Choosing the Right Water Heater for You, Helpful Information to Know

Every once in a while, the most trustworthy of home essentials goes bad.  Either through the product reaching the end of its life or a problem/accident.  The end result is still the same, the search for a replacement.  So in this post, we decided to break down this large volume of information and try to give quick bites of info about one of the true essentials of the modern home: A Water Heater.

A water heater in its easiest explanation is something that we overlook everyday.  We know water comes out of the faucet and when we want, it comes out hot.  But the trusty water heater is behind it all.  It heats the water for kitchen sinks, washing machine, mudroom sink, bathroom sinks, showers, etc.  It is the standard when we need gallons of water heated quickly.  But take it away and we're left with just plain, cold water.

Let's dig a little deeper into water heaters and see what they offer, you might be surprised.

There are three major determining factors of the Water Heater: Fuel, Water Storage, and Space.

Fuel:
There are several different types of fuel that water heaters use but the two Main ones are electric and gas. (Gas being either Liquid Propane or Natural Gas).  Electric Water Heaters have a large variety of gallon sizes for homes, have options for high efficiency, are the least expensive, and uses heating elements to heat the water.  Gas Water Heaters are more energy efficient than Electric Water Heaters, but are more expensive, and uses a burner to heat the water (storage nearby around the water heater can be a fire hazard), and there are less options for size availability than Electric.

Water Storage:
This next part is where it can get tricky and throw people for a loop.  You can either have tank water heaters or tankless.  Tank water heaters physically hold the water as it heats, (whereby you can actually see a 50 gallon water heater) and the tankless heats the water as it passes through the heating coils and does not physically hold the water.  However, for tankless water heaters it is very important to know your flow rate.  Your flow rate may have an impact on the tankless water heater you get.  For either Tank or Tankless the amount of people living in the house and the number of bathrooms is a good indicator for the Gallon Size Tank or Gallons/Minute Outflow Rate that the home might need.

Space:
This is where you determine the location of where the water heater will be placed.  Sometimes it can be placed in the exact spot as the old one, sometimes another spot is preferred when the size of the water heater is changed.  Before you choose which water heater you will have, remember to measure the area in which you want the heater to go.  This measurement will go along way to not having problems later on in terms of fitting the new water heater in. In some areas, the tall tank water heaters will not fit and can be substituted for large width low water heaters, and still hold the same amount of water.

Remember we recommend any installation and change over into a new water heater or major appliance to be done by a professional so they can fix any problems that occur on the spot and well as have it done correctly the first time.

Today's Tidbit:  Yes, we know that Water Heaters don't really pop into one's mind (only when buying a new home) but its still useful information that we gladly pass on to help those who are in the quandary of information overload when going through looking for a new Water Heater.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Thanksgiving or How We Learned to Love it All!

Thanksgiving is quickly coming upon us and we have multitudes to be thankful for.

First our family and friends who have supported us as we have supported them.  You bring great memories and fun times with any occasion and brighten our moods when we are down and add that extra sunshine on fantastic days.

Our clients, without our clients we are nothing.  We can only hope that we can continue to provide you with the best of service as we have in the past.  May your Thanksgiving be full of warm memories and bountiful food.

And our coworkers including other agents, attorneys, inspectors, loan officers, and home warranty specialists. We thank you for being there and working together to help all of our clients as they work through the real estate world.  We lift our glasses to you.

Thanksgiving Tip: Always remember to save room for dessert.  You don't want to overstuff yourself with food when there's more goodies left to come.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone from The Carol Jacobs Team!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Stumbling Across A Fantastic Recipe - Nutella Brownies

We know this is outside the realm of real estate however...this week we found a fantastic recipe for Nutella Brownies.  We tried them out and could not believe how good they were.  Very light and fluffy!  We urge all Nutella lovers as well as Brownie lovers to give this recipe a try!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Nutella
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/5 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring
1/4 cup of melted butter (salted)
OPTIONAL: Choco chips, coconut, pecans can be added to mixture if wanted.  We did plain.

Directions:
Gather materials and ingredients. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease baking pan (MUST DO).

Combine flour, baking soda, salt in bowl. Set aside for now.

Beat eggs, Nutella, butter, vanilla, and brown sugar together until forming a smooth mixture.

Add flour mixture gradually into the Nutella mixture. Combine well.

Move batter from bowl into greased 8 inch pan and bake for 30-35 min.

Wait for brownies to cool for at least 20 min before cutting.

Let us know how your batch went!  Ours was fantastic and its about to be gone by the end of today!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween

For an event that has been celebrated in one form or another for at least over 400 years,  Halloween and its variants have brought untold amount of fun, mischief, mystery, awe, solemness, and fright.  It is a unique mix of religious, secular, remembrance, costume, and food.

This time, Halloween looks to fall on a Thursday and possibly have showers and thunderstorms so many will go early for trick-or-treating to try and beat the weather.

So whatever you plan on doing or how you're spending your time have fun and be safe.  Happy Halloween everyone!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Winterization or Don't Let the Dollars Float Away

With the Temperatures deciding to drop quickly this week into possibly below freezing territory, we decided to put out a quick and informal checklist just for you to get started on.  Add your own ideas to this list as this is only a jumping off point.  Being here in the South, I'm sure we're going to be missing several big things that would be an automatic to put on the list in a more deeply colder area such as Minnesota or New Hampshire.

Check your HVAC and make sure its working correctly.  There is no use in waiting for it to conk out in December or January if it can be prevented.

If you have a chimney and use it, make sure its checked out for the safety of everyone living in the house.

Clean your Gutters.  We've said this before under fall cleaning but as we know it takes forever for some leaves to fall off the trees and they'll do it when they're good and ready.  Sometimes we have a problem with sleet and the leaves in the gutters are just in the right spot to be exposed to the elements to refreeze the water that's left behind.  And  if you have lots of leaves in the gutter and they're all frozen its possible that the gutter won't be able to hold the weight and it could come crashing down.  But its better to be safe than sorry and avoid other damages.  And remember if it seems to risky for you to do it, get others who can do it or use a professional.

Winterize your hoses and exterior faucets.  Make sure you get all the water out of your hoses (hang them up & put away) and sometimes just a simple cover of Styrofoam can work to protect the faucet by covering it and attaching it to the house exterior.

Check the weatherstripping and caulk on windows, doors, and any other place where there are holes, gaps, and bad seals.  The heat loss can cost you extra money that you won't even realize!

Now an easy one which many people won't realize.  Smoke & Carbon Monoxide detectors.  Make sure they are working and change their batteries.  Fall/Winter are the months in which all the windows are closed and sealed and there's no movement of air to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.  Remember it is odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas that can kill while people are sleeping.

Remember this is just a starting off point.  Get involved yourself and see what you can find to get your house ready for the colder months.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Last Weekend's Roundup

Just a quick post on last weekend.  The Team went out last weekend and popped in at several spots around Huntsville in the many events which were ongoing.  (And thankfully for the good weather)

Friday, the Team strolled Bridgestreet in the morning for a few hours before settling in the afternoon at The Gem, Jewelry, & Mineral Show at the VBC.

Saturday, it seems everyone was at the Huntsville Ghost Walk to hear the stories and see the historical homes during the 2.2 mile trek.  When our group led by Robert Reeves came back to the starting point, there were many more people on the four corners waiting for their turn to go for the 8PM Start.  The amount of people that came out was overwhelming to see.

Sunday, we enjoyed ourselves immensely at the Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll.  Like the Huntsville Ghost Walk on the previous day, Maple Hill Cemetery was completely packed full of people.  The crowds which surrounded the Huntsville Historical Figures where bustling at the seams.  The Black Widow of Hazel Green, Elizabeth Dale Gibbons could even have her pick of any of the multitudes of men in attendance.
We even managed to take a nice picture of Mary Bibb as she talked about herself and her tomb behind her.

Mary Chambers Bibb 

(Photo by Carol Jacobs Team)

All in all it was a very fun weekend but exhausting to try and make all the wonderful events.  Going to all the events was well worth it for both self enjoyment, involvement in the community, as well as interacting with other people we met along the way.  So if something like these events comes again we'll go again, and we can only hope you will as well!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Autumn Cleaning - The 2nd Coming of Spring Cleaning

Many people do not realize that Spring Cleaning comes twice a year.  The first being Spring, and the second being Autumn.  Autumn cleanings don't really make an impact as much as Spring cleaning due to the fact that they're not as invasive and prolonged.  Where as Spring can take a week to two weeks, cleaning in Autumn can be more along the lines of a few days.  It takes place right when the first chill hits the night air.  And Autumn Cleaning does not include the chore of raking and bagging all the leaves.  That is its own event.

Let's get started shall we?

Clean windows, drapes, carpet, patio, sidewalk, porch, bedding.  This is everything that pollen and allergens can stick to.  No reason to keep them around, and now is a good as time as any to get rid of them especially if you have sinus/allergy problems.

Change your bedding and wardrobe for cooler months.  Do it now, so you won't have to throw blankets and clothing around later from the attic or hall closet where everything else winds up.

Change your HVAC air filter.  Many people forget to change this one regularly.

Outdoors? Begin cleaning up the patio, from furniture, dead plants, and summer clotheslines everything has a time and with the onset of cooler weather its best to either move them to a discrete place like a shed, or throw away if no longer of use.  Make it appear clean, also makes it much easier when the leaves really start falling in that you don't have to maneuver around obstacles.  Speaking of leaves, remember to check your gutters regularly for leaf blockages or nests on the top sections of the gutters and the downspouts.

If you can think of any more have at it.  Just remember not to overdo it!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes