Technology

It’s that time of the year again — the days are shorter, the nights are crisper and the breeze carries the spicy scents of Fall. On Sunday, November 1st, Daylight Saving Time ends in most of the country, and the clocks will fall back to Standard time.

The time change is also a great reminder to replace the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. By doing so, you can not only avoid the possibility of waking to that annoying, middle-of-the-night chirp, you can sleep peacefully knowing you have done all you can to protect the safety of your home and family.

Time and again, studies have shown that smoke detectors save lives. Dead batteries are often found to be the culprit when a smoke detector malfunctions and fails to do its job. To illustrate, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimated that from 2012 to 2016, almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no working smoke alarms.

A functioning smoke detector could more than double the chances that you and your family will remain alive in a fire event. Take this opportunity to replace batteries and perform a test on your hard-wired detectors.

According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Robert Adler, “Early warning is crucial to getting out of a house fire alive and for surviving CO poisoning. I encourage everyone to check and change the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Doing this can save you and your family in a fire or CO emergency.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate more than 400 people die in the United States every year from CO poisoning.

The CPSC recommends the following:

• Change batteries yearly 
• Practice a fire escape plan
• Place a smoke alarm on every level of your home, inside each bedroom and outside sleeping areas 
• Place CO alarms on every level of your home and outside sleeping areas 
• Replace smoke alarms if they are more than 10 years old

We at 20/20 Plumbing and Heating want you and your family to remain safe and always remember: at time change, change the batteries!

It is also a good time to check your thermostat if it is equipped with a battery source as well. While most are hard wired, some models have a backup battery. 

Also, for our homeowners who have tankless water heaters, manufacturers recommend having them flushed annually. Consider getting this done at or around time change as well.

Why? If your area has hard water, that means the water in your home or office contains a high concentration of minerals like calcium, magnesium and iron. Your tankless water heater’s element can develop lime and mineral deposits, and mineral sediment can build up in narrow water passages, clogging the element and preventing normal heating operation. 

A routine flushing and check-up can also improve your system’s efficiency. When your heater is working harder to produce hot water, it takes more energy to do its job, costing you more money.

Tank flushing is a fast, affordable service that can prevent more costly repairs or replacement later. To schedule a flush, please reach out to our customer service department at (951) 396-2020.

20/20 Plumbing & Heating, Inc. is an industry leader in California and Nevada, deploying skilled tradesmen that have the training and resources to meet your most challenging plumbing and HVAC needs — on-time and in-budget. 

You can always fall back on the experts at 20/20 Plumbing & Heating!