May 8, 2012 | 
Author 
The Plumbers and Pilots Parody
Great businesses and companies are like a great machine. Each has so many intricate parts, all working and moving towards a singular goal. When it comes to visualizing machines, we like to compare Moon Valley Plumbing to the likeness of a great aircraft. Our owner, Travis Mingle, is like our steady pilot, bringing each job in for a safe landing. Our trusted, well trained, efficient and mindful crew members are like our flight attendants. They are always ready to explain, offer assistance, fix any issues and make your journey with Moon Valley Plumbing and your plumbing issues as comfortable as possible.
Plumbing and flying do not, at first glance, appear to have very many similarities, but choosing a plumber is very much like finding an airline ticket. You don’t want to pay too much, you don’t want extra fees to be added on and you want to know that safety regulations are being followed. You want assurance that you are in good, reliable hands. Phoenix’s Moon Valley Plumbing stays current with all the latest technological advances in the field, receiving continuous professional education seminars and safety training; so you can tilt that seat back as far as it will go, sip on your Sprite and relax when you are in Moon Valley’s hands.
Another thing aviation and plumbing have in common is that when things go wrong, the remedy must be performed quickly and accurately in order to avoid disaster. Since you probably won’t have time to read many reviews when your toilette is having a tantrum, here are several of our Yelp comments to illustrate our speedy and scrupulous reputation.
“Amazing, fast and prompt service, very professional plumber, (the technician) arrived at the time promised. Removed his shoes before entering the home and cleaned up everything after himself…
I highly recommend them.”
“He bid the job very reasonably, showed up on time and was extremely helpful when he was there, great customer service and great work at very reasonable prices.”
“I believe like anyone else that with plumbers you really never know what you’re going to get and most of the time you’ll feel ripped off. I had a hot water issue (hot water heater blew) and was weary of using previous plumbers. I used service magic for some names and received a few calls. I went with Moon Valley because they had great recommendations… I can definitely recommend Moon Valley. They came on site prepared with a water heater and had
the work done within the hour.”
Flying makes many people nervous in fact, if severe enough, it actually gets classified as a phobia called, aviophobia. Not all, but many phobias are born from a traumatic experience. So we understand your trepidation when it comes to dialing the phone to find a plumber in the greater Phoenix area. It seems like every other neighbor has a plumbing horror story, (or maybe they are suffering from plumeriphobia.) But Moon Valley Plumbing offers our clients in the Phoenix area, and everywhere that we serve in Arizona, a smooth ride. We keep our course above the clouds and out of any kind of turbulence. We know that you have many choices when it comes to your choice in plumbing and we want to thank you for your consideration of Moon Valley Plumbing for all your future Phoenix plumbing needs.
Harnessing the Heat
Sometimes in July or August, we who called the Valley of the Sun our home, might think, “Of all the places we could live why do we live in an oven?” Well because it is a dry heat or because the winters are so beautiful or because the sunsets are very spectacular. Whether it is work, family or a hatred of snow that keeps you residing in the great state of Arizona, your reasons are unique to you; but the sun and the heat and the sunburns are things that we all share.
Harvesting the sun’s vibrant energy has been a constant movement in many of today’s industries and also in the plumbing community; of all the states in the USA, solar water heaters in Arizona, almost seems like common sense. The government has offered many incentives to homeowners to make the installation of a solar water heater attractive. Here is a look at 3 of them:
One federally funded program, on the state level is, the Residential Energy Conservation Subsidy Exclusion, this program allows you to exclude from your gross income the cost of purchasing and installing an energy conservative unit in your residence. The Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit also provides incentives for solar water heaters by providing, on your income taxes, a credit of 30% of the total system cost until the year 2016. The Federal Energy-Efficient Mortgages offers homeowners the option to take advantage of financing options for energy efficient improvements to their existing homes.
If you are a homeowner, something to think about also is that adding energy efficient appliances to your home is an attractive feature in this housing market (especially when you get a little incentive from the government) and can help boost up the buying-power of your home when it comes time to sell.
Moon Valley Plumbing has been working, living and thriving in the desert heat for the past two decades and we know how the sun can work in our favor when it comes to solar water heaters. There are some encouraging factors for homeowners to think about and look into as well when it comes to choosing between a gas, electric or solar water heater. Moon Valley Plumbing offers a wide selection of high-quality water heaters and is ready and able to provide excellent services to all your hot water needs. Many things come and go, but the heat and the enjoyment of a hot shower, even in Glendale, Phoenix or any part of the desert are here to stay.
The Top 10 reasons to choose Moon Valley for plumbing needs
- Owner Travis Mingle and our team have over two decades of experience. We are not only experts in our field, but we’re known throughout the valley for our honesty and professionalism.
- We only hire the best and trust in the quality and workmanship of all our expert employees because of this all of our work and estimates are guaranteed.
- No funny business in our professional plumbing company, you can rest assured that we are the real licensed-bonded-insured deal.
- No matter what part of the valley you reside in, Moon Valley might just be right around your corner. We offer plumbing services in: Apache Junction, Avondale Buckeye, Carefree, Cave Creek, Chandler, El Mirage, Fountain Hills, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Tempe, Tolleson, Wickenburg, Youngtown and Phoenix.
- Are you a home owner in need of a leaky faucet fix? Or are you a business owner looking to cut down on your water bill? Moon Valley Plumbing can help you both out since we are experts in residential and in commercial plumbing.
- We come highly recommended, by not only our customers but also by other neighboring companies, Southwest Gas declared Moon Valley one of their preferred vendors. Check out our website: www.moonvalleyplumbing.com to read our customer referrals.
- Our goal is to keep our customers for a life-time, even if it means making sacrifices for them in the short-term; we are not in the business of just one-time customers.
- One of our mottos is the “details make the professional.” The team at Moon Valley gives the utmost personal attention to every customer’s plumbing and remodeling needs, working around tight homeowner schedules and within their budgets.
- We are up to date with the latest technology; we are now able to utilize small,
industry cameras. Our video equipment allows us to thread the camera into the tiniest pipes and crevices to detect even the slightest crack, leak, or clog. - The Moon Valley Plumbing team is well educated in their field, staying current with all the latest advances in their field, receiving continuous professional seminars on plumbing education, safety and training.
Plumbing in the Summer Heat
The Arizona summer will be here before we know it. Kids will be out of school, boats will fill Lake Pleasant, paddle-boaters will speckle Tempe Town Lake and Arizonians will be looking for new ways to stay cool and to ride out the heat until probably October. Most of us know what we are in for as we watch March and April tick off the calendar. We know our cars will turn into ovens and our sidewalks into hot plates, but at least we never have to shovel snow, right? That is what we keep telling ourselves in a vain effort to produce some form of comfort from the Phoenician sun.
Water is a good and pleasant way to ward off and combat the sun. Since we will be putting more pressure on and demanding extra of our plumbing and pipes as the summer approaches and consumes us, it is a good time to look at some summer plumbing tips that can help us save some water. An article in the Arizona Republic by Rosie Romero on water conservation provides us with the following tips:
- Check faucets and showerheads. A steadily dripping faucet can waste 350 gallons a month -enough to fill a hot tub. So fix leaks on faucets and showerheads. Also, look for puddles or fresh mold growth in cabinets under sinks.
- Install better water-supply lines. Our plumbers also recommend that you install high-quality, braided stainless-steel flex lines under the kitchen sink, in bathroom vanities, on toilet supply lines and even for your washing machine. They’re more durable and less prone to leaks. While you are at it, put in angle stops to make it easier to turn off water in emergencies.
- Check your irrigation. About 70 percent of water use is outside, so check sprinklers and your underground drip-irrigation system. At least once a month, turn on your irrigation and walk through the yard to check for geysers and missing emitters.
- If some plants look dry and others are luxuriant, look for leaks in lines. Mysterious puddles on sidewalks may mean that pipes under walkways have broken. Hunt for leaks on hose bibs, too.
- Check your shut-off valve. Know where the outside shut-off valve is for your water system. That way you can turn off water quickly in an emergency. You can also shut off water when you leave on a long vacation. We recommend the 90-degree ball valve in place of older gate valves.
Summer puts extra pressure on our pipes and water supply. Plants, yards and golf courses need more water. Pets need to be hosed off and require additional water. Kids are home all day playing with the hose, making slip-and-slides in the yard. Pools need to be filled and cool decks sprayed off. Appreciating and saving water when we live in a desert doesn’t need a lot of coercion or explanation, but the summer season is a good time to put a little more thought and effort into it and perhaps even call a plumber to fix a leak or two.
Blunders, Heroes and Plumbers
We have all felt it, that sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs when we have said or done something that we realize we probably cannot fix or restore. It is at these times that we desperately wish that life had a rewind or at the very least a pause button or that Twix’s “need a moment?” moments actually existed. If the mistake was verbal and we are able to break the awkward silence with humor or by quickly thinking-on-our-feet, we can sometimes get out of it and breathe a sigh of relief. But if the gaffe was an action, those are harder to remedy.
Examples of actions that are hard to remedy:
- Realizing that the reason why your friend’s van died is because you filled it up with regular gas when it needed diesel.
- Watching your sister’s necklace (a gift from a friend that died) slip down into the darkness of a musty drain.
- Backing your parent’s car in to a very nice Mercedes, on the day you got your permit.
These are all examples where quick, fancy talking isn’t going to help you out at all. It is at these points in our lives where our only hope is a miracle or a heroic bailout.
For many of us stuck in those moments, no hero appears on the horizon. We just have to fess up, deal with the consequences and remember that the sun will always rise tomorrow and that everyone slips-up. That making mistakes are an aspect of humanity that connects all of us, like love and loss, we all have those moments when we feel as small as a beetle and just as insignificant. If philosophical thought isn’t helping though, it does always help to find someone whose faux pas are worse or more pickled than ours. The following story slips nicely into that category.
No matter what we have done, not many of us are acquainted with what it feels like to flush $70,000 down a restaurant’s toilet. Well, one person who knows what that feels like is a lady by the name of Allison Berry. A story reported in the Associated Press in ’09 explained how Mrs. Berry managed to lose her expensive and sentimental piece of jewelry while using the restroom at an Arizona Black Bear Diner. As she went to flush the toilet, her 7-carat diamond ring slipped from her hand and disappeared in the small torrent of water. It was in this moment that Mrs. Berry needed one of those miracles or bailouts. Her hero arrived not in a bat-mobile or dressed in a cap and costume, but it was a heroic plumber who bailed her out. The Associate press reported that the ring was discovered, “just 3 feet down and 5 feet over from where it was flushed.” and was rescued eight hours after it had been lost and after 90 minutes of jack-hammering and aftera bill of 6,200 dollars had been paid.
Whatever blunder is in your past or your present, remember that it could be worse and that life and its mistakes are always relative and about perspective. Whether it is a misspoken word in front of your boss or a precious rock being rescued from a watery grave, you will survive. And take heart because you never know when a hero (or a plumber) is going to be around to bail or fish you out.
Soaking Up the Sun
If we are soaking it up for too long it can burn us, but more often than not the sun is our friend; with its surface burning at10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the sun is a hot commodity. It is enough that this star brings life and growth to our planet, but can it also line our pockets? Utilizing the sun’s power is not a brand new concept, we have been using it to tan our skin, heat our homes and propel our vehicles for a while, but in the world of plumbing the sun offers another bright idea.
The concept of solar water heaters is one that is not very familiar to the public. Much more hype has been place on solar home heating systems,but the energy of the sun is vast and so are the possibilities and opportunities to harness its power. And since the sun’s price is well below the going rate it is also budget- savvy. Like most green and top-notch technology, installing the initial device can be a little more costly than a traditional system, but over the long run, the solar device will help you save;www.energysavers.gov tells us that, “On average, if you install a solar water heater, your water heating bills should drop 50%–80%. Also, because the sun is free, you’re protected from future fuel shortages and price hikes.”
There are several different types of solar water heaters, the two most common are active and passive. Active systems include circulating pumps and are more expensive and more intricate to install, but can handle more volume. Passive require very little maintenance and are among the simplest to install. When choosing your system, your region and the amount of water you use daily should be taken in to consideration. Also, remember that switching over to solar doesn’t mean a whole new renovation, as you can read onwww.lower-my-energybill.com,“In most instances, solar hot water heaters are designed to accommodate an existing system. In effect the solar powered system is retro fitted to a secondary fuel powered water heating unit that serves as a backup. Since the sun’s natural radiation isn’t always accessible, a sufficient back up source is required.”
Being independent from the rises and falls in the market place and being able to rely on an entity as reliable as the sun is a good feeling, there are not many choices that can save us money and save our earth at the same time, so it is a good thing to look in to. That is at least until someone figures out how to place a tax on the sun.
The Battle of the Drains
Drains, we never really think about them except when they stop working. Then those little things can cause complete mayhem. Many of us have stood there and shouted, “No, no…stop, stop!” at foul liquid spewing from the bowels of our houses or waiting hours and hours for some used and dirty water to finally seep away.
There are many helpful-hints out there when it comes to our drains some included baking powder, some harsh chemicals. It is easy to think the harsher the better when our drains are torturing us, but we must remember that whatever we pour or wash down our drains doesn’t disappears into a dark, never-to-be-seen again abyss, it all has to go somewhere. Even in our panic, we should be mindful of what we decide to pour down our drains. Here are some green and helpful drain tips from www.care2.com
Baking Soda Drain Cleaner
If water hasn’t yet backed up in your drain, pour 1 cup of baking soda followed by 3 cups of boiling water. The boiling water will change the chemical composition of baking soda, making it more alkaline. Repeat a few times until the drain is clear.
Washing Soda Drain Cleaner
If the water isn’t going down the drain, pour a cup of washing soda over the drain area and let it set for a while to work its way down to the clog. Once the clog is loosened, use the baking soda method, above. Washing soda is more alkaline than baking soda, with a pH of 11. You never want to use washing soda if a commercial acid drain cleaner has recently been used in the drain, as they will strongly react with each other. You also shouldn’t overuse washing soda if you have PVC pipes, as the caustic nature of washing soda can slowly damage the plastic.
The Bubbling Method Using Vinegar and Baking Soda
Baking soda and vinegar react with each other to cause bubbles and fizzing. Sometimes the fizzing can unlodge clogs. Follow the baking soda and boiling water formula, above, with 1 cup of vinegar.
Enzyme Drain and Garbage Disposal Maintenance
All natural living enzyme culture drain cleaners will actually eat and break down any organic matter. Using enzyme drain cleaners once a month, such as Bi-O-Kleen’s Bacout, will help not just your drains, but your septic system. They will also significantly reduce odor from garbage disposals. Colonies of enzymes will actually continue to grow and break down organic matter in your drains.
If our poor drains weren’t so neglected, abused and forgotten about perhaps their fury wouldn’t be so seemingly vengeful. But since we will probably continue to forget about them and they in turn will continue to torture us whenever they get the chance, some of these green quick fix ideas are helpful to have in our pockets. If you can’t seem to calm down your drain issues, or your drains can’t seem to get over the neglect, plumbers are good mediators; perhaps they can bring some understanding to the situation.
Maintaining Your Water Heater
Maintaining Your Water Heater
What would we do without hot water? Hot showers, this simple luxury we so often take for granted, would have been the envy of kings in ages past. Yet another thing to be grateful for this Thanksgiving season.
A couple years ago the Colson family upgraded their hot water heater to an 80-gallon capacity unit in order to accommodate their family and guests who would need simultaneous showers on different levels of the house. The effect has been wonderful in that they never run out of hot water, but on the other hand, they have found that the larger unit bumped their electric bill up a bit.
To combat the problem, the Colson’s ordered a free energy analysis from their electric company. In the process, the inspector gave them a few good tips–not only for lowering their monthly utility bills, but also for maintaining and safeguarding their hot water heater.
The following are a few noteworthy hints for keeping those water heaters healthy:
- Check the pressure relief valve by turning off the electricity to the water heater or turning the gas switch to pilot. Shut off the cold-water inlet to the water heater, and position a bucket to catch the water under the valve. Pull the trip lever on the valve. You should hear a slight rush of air or see some water and vapor exit through the pressure relief valve. If you don’t, drain the tank and replace the valve.
- Flush the tank every six months. Sediment buildup in the tank can reduce your water heater’s energy efficiency and also clog your water lines. Increase the life of your unit by flushing the tank each time you check the pressure relief valve. Easy flushing instructions are available at websites like Lowe’s.
- Check the Pilot Light. A newly installed gas water heater will have some air in the gas line, so it may take several attempts to light the pilot. (Also, make sure the gas supply valve has been turned on). In some units, a red LED light blinking once every three seconds indicates the unit is working normally.
- Deal with leaks and drips. Most leaks are caused by faulty water supply connections, so check your fittings and pipes. Compression fittings are easier to use for do-it-yourselfers than soldering copper pipes. Drips from the temperature and pressure (T&P) relief valve discharge pipe usually mean a thermal expansion tank is needed.
When in doubt, give your plumber a call, and let a pro check things out. The experts at Moon Valley Plumbing can conduct a quick, 8-point checkup on your system to make sure that you and your family enjoy the warmest – and safest- hot water system this holiday.
