The boiler heats the water, it is then pumped throughout the home raising the temperatures of the radiators. It is one of the more efficient means to heat a home since, after the hot water returns, the pipes retain their heat

The simplest way to test for a water leak is to put some paper towel on the floor and let it sit undisturbed overnight. If in the moning the paper is wet or simply feels of an unusual texture, please Muccia Plumbing at 201-778-7085

Muccia Plumbing, Heating and AC has already begun to get calls to schedule a heating system startup. It makes sense and it’s worth spending a few moments understanding what we do and why you should care.

Understanding the complex heating system and why it needs an annual startup

Your heating system is a complex machine. It includes a variety of devices that check for fuel pressure, water level, water pressure, valves, zones, pumps and more. These devices and indicators are specific to your system, and are meant to take care of each part of your home or business with a unique “zone”. Simply put, a zone is an area of your home or business that is getting heat (or not) based on the thermostat that is relaying information back to the main system. Whether time-based (start the heat at 6 AM) and/or temperature based (Don’t let it drop below 65 degrees), each zone is an independent place and based on use, will require more or less heat than another room.

Heating system startups save money

For example, let’s say you have a large family room say 30 x 30 feet square. This may be the place where on a holiday morning kids, adults and family gather to open gifts. Once that fun is over, everyone goes back to another room – kids go out or to their bedrooms, parents set about doing laundry, cooking, or any other planned activity. To maintain that 30 X 30 heat at a comfortable 72 with no occupants is simply a waste of money. Today’s efficient boilers and hot water systems produce heat rapidly so that if it’s needed, it takes a very short time to regain that heat level from the earlier time of day.

Likewise, there are two other times where lowering the heat can save money. One, of course, is when everyone is sleeping. While we don’t want to freeze everyone under the covers of their bed, it is much more comfortable to sleep in the 60s than in the high 70s or low 80s. The bedcovers are designed to hold in body heat and what feels comfortable above the covers, is likely unbearable when you have 2 inches of down covers on top of you.

The second should be equally obvious. If everyone in the family is off to school or work, there is no good reason to pump high 70s low 80s into an entire house. Remember the heating system’s primary job is to keep people warm. And if you have pets, worry not. Unless the temps drop way down into the 40s or 50s, the natural fur on cats and dogs insulates them from that small differential in room temperature.

How a heating system startup is done

Now that we’ve explained why the basics of a heating system, let’s talk about what’s involved in having Muccia Plumbing do a startup inspection. As mentioned earlier, the heating system is a complex system with multiple indicators built into the system to permit a trained plumber to determine efficiency and manufacturers recommended positions. Let’s begin with water pressure. There is a delicate balance between too much and too little water entering and exiting the system on demand. An early indicator of a failure is a water drip behind the system. Along with all the technology, there are built-in relief valves to avoid excess water from being distributed on your floor or too little which can cause a complete failure.

In point of fact, the first part of the startup inspection is a detailed visual look around for anything out of the ordinary. Since this is likely the first time since May that the system has been turned on, the plumbing/heating tech will look for drips around the system to find any parts which may have exceeded their usefulness. Often these include the water pressure gauge, the water inlet pump, and the thermal expansion tank. These three parts are interrelated, and it’s often best to replace all three rather than guess which one is prepared to fail.

Startup testing

The tech will next begin a series of tests between zones and their equivalent thermostat. This is to ensure that the heat which is called for is acting on a request from the correct thermostat. Since each hot water pump is controlled electronically by the appropriate thermostat, it is imperative that the two are working in tandem.

Finally, if so appropriate, the tech will replace all filters (typically on hot air systems) that were replaced last year. Clogged filters, whether for Air Conditioning or Heater systems are the #1 loss of energy and comfort. After replacing the filters, the last step is ensuring that the performance of the system is at its peak. Techs are uniquely trained to listen for water flows, responses to thermostats and a host of other sounds to instill confidence that the startup has put the system in readiness for winter. And in case you were wondering, it is not necessary to request and schedule a startup inspection in the winter. Anytime between the end of September and the end of October is usually perfect, though if you want to get your system scheduled when you want, the earlier the better.

Heating system startups make us both happy

Thank you for taking the time to read this latest in Mike’s Tips. Our goals at Muccia Plumbing, Heating and AC have not changed in our 40 years of doing business in Bergen County. We will never sell you parts you don’t need, and you’ll know exactly what fees will be involved. No surprises. Just delighted customers. You can reach Muccia Plumbing at 201-343-1414 or visit our website at www.mucciaplumbing.com

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