Hosts: Tom Kraeutler & Leslie Segrete
(NOTE: Timestamps below correspond to the running time of the downloadable audio file of this show. Text represents a professional transcriptionist’s understanding of what was said. No guarantee of accuracy is expressed or implied. ‘Ph’ in parentheses indicates the phonetic or best guess of the actual spoken word.)
BEGIN HOUR 2 TEXT:
(promo/theme song)
TOM: Coast to coast and floorboards to shingles. This is The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Call us right now with your home improvement question. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. We’re going to help you get those projects done. Are you thinking about some New Year’s resolutions for your home? We’ll help you pick the right ones and try to figure out if you can do it yourself or if you need to direct it yourself. Or if you try to do it yourself (Leslie chuckles), we’ll prevent you from becoming a do-it-to-yourselfer; all possible on today’s program. 888-666-3974.
Now this is truly a do-it-yourself project – installing insulation in your attic. You know, your attic might be a good place for storing stuff but it’s also the perfect place for insulating. The question is how do those two needs sort of work together. How can you store a lot of stuff and have a lot of insulation at the same time? We’re going to tell you exactly how to balance that and how to insulate your house so you can have both, in just a bit.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and adding the insulation is going to help you save some energy dollars, which is fantastic. We’ve got some more tips about saving energy and money, which we are all looking to do, especially after the big holiday shindigs. So if you’re looking to save some cash, lower the temperature of your thermostat by two degrees this winter. That’s all you have to do. It’s a super-small change and it can actually save you 10 percent on your energy bills. We’re going to explain it all for you in just a few minutes.
TOM: And another way to feel warm in your house is to actually use a humidifier because moist air is warm air. Dry air feels really cold. So we’re going to talk to you this hour about humidifiers; how to choose the right one for your house and how to get an automated control that will actually set the humidity 24/7/365 without you ever having to touch it. Some new technology, coming up in just a bit.
LESLIE: And ’tis the winter season where lots of snow is visiting us in many parts of the country, so we have got a great prize for you. We’re giving away a Snow Joe electric snow thrower. It’s worth 250 buckaroos. It is a great prize that will make short work of your shoveling duties.
TOM: So pick up the phone and give us a call right now. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974. Let’s get right to the phones.
Leslie, who’s first?
LESLIE: Ron in Alaska, you’ve got The Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
RON: Hey, I have a big problem with my home carpet.
TOM and LESLIE: OK.
RON: You know, the main trail ways and our hallways and right back the little eating nook that we have in our kitchen. We’ve wanted to change our carpet out but it’s anywhere from 5,500 to 8,900 and I need something that will take up stains out of carpet so that I don’t have to replace my whole doggone house worth of carpet.
TOM: Have you thought about just renting a carpet cleaner and …?
LESLIE: Yeah, like a steam cleaner.
TOM: … kind of doing it professionally?
RON: We have steam-cleaned that stuff four or five times ourselves at least.
TOM: Well, if you’ve done that – I hate to tell you but if you’ve done that …
LESLIE: That stain’s set in there then.
TOM: … there’s no stain to remove. You’re looking at probably a discoloration. It could be the result of whatever spilled on there causing a chemical reaction that has physically changed the color of that carpet fiber itself.
RON: Yes.
TOM: There’s nothing on top of it that you can pull off of it. You understand what I mean?
RON: So do you have any ideas to, you know …?
LESLIE: How about – Leslie, how about redying the carpet?
LESLIE: Yeah, there are kits available on the market. There are even spot-dye kits where you can try to match the existing color of your carpet and just sort of work on specific stain areas. I think, for you, the best bet is probably to just redye the entire carpet a different color. I …
RON: OK, where do you buy dye from? Where do you get that kind of thing from?
LESLIE: There’s a website called Americolor Dyes and it’s AmericolorDyes.com. Americolor Dyes.
RON: OK.
LESLIE: You can find kits, you can find pens, you can find spot-dyeing kits. They’ll give you all the instructions for it. I would say try it in one room first; just to see how you like the results and make sure that you’re happy with it before you sort of tackle the entire first floor. You know, worst comes to worse, you’ve at least changed it for a little while longer.
RON: OK.
TOM: And Ron, remember, be careful applying that stuff. There’s a reason they call it dye.
LESLIE: Yeah.
TOM: (chuckling) OK?
RON: Yes. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Ron. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Janet in New York is dealing with my biggest pet peeve – painted bricks. Tell us about it.
JANET: Yes, we bought this house and the brick on the front of the house is painted white and we got a power washer and we powerwashed most of it off. Now there are some little flecks left on the brick and also under the overhang the paint didn’t come off; because I guess it wasn’t weathered enough. Is there anything that I can do to get the paint that’s under the overhang off? Is there anything chemical I can use?
TOM: Yeah, have you tried any of the stripping products yet?
JANET: We tried this foam stuff that you put on and then you put a plastic sheet over it and you’re supposed to let it sit for 24 to 48 hours. And it took some of it off but there must be several layers. It seemed like it took one layer off but there’s still more underneath it.
TOM: Well, look, there’s nothing easy about stripping paint but what I would recommend you try is a paint stripper called Citristrip …
JANET: OK.
TOM: … which is at Citristrip.com and there’s only one ‘s’ in that. So it’s Citristrip.com. It’s a safer formula. It removes paint, it removes varnish and it can really get the house ready for a new look. So I would give that a shot. It’s a good product; works very well and hopefully it’ll get off the rest of that brick.
JANET: OK, thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Janet. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: David in Tennessee needs some help with a tiling project. Tell us what’s going on.
DAVID: Yeah, we had new tile put in both bathrooms and the tile is not level.
TOM: OK.
DAVID: And so when we put the toilets back down they rock a little bit.
TOM: Oh.
DAVID: I went to the home store and they had me put these little plastic wedges in there …
TOM: Yes, mm-hmm.
DAVID: … and that’s not a good answer to the problem. They come out and they – and I really don’t know what to do. I’ve thought about putting two wax seals in there but I don’t really know what else to do.
TOM: Well, that’s probably not going to work either because the wax seal is going to settle down and you’re eventually going to have that movement and, if you do, it’ll break the wax seal. I think you’re on the right track here with those little plastic wedges but what you want to do is actually cut them off and have them slip just under the edge of the toilet and then I want you to caulk them in place by running a bead of silicone caulk all around the outside. In fact, you can put a little bit of caulk underneath it and over it because it tends to – think of it as sort of gluing them in place, David. And that will hold them there and you’ll be allowed to have a little bit of movement and they won’t come out.
DAVID: OK. Good deal. I appreciate it.
TOM: Well, you’re welcome, David. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: You are tuned to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. Pick up the phone and give us a call with your home repair or your home improvement question 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Up next, why your attic is the key to saving money, energy and the environment; after this.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: This portion of The Money Pit is brought to you by Aprilaire, makers of professionally-installed, high-efficiency air cleaners. For more information go to Aprilaire.com. Now, here are Tom and Leslie.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete and if you pick up the phone and give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT you will not only get the answer to your home improvement dilemma, which has probably been waiting all of 2008 to get done and, guess what, now you’ve got 2009 on the way to tackle all of those home improvement chores. We are giving away a great prize, so pick up the phone and ask us your question at 888-MONEY-PIT. This hour we’ve got a Snow Joe Snow Thrower Ultra. It’s worth 250 bucks and it’s got the power of a gas machine but it’s got the convenience, reliability and affordability of an electric machine; plus it can move up to 800 pounds of snow per minute. Try doing that with your shovel and see how your back feels. (Tom chuckles) So call us for your chance to win this great prize.
TOM: 888-666-3974.
Well, you might not know that your attic actually plays a huge part in keeping your heating bills down. Having enough insulation is probably the single most important thing that you can do to cut energy costs, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from your home all at the same time. In fact, the experts at Owens Corning say that we need 19 inches of fiberglass batt insulation or 22 inches of blown insulation to properly do the job.
LESLIE: Now you’re probably wondering, ‘How can I have storage in my attic and all the insulation that I need?’ Well, the answer is that you can’t, but you can strike a happy medium by maintaining two levels of insulation: one that’s kept only up to the height of the floor joist so that you can add a floor and storage; and then other areas where you want to double that for everyplace else.
TOM: Now just as important, you want to make sure your insulation is doing its job properly by maintaining a dry and a well-ventilated attic. Actually, attics should be very drafty. A drafty attic is a good thing; drafty house, not so much. But a drafty attic is good. And if you find you need to add more insulation, make sure you use unfaced fiberglass batts. This will help avoid trapping moisture between the original insulation and the new stuff.
If you want more tips, there is a fantastic guide online that you can download from the experts at Owens Corning. It is called the Homeowners Guide to Insulation and it’s at InsulateandSave.com. InsulateandSave.com. Go there today. You will both insulate and save.com.
LESLIE: Lauren in Massachusetts needs some help with an exterior staircase. What’s going on?
LAUREN: Hi, I’m calling about my cast iron railing that came out of the cement stairs.
TOM: OK.
LAUREN: They rusted out …
TOM: OK.
LAUREN: … and I don’t know whether to – I really don’t know what to do to fix them, so I was hoping you could help us out.
TOM: Are all the posts rusted off or just one or two?
LAUREN: Just the top ones on each side.
TOM: Mm-hmm. OK. Well …
LAUREN: Alright? So there are three posts altogether so just the top two.
TOM: OK. Well, what you could do is disassemble the railing and you’re going to have to sort of drill out the rusted area …
LAUREN: Yep.
TOM: … and open up that hole. You may have to do a lot of chisel work and hand work to get it sort of opened up again. And what you can do is you can use, essentially, what will be sort of a metal strap. You can get some metal bar that’s like one-inch wide by about 1/8-inch thick or angle iron and that part of it would be dropped into the hole and sealed in place with an epoxy cement and then the upper part would be mechanically attached to the railing.
LAUREN: OK. Oh, I see what you’re saying. So you would just cement …
TOM: Sort of like a splint. Right. Like a splint. You’re kind of adding onto the end of it that way. And you know what? When it’s all put together and bolted together and painted flat black, it’ll all blend in; you won’t notice it.
LAUREN: That’s excellent because I didn’t want to have to get brand new ones or build a wooden …
TOM: Yeah, that’s real common. The water just collects in those holes and it just rusts them away. So that’s a way to fix it. You know, it’s a good half-day job. It’ll come out nice.
LESLIE: John in Kentucky needs some help with a garage door. Tell us about the problem.
JOHN: I’m calling about my garage door. I’ve got a house that’s 40 years old …
TOM: OK.
JOHN: … and I think the garage door is the same age. It’s wooden and the house is settled on the corners of the driveway. And now I’m starting to get gaps and not only that; part of the garage door is rotten at the bottom.
TOM: Hmm, OK.
JOHN: And I’m worried because the gaps are getting big enough where our little dog, Buster; he can get through it. And also, other critters can get in, you know?
LESLIE: Mm-hmm.
JOHN: So we don’t really want to pay a lot of money right now to replace it, so I was wanting to know what we could do to fix it; to make a stop-gap measure. And then, also, I don’t know anything about garage doors.
TOM: Well, a wooden door is, you know, your traditional garage door and they are very durable. They also happen to be very, very heavy. The good news is, in your situation, that you probably have a fairly wide and thick bottom rail to that door …
JOHN: Yes.
TOM: … which actually can be cut to the shape of the now settled garage floor. If you were to take, say, a block of wood …
LESLIE: And there’s enough sort of on the top to allow for this new part to come down?
TOM: Yeah, because we’re only going to take a little bit off. Basically, you’re only going to take off as much wood from the high side as the gap on the low side; if that makes sense to you.
JOHN: Right. OK.
TOM: You can take like a compass and you can scribe it by holding like the metal part of the compass against the floor and drawing a straight line across the door. What’ll happen is that compass will follow the angle of the floor and transcribe the line up on the door and that would be the cut line. So you only want to take off enough to level it out and you could probably do it with a jigsaw and the door kind of half in the air; sort of blocked open. And then …
JOHN: OK, really? So a jigsaw would do it.
TOM: Sure. And then what you want to do is sand it and smooth it all out. You’re going to add some new weatherstripping at the whole bottom edge of that door and that should work really well. It’ll come down. It’ll be nice and tight and it’ll seal it up.
JOHN: OK, great. Well, thank you all for your time. I really appreciate it.
TOM: You’re welcome, John. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Ben in Massachusetts has a question for Team Money Pit. What can we do for you today?
BEN: Yes, I’m in the process of covering a shed roof.
TOM: OK.
BEN: First of all, I had a little water in that and I have this blown-in insulation. Now is that mildew resistant, first of all?
TOM: Why do you have insulation in a shed?
BEN: Well, they insulated the whole house and I …
TOM: Alright, must have had some extra and they insulated the whole thing. Alright, and it’s a blown-in insulation?
BEN: Yes, it is.
TOM: Well, I don’t like it being wet but if you get it dry it’ll probably be OK.
BEN: Well, it’s dry now.
TOM: Yeah.
BEN: Next question is we put that [top roll] (ph) paper on it.
TOM: Yes?
BEN: Faced (ph), whatever you call it (inaudible) and it’s kind of laminated to the roof.
TOM: OK?
BEN: Now do I have to remove that before I (inaudible)?
TOM: No, go right on top of it.
BEN: OK, how about insulation board? They mentioned I have to put insulation board. Is that …?
TOM: Well, this shed is outside?
BEN: It’s outside, yes sir.
TOM: No need to insulate it. There’s no heat source in it, is there?
BEN: No, but I mean I have the insulation …
TOM: There’s no need to insulate it.
BEN: OK, you make it sound easy. (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: OK, that’s what we do. Ben, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Jocelyn in Utah is looking to put her house on the market and wants to revamp her kitchen cabinets. How can we help?
JOCELYN: I have 1970s cabinets. They’re really, really dark. I’ve started taking the varnish off. Now I don’t know what else to do with them. (Tom laughs)
LESLIE: OK.
TOM: (overlapping voices) You got halfway through the project.
JOCELYN: (overlapping voices) Friend of mine told me to paint them and crackle but I’m not sure. I would like to resell the house and I want the best look possible and I don’t know what type of paint to use.
LESLIE: Alright, are you at a point where the old cabinet is ready to accept a new treatment or do you still need some more work there?
JOCELYN: I’m still working on them. I have half a kitchen to go but I’m ready to start at least on the part that’s bare wood now.
LESLIE: OK. Crackling is a really nice effect. What you can do with a crackle paint is you would paint a base color – and it can be something in a similar tone; it can be something super contrast-y like you could do a chocolate brown and then the crackle paint and then a white on top of that so it gets an interesting sort of contrast underneath that crackle. It is a very specific look and if you’re dealing with a kitchen that sort of has a vintage-y country feel, it could be very nice.
I think a big trend that we’re seeing in kitchen design is super-light, very clean cabinets. So I think you have an opportunity to paint the cabinets a beautiful tone of a white or a vanilla – you know, something in that off-whitish area – just to kind of make the kitchen space pop and feel bigger and feel much cleaner, I think that’s going to be very successful. Plus, a neutral space is very nice.
And if you’re having a hard time with some of the doors, you might want to think about replacing maybe two of the doors maybe in a key area along the line of cabinets with something that has a glass front also; just to sort of break up the space and give it something a little bit more focal pointed or feature-y in that line of cabinets.
JOCELYN: OK. That sounds neat. (chuckles)
LESLIE: It’s a nice project and if you take the doors off, make sure that you label everything so you know exactly which door and which door front go where and leave the hinges on one of the items; either on the door or on the cabinet box itself. So this way you know exactly what goes where. You’re not readjusting screws. You know, put some painter’s tape on the backside of the cabinet door and on the inside of the cabinet box and put like Door A so you know where things go.
JOCELYN: OK.
TOM: And get it done, Jocelyn, and think of the good things about how much money you’re going to save on takeout food when you get the kitchen done.
JOCELYN: I know. I’m tired of eating out. (laughs)
TOM: I bet. (Tom and Leslie chuckle) Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
LESLIE: Well, are you finding that the dry winter air is making your throat all scratchy and just not feeling so great? Well, you are not alone and we can help you feel much better in your home during the winter months, so stick around.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: Call us right now with your home improvement question. Call us with your do-it-yourself dilemma. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. Call us if you woke up this morning feeling dry and parched (Leslie chuckles) because we have the solution. We’re going to talk about humidifiers now and if you’ve been cranking your heating system and waking up feeling dry; feeling parched; maybe feeling a little uncomfortable, it’s probably because you don’t have enough moisture in the air and a whole-home humidifier can actually fix that problem once and for all.
LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and you know, the improper moisture level inside your home, not only does it make you feel terrible; it’s actually bad for the house. It can cause your plaster and your paint to chip and anything that’s wood in your home – your flooring, your furniture, trim work, moulding – all of that can really dry out and split and crack and can put a whole host of home improvement projects on your honey-do list. So joining us, we’ve got a guest – Dave Reifsteck from Aprilaire – who’s going to talk to us about a whole-house humidifier.
Welcome, Dave.
DAVE: Hey. Hi, Leslie. Hi, Tom. Thanks for having me on.
TOM: Our pleasure.
Dave, let’s start at the beginning. Can you explain to our audience why is it that we feel so uncomfortable in the wintertime; why is it that we feel so dry and parched? What happens to the humidity? Where does it go?
DAVE: Well, when you turn your heat on, anytime you heat the air you lower its capacity to hold moisture. So as the temperature rises, the humidity level starts dropping. That’s why you might get itchy skin. That’s why your hair might stand on end from static electricity. That’s why furniture pulls apart or crown moulding, hardwood floors, et cetera. You’ve just – you’ve dropped the level to something approaching 10 to 15-percent humidity level inside your home and during the summer months you’re probably used to something around 35 to 50 percent.
TOM: Now it’s difficult to maintain that proper level of humidity though because the weather is going to change it. If it gets colder outside or warmer outside, the amount of relative humidity in the air is going to shift. You guys actually have a digital humidistat now that makes that whole process a lot easier to manage. Tell us about it.
DAVE: Well, that’s right. The latest technology is an automatic humidifier control. It mounts on your return air duct but it will sense the outdoor temperature. There’s a little sensor that runs outside. It’ll sense the temperature outside and make as many as 86,000 adjustments per day to your humidifier inside and deliver the exact amount of moisture that you need, depending on the conditions not only outside the home but inside the home.
LESLIE: Well, that’s excellent because it really takes the guesswork out as a homeowner so you’re not constantly fidgeting with the control, you know, where it’s low, medium, high or setting an actual humidity – well, a desired humidity level.
DAVE: That’s right. You may make one fine-tune adjustment once you have the unit installed at first but, after that, the unit will automatically control it. It’s almost a set-it-and-forget-it; out of sight out of mind.
TOM: Now does adding a humidifier to a home actually impact your energy bills as well? Because I would think that drier air is not only being uncomfortable; it makes you feel colder. So if you add humidity, doesn’t it help you keep the energy or keep the thermostat actually at a lower setting because the air is moister and warmer?
DAVE: That’s right. The higher the humidity, the more comfortable you are at a lower temperature setting. So you likely, with a properly humidified home – which would be somewhere in the 30, 35-percent range – you could dial your thermostat down a few degrees which means you’re saving some of that valuable energy cost these days.
LESLIE: Now Dave, how does this compare to portables? Because I live in a ductless home, if you will, and so I’m forced to deal with portable units and I have to tell you every year or two – I don’t know if it’s that the unit breaks down but I’m constantly replacing them; I’m trying to figure out the best location to place it. It’s just a lot of maintenance and it seems to be a large pain in the butt, if you will, to deal with it. But I mean you need it in the winter months.
DAVE: Yeah, that’s right. Portable units can – they can be labor intensive. You have to dump the water. You have to clean them. They can be noisy. And most importantly, an installed product like Aprilaire can deliver as much as 50 percent more moisture. So you have a much higher capacity. You also have the convenience of not having to deal with the maintenance headaches on a daily or weekly basis, depending how much moisture you’re actually putting in the air with it.
TOM: Well, tell you what, Dave. Speaking of maintenance, I spent – I don’t know if you know this but I spent 20 years as a professional home inspector and I inspected a lot of homes. And I very, very frequently found humidifiers that were not working because people didn’t maintain them and because they just weren’t good units; except when it was an Aprilaire. Aprilaire units, regardless of the age, were always working and they always were supplying the moisture into the air. So I’ve got to tell you I’ve been a fan of the product for many, many years because of that and I congratulate you on the continued improvements with this humidistat technology.
DAVE: Well, thanks. Aprilaire has been around a long time; a standard of the industry. And we continue to make improvements like this digital control to make it more convenient and better for the homeowner.
TOM: Alright, thank you so much. Dave Reifsteck from Aprilaire, thanks for being a part of The Money Pit.
DAVE: Thanks, guys.
LESLIE: Alright, Dave. Thanks so much for joining us.
Up next, we’re going to have a simple and absolutely free tip – you’ve got to love that – that’s going to help you save 10 percent off of your energy bills. We’ll tell you what to do, right after this.
(theme song)
ANNOUNCER: The Money Pit is brought to you by Therma-Tru, the nation’s leading manufacturer of fiberglass entry and patio door systems. Choose the brand more building professionals prefer and add up to $24,000 to the perceived value of your home. For more information visit ThermaTru.com.
TOM: Making good homes better, welcome back to the Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show. I’m Tom Kraeutler.
LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete.
TOM: And you should give us a call right now at 1-888-MONEY-PIT because we’re running our Money Pit two-for-one special. Yes, not only will you get the answer to your home improvement question but a chance to win a great prize, which you’re going to love; especially if you get dumped on with a snow storm pretty soon because it’s the Snow Joe Ultra Snow Thrower. It’s worth 250 bucks. It’s got the power of gas with the convenience of electric and it will save your aching back this winter. You’ve got to be in it to win it. The number is 1-888-MONEY-PIT. If you reach us on the air today, we will toss your name in The Money Pit hardhat and possibly pick it to send that Snow Joe Ultra Snow Thrower to you.
LESLIE: And once you tackle all of your snow removal chores and get back inside your nice, toasty-warm house, you’ve got to keep in mind that keeping your house too warm is going to cost you a lot of cash. So think about lowering your thermostat two degrees in the winter and raising it two degrees in the summer. It’s the magic of two: two degrees lower; two degrees higher. It can cut your annual heating and cooling bills by more than ten percent. That’s two for ten. It’s an energy-saving idea that really adds up and you will see the difference in your next bill, I promise you.
TOM: 888-666-3974. Leslie, who’s next?
LESLIE: John in Pennsylvania needs some help with a tankless water heater. What’s going on?
JOHN: I had a hot water heater that is tankless installed in my house …
TOM: OK.
JOHN: … professionally by a plumber. And it didn’t originally work properly because it has two settings inside for high-pressure natural gas or low-pressure natural gas. They had changed the setting and it seemed to work fine. In the summertime, in the warmer months, I have to reset it to get it to work and it seems to be a daily thing. But when it starts to get a little bit colder outside, it starts working better and I don’t normally have to reset it. I talked to a friend of mine who is a plumber and he said that there’s a good chance that the supplier of the natural gas will turn the pressure up on the natural gas because of the demand is higher so they need to meet the demand. Is there anything that I can do to fix the problem so that I don’t have to keep resetting it in the warmer months?
TOM: It sounds very unusual. Have you contacted the manufacturer of the tankless unit to talk about this situation?
JOHN: Yes, I did and they wanted me to buy an expensive meter that tells the pressure in the gas line at …
LESLIE: How much is coming into you.
JOHN: Yes. And that was like $130 meter and I was hoping that there would be a cheaper, easier way to find out what the problem would be.
TOM: Well, we first need to know what the problem is and knowing the gas pressure is one thing. The other thing that I will tell you – and I don’t know if you’ve looked into this – is there’s a very, very common installation mistake with tankless water heaters and that is this: when you install a tanked water heater you typically use a
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