L-R: Wayne Hughes, Jeff Snow, David Hammond
Jeff Snow celebrated his 47th birthday today. We want to wish him a very Happy Birthday. Jeff was treated to a birthday lunch at his favorite Griffin lunch spot, Buffaloe’s. Jeff was one of the first employees hired by Hammond Services. He’s been with our company for over 25 years now, and he owns part of the business. Jeff started out as a HVAC technician fresh out of Griffin Tech. Jeff has held other positions along the way, and he now is Vice President of Sales. It is a pleasure having a dedicated and motivated team member like Jeff. He works hard, but always has fun while doing so.
Happy Birthday Jeff!
We are experiencing some very cold weather, unlike anything we’ve had in several years. During weather like this, some extra precaution to prevent frozen pipes is needed. Frozen pipes can lead to potential water damage and costly repairs. It pays to take some steps now to prevent a potential disaster.
The biggest problem areas are going to be where pipes are exposed to unconditioned spaces. Examples of this are as follows:
1. Piping in an attic. Particularly attics above an uncodtioned space like a garage.
2. Outside faucets.
3. Piping in exterior walls.
4. All piping in an unoccupied house (no heat).
The following actions are recommended:
1. Disconnect all water hoses to outside faucets.
2. If not a frost-free outside faucet, a) locate shut-off to this faucet and turn off water then open faucet to drain water, or b) insulate the outside faucets. You can buy products for this purpose, or you can wrap each faucet with rags, newspaper, insulation, etc.
3. Close or block-off crawl space vents. If they do not have a way to close them, you can use cardboard to block them.
4. Open cabinet doors to plumbing on outside walls to expose betetr to indoor heating.
5. Well pump piping that is exposed or above ground needs extra protection. Avoid exposure to wind. Place a heat lamp or high watt light in pump house. Add more insulation to piping.
6. If on a well pump, since these can be highly vulnerable, leave a faucet dripping in the house when temps will get below freezing for an extended period. Temps below 20 degrees are especially a problem for our area.
7. Very old homes are typically poorly insulated, especially in exterior walls. Extra care needs to be taken for piping in exterior walls of very old homes. During extreme cold leave faucets dripping, and/or turn off water and drain pipes.
In the event you have a problem, please remember to call Hammond Services for professional plumbers. We are availbale 24/7 for emergencies. Call us at (770) 227-5325.
In the event you have a busted pipe, please take precautions to minimize water damage. Turn off the water supply as soon as possible once you know you have a leak.
In the event you have water damage, we recommend the professionals at Ecoscrub for water clean-up and dry-out. Contact Ecoscrub at (770) 227-0001.
This post is specifically for those in the South Metro Atlanta area. We are currently experiencing temperatures in the low 20′s at night, with highs only in the 30′s. The most common frozen pipe calls are coming from those who have above ground well pumps. Many are calling us because they have no water. This is because their pipes have frozen outside at the well pump. This is where they are most vulnerable to freezing.
When we get a call like this, we usually don’t send a plumber right away. Instead, we advise the customer that it is likely that their pipe is frozen in the well pump house. We recommend that the customer place a electric light in the pump house and make sure the pump house is enclosed and not exposed to the wind and open air. This is a good practice any time the temps will fall below freezing.
Once the pipes have thawed, then they can be inspected for leaks and possible damage from the freeze. Once thawed and there is known damage, that is the time we recommend dispatching a plumber.
Of course, once things warm up again, we recommend that any pipes exposed to sub-freezing temps should be well insulated and protected from the wind and outside air as much as possible.
We hope this helpful information and wish you a very happy New Year. Please call Hammond Services for all you heating, plumbing, and electrical service needs at 770-227-5325, or check us out at our website at http://www.hammondservices.com.
Heat pumps do ice up in winter. It is normal for the entire coil to be covered in a white frost or even light ice during certain weather conditions. Heat pumps will naturally ice up in winter but will periodically go into a defrost cycle to defrost the coils. This keeps the unit running efficiently.
It is not normal however, for the entire unit to be encased in ice for an extended period of time. Proper heat transfer between the outside air and the freon can not occur if the coils are blocked by ice. This would indicate a problem and should be addressed.
Different heat pumps have different ways of determining when to go into defrost. Some are mechanical; others use solid state controls with temperature sensors but all must go into defrost to keep from icing up.
There are many other reasons why a heat pump can ice up. Listed below are some of them. Items in blue can be addressed/or fixed by the homeowner. Those in red usually require a service call.
- Outdoor coil blocked-possibly with leaves or snow.
- Leaking gutter dripping water onto top of unit.
- Freezing rain-causes top of unit to freeze over. If this happens rest of unit will also freeze over.
- Defective defrost control or timer.
- Defective defrost thermostat or sensor.
- Defective defrost relay.
- Sticking reversing valve.
- Defective reversing valve solenoid.
- Defective outdoor fan motor.
- Low refrigerant charge.
- Refrigerant restriction
Hope this has been of some assistance, however they are just rough guidelines and not all possible conditions are covered. If you’re unit is iced-up solid, go to your thermostat and switch it to emergency heat. Depending on the capacity of your electric heat strips, this may provide enough heat to keep you comfortable until you can have your unit serviced.
Remember: The company You Choose To Install and Service Your System Will Determine The Degree of Comfort and Satisfaction You Enjoy. Call Hammond Services if you need service in the Griffin, Ga and South Metro Atlanta area at 770-227-5325. Check out our website at http://www.hammondservices.com.