See, while many of today’s toilets have more bells and whistles than a fully loaded mini-van, they’re not trash receptacles. Not only does every unjustified flush waste 2 to 4 gallons of water (depending on the toilet), certain items can pollute the environment and require the services of a professional plumber. So here are some of the most common household items that should never be flushed down the toilet.

• Baby wipes, cleaning wipes, or “flushable” wipes – They are too thick to flush. As are facial tissues and paper towels.

• Cotton balls, cotton swabs and make-up applicator sponges – They actually gather together and cause clogs over time.

• Cigarette butts – They contain toxic chemicals that pollute the water.

• Floss, band-aids, and dryer sheets – They are not biodegradable.

• Chewing gum – Can cause a sticky situation in your pipes.

• Hair – You know how hair clogs up sink and tub drains? Guess what it does to your toilet.

• Prescription medicine – Can destroy “good” bacteria and contaminate ground water.

• Diapers – If you must use disposable diapers, flush any solid waste and throw the diaper in the trash.

At Conway Services, we love seeing our customers. But we also love helping you prevent costly repairs. So be a little more mindful of what you throw in that toilet…and call us should your child decide to reenact that golf call commercial.

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You see, on top of cool, comfortable temperatures and lower utility costs – when compared to running multiple window air conditioning units – “whole-house” air conditioning offers several associated health benefits.

Primary Health Benefits

• Reduced Stress – Excessively hot indoor temperatures also have a way of causing your blood pressure and stress levels to rise, and there’s no relaxation in that.

• Helps Prevent Illness – With increased stress, your body’s immune system weakens over time, and that makes you more vulnerable to illness and infection.

• Helps Fight Depression – Heat often leads to lethargy, boredom and loss of interest; these symptoms are closely related to depression.

• You’ll Sleep Better – Sleep is a crucial part of our lives and trying to get any sleep when it’s warm and humid is next to impossible.

• Breathe Cleaner Air – An air conditioning system in combination with an air filter helps rid your home of germs, pesticides, mold, mildew, dust, dust mites, and many other indoor air pollutants.

Two Types of Whole-House Air Conditioning

Everyone knows about central air conditioning, the kind of system you can install only if you have existing ductwork or if your home is duct-friendly.  Not all houses are.

That’s how and why ductless air systems first came into being, one of the more significant home comfort innovations in recent years.  A ductless air system gives you all the advantages of central air and, by definition, is duct-free.  Instead, an outside condensing unit is installed, each one capable of supporting up to four wall-mounted blowers.

Ductless systems are super quiet, energy efficient, operate via remote control, and the wall units blend in nicely with your home décor.  Plus, Conway Services can design a system providing air conditioning only, or heat and air conditioning combined.

It’s a great whole-house alternative or a better way to provide added comfort in your family room, new addition, and so on.

To learn more about how a central or ductless air system can help your family keep cool and calm all summer long, contact the home comfort specialists at Conway Services today.

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Today’s busy families use different rooms or areas of the home at different times of day.  If you have kids at school all day or away at college, then entire rooms require only the bare minimum of comfort to keep them from over-hearing or getting too cold in the winter.

The point is this:  unless you use all the rooms in your home most of the day, including during overnight, then whole-home zoning can help you live more comfortably and with reduced overhead expense.

More benefits of zoning:

• Create the ideal comfort levels in each zone you establish.
• Create as many zones as you like:  each room can literally be its own zone if need be.
• Zoning helps eliminate uncomfortable hot or cold spots.
• Things will quiet down around your home, too, since your home comfort systems won’t have to work as hard thanks the reduced demand for their services that zoning provides.

At Conway Services, we offer custom zoning solutions, not one-size-fits-all bromides.  Contact us today to see how we can make a positive difference inside your family’s home

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Here are a few ways to help reduce your environmental footprint while making your home a safer and more enjoyable place to be.

• If you’re planning your summer garden, buy fruit, vegetable, and herb plants from a local farm. Many farms have seedling sales in the spring, and you can get some fantastic gardening tips straight from the farmers. Plus it’s a great way to support local agriculture, and show your kids where their food really comes from.

• Visit a scrap lumber yard (of maybe your own basement or garage) and grab some wood and supplies to build a bird house or bird feeder.

• Ditch the clothes dryer and dry your laundry on a line or rack outside. Not only will your clothes, sheets, and towels smell airy and fresh, you’ll significantly reduce your energy use (and bill). And remember, the sun is nature’s bleach. Have a tough stain on your favorite shirt? Lay it out wet, in direct sun, and watch it fade away.

• Switch out those toxic chemical cleaners with all natural and safe home-made varieties. Chances are you already have everything you need in your pantry or cupboards. As one example, you can use olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice to polish your wood furniture. Equal parts vinegar and water in an old spray bottle makes a great window, glass, and all purpose cleaner.

• If you’re feeling extra crafty, turn that old dresser or buffet into a unique bathroom vanity. You might have one sitting in your basement already. A good sanding, some primer and paint, and voila…custom vanity!

• And finally, don’t throw out those aluminum cans…reuse them! For example, tuna cans (washed really well with hot water and a little bleach) are great for organizing small items like paper clips, hair accessories, beads, rubber bands, and more. Best of all, they are stackable. Create arts and crafts storage with larger cans…just hot glue several together and organize crayons, markers, pencils, paint brushes and more.
  
  

Celebrate Earth Day in your own fashion but, above all, play an active role now and all year long to reduce, re-use, and recycle.  Plus, contact Conway Services now or any time for an energy reducing AC tune-up or a free quote on a new high-efficiency home heating or A/C system.

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So the first thing to remember is that you don’t have to do it all once.  In fact, most people begin and end their day in the bathroom, so why not start there?

Downsize. Following the mantra “when in doubt, throw it away” can help you get rid of relocate a lot of stuff that accumulates in your bathroom but no longer serves a purpose or didn’t belong there in the first place.  Throw away expired styling products and makeup. Store or give away hair styling tools that you don’t use. Move medicines and first aid supplies to another closet or the kitchen.

Organize. The goal of organization is low and easy maintenance. If your organizational system isn’t simple or convenient, then you most likely won’t stick with it. Here are some tips to get your organizing juices flowing:

• Use small containers or dividers to keep drawers from becoming a tangled mess. For example, use one for hair pins, another for Q-tips, and so on.
• Use hooks to hang up bath towels and racks for your hand towels.
• If your bathroom doesn’t have enough drawer space (or none at all!), use small baskets to organize your necessities.

Clean. Cleaning your bathroom more frequently actually saves more time than it consumes. So  keep a caddy with sanitizing wipes, glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, and a scrub brush right beneath the sink to make cleaning fast and simple.

Prevent. Efficiency is the key when it comes to keeping your bathroom clean. Think of the problems that reoccur in your bathroom and create a solution that will help prevent each one. Dirty laundry ends up on the floor? Place a hamper either in the bathroom or just outside the door. Makeup creates a mess on the countertop? Keep a small towel with your makeup and set it out on the counter beforehand to catch the mess. Have minimal counter or cabinet space? Consider hanging shelving around the top of the wall to hold baskets so that clutter doesn’t accumulate around the sink.

Memphis home owners also want bathrooms with problem-free plumbing, and that’s where we come in.  We can install and repair all bathroom plumbing, even certain luxuries or necessities like walk-in tubs, dual-flush toilets, double sink vanities, and more.

Contact Conway Services today for all the help you need in keeping your bathroom plumbing in top working order, or for advice on how to gain added luxury, comfort, and convenience from each bathroom experience.

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Now, for example, you can run your hot water for as long as you like, but it’s never going to reach the 200 degree temperature you need for a nice hot cup of coffee or tea.  So instead, you either flip the switch on the electric coffee maker and run for just the one cup you need, or fire up the tea kettle while expending all the energy it takes for that little bit of water boil.

And that doesn’t even count all those times you’re in a rush to get out the door and want a “roadie” so you don’t have to stop at a local coffee shop.

Now you’re getting the idea and value of an instant hot water dispenser in your Memphis home.  Here are just a few other practical uses:  cook pasta al dente, blanch vegetables, melt chocolate, thaw frozen meats or veggies, prepare your oatmeal, “unglue” those stubborn jar lids, get rid of dried candle wax drippings, clean your wedding ring, and warm up your baby bottles

Instant hot water faucets come in numerous styles and finishes.  They’re installed as a separate kitchen faucet, and not designed to replace your standard cold and hot water combo faucets.  It’s connected to a hot water tank that resides under the sink, with tank sizes of up to 60 gallons.  As soon as you draw hot water from the dedicated instant hot water dispenser, a fresh supply of cold water takes it place inside the tank.

Would an instant hot water dispenser make your day a little more convenient?  We’re betting it would, and that you can find dozens of other uses all on your own.  Contact Conway Services today for answers to your questions and to schedule installation.

That’s the fun stuff.  The not-so-fun stuff is generally known as “spring cleaning.”  If you do it all, it’s a lot of work.  But each of the suggested steps below is well worth your time and effort, even if you spread it out over time.

• Deep clean your home.  By dusting and vacuuming vents, registers, baseboard heaters, refrigerator coils, and dryer vents, you’ll rid your house of allergy causing dust and dust mites.  Plus your home comfort systems and appliances won’t have to work as hard, thus cutting back on energy consumption.

• Check for hidden water leaks.  Water leaking from a shower head or faucet is easy to spot, along with a water leak that springs of a washing machine hose.  But you also need to be on the alert for signs of leaking water inside your walls or crawl spaces.  These include discolored walls or ceilings, signs of mold and mildew, and a persistent drop in water pressure.  These are all occasions to contact Conway for our electronic leak detection service.

• Another way to prevent mold and mildew growth is to periodically re-grout tile and apply fresh caulk around your showers, bath tubs, and sinks.

• Clean your gutters.  If this is a chore you didn’t get around to in the Fall, you need to tackle it now to prevent standing water from eventually causing such problems as rotted fascia boards, water damage to the sides of your house and roof, and even problems with your foundation.

• While washing your windows, check for cracks or leaks in the caulking and for soft, discolored wood frames.  If water is getting in and stopped soon enough, structural damage is sure to follow.
  
  

Here’s another item to add to your spring cleaning checklist:  a whole-house plumbing inspection from Conway Services.  Part of our service involves leak detection, but it’s much more comprehensive than that and your best assurance against major plumbing problems suddenly sneaking up on you.

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However abundant clean water might be in Memphis, it is a scarce resource in many third world nations.  And yet, one way we all can observe World Water Day (March 22) all year long is by taking steps to prevent wasted or excess water usage.  Here are some tips we’re sure you’ll find useful:     

• Inspect your home for leaks. Dripping faucets, running toilets, leaky hoses…these all contribute to the nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted per household each year. And don’t forget the leaks you can’t see or hear. Underground irrigation systems, hot and cold water pipes, and even a refrigerator with a water/ice dispenser could have a leak that, at least temporarily, escapes your attention.

• Invest in low-flow toilets. Most older models use between 3-5 gallons of water per flush. You can cut that down to about 1.6 gallons or even less with a low-flow or dual-flush toilet.

• While very convenient, garbage disposals require a good amount of water to operate properly. Consider starting a compost pile for food waste.  You’ll use less water and have a natural, sustainable fertilizer for your garden.

• Conserve water in your yard and garden by planting drought resistant varieties of plants. When watering your lawn, do so in the morning or evening. And remember that grass typically needs only about an inch of water a week to stay green and lush.

For more information on World Water Day, and to find out how you can get involved in your community, visit www.unwater.org. And learn more about how Conway Services can help you conserve water and use it more wisely at home, why not call or email us today.

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Chances are the answer is “never.”  Unless, of course, you count some very famous movie scenes from the likes of Jurassic Park, Die Hard, Toy Story, and so many others.

Well, what do all such movie scenes have in common?  Right:  the ductwork is as clean, shiny, and dirt free as the day it was installed.  That’s movies for you.

The fact is, your home ductwork is a natural and all-too-common gathering place for umpteen airborne pollutants, including dirt, dust, mold, fungi, chemical and smoke by-products, and many more.  Even in the best kept of homes, and given enough time, the inside of your ducts will be anything but movie-worthy.

And while there are a number of proven remedies, one of the easiest to tackle is duct sealing:  as in, finding and repairing any cracks, leaks, and loose connections.  In and around Memphis, that would describe about 20% of all homes with ductwork according to national statistics.

The best way to prevent problems is to inspect or have your ducts inspected periodically.  The sooner a leak is repaired, the less the residual damage.  But let’s say you can’t remember the last time they were inspected.  Then how would you even know if you had a problem?

The following are the leading indicators:

• Your heating or cooling fan runs all or most of the time, which means it’s working a lot harder than it should have to.
• You notice big swings in temperature from one room to another.
• Your utility bills suddenly rise above and beyond your comfort zone.
• Greater incidence of colds and flus.
• Worsening allergy and asthma symptoms.

Here’s How to Fix it.

Cracked or leaking ducts aren’t the only causes of these problems, but it’s the easiest and fastest place to start looking.  If you’re the handy type, have at it!  But if any repairs you make don’t make a difference for the better, then it’s time to call the professional heating and air conditioning folks at Conway Services.

We’re experts at duct sealing and repairs and, for that matter, doing anything else it takes to help you enjoy the ultimate in indoor comfort, convenience, and energy savings.  Call us today to schedule service.  Because a happy home is a home with clean and sealed ducts.

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Drinking unfiltered tap water or even bottled water, however, can interfere or counteract those health benefits. Filtered drinking water is your best bet, and a point-of-use water filter could be your best option.

A Point-of-Use (or undersink) water filter connects to the pipes below the countertop and flows from a separate tap above the sink, making filtered water readily available. But convenience isn’t the only plus-side.

How does a Point-of-Use water filtration system compare to other drinking water options in Memphis?

Filtered water is cleaner than tap water. Tap water can contain a laundry list of both organic and inorganic contaminants. Ingesting small amounts of heavy metals, chlorine, fertilizers, pesticides, petrochemicals, and bacteria in tap water can deteriorate your health over time. In fact, drinking filtered instead of tap water can reduce your risk of GI diseases and disorders by 33%.

Filtered water is far less expensive and wasteful than bottled water. It is also a more reliable source of clean water. Some studies show that as much as 40% of bottled water is simply reprocessed tap water. And the cost of bottled water can be outrageous:  up to and often exceeding $1,500 per person per year. A Point-of-Use filtration system also contributes almost no waste to the environment.

Filtered water has greater health benefits than purified water. Both the reverse osmosis and distillation processes of water purification remove beneficial mineral compounds from water. A Point-of-Use water filter removes contaminants from the water while leaving the natural minerals intact.

To start enjoying all the benefits of filtered water, contact Conway Services today and ask about our several water filtration options, including point-of-use.

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