Fall is a transitional time of year. The temperature drops; we unpack our sweaters and boots, and put away our shorts and flip flops. Summer is gone, and although we may feel some Indian summer days, colder weather is on its way. Kids are back in school, and we fall into a regular routine. You can take advantage of this time of year by taking steps to decrease your energy consumption.
• Unplug unused devices. Unplug all of the devices and small appliances your children used all summer.Small electronics, when left plugged in to a power source, can account for as much as 10 percent of your monthly energy bill.
• Online Energy Analysis. Find out how much energy is used in your home. This service is offered to LG&E and KU customers at no cost. After answering a few questions about your home and energy use, they will provide you with a customized report that includes suggestions on how to reduce your energy consumption.
• Adjust the programmable thermostat. As your routine changes this fall, adjust the settings on your programmable thermostat. According to lge-ku.com, adjusting your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter can save you up to $45 a year.
• Heating system tune-up. As the cold weather approaches, have your heating system inspected, cleaned and professionally maintained. Air filters need to be changed once a month to keep air flowing freely. According to lge-ku.com, you can save up to $50 off your energy bill per year by having your HVAC system professionally cleaned.
• Adjusting the water heater. Lower the thermostat to 120º F on your water heater.
• ENERGY STAR benefits. Buy an ENERGY STAR water heater and HVAC system, and the energy savings will last throughout the lifetime of the unit. To offset the cost of a new HVAC unit or water heater, rebates ranging from $150 - $775 are available.
As the leaves and temperatures drop, so can your energy bill. A few simple tips can result in savings that add up over the course of the fall and winter season.
To get started on your quest to save energy, call Maeser and get your heating system inspected and professionally cleaned.
Buying local? What is that? Buying local means making a decision to buy locally produced goods and services from a locally-owned and operated business. Choosing a local business over a corporate chain that resides in another state or country can have positive benefits to you as well as to your community. Although we may not be able to buy everything from our community, here is why we think hometown businesses have hometown charm.
When we spend locally, we improve our economy and economic environment for all businesses in our community.
According to www.buylocalrogue.org, locally-owned businesses have a tendency to do business with other locally-owned businesses. The dollars spent in the local economy create a “multiplier effect”. Local businesses advertise in local magazines, bank with local banks, eat at local restaurants, and purchase local services like plumbing, heating and cooling. The purchases we make locally trickle down to reinvestment in our community which creates a positive cycle. We can also see the positive impact in city-provided services such as: fire, police, the Louisville Loop, Louisville parks, Hike and Bike events, street lights, street repair and improvement, libraries, and so much more.
Another great example is Thunder over Louisville. As a collective community, we spend money on the local businesses that help sponsor one of our region’s largest annual events. Consequently, according to www.thunderoverlouisville.org/thunder-funder, Thunder is the number one fund-raiser for several local businesses such as: Kentucky Center for the Arts, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville Science Center, the Louisville Ballet and more. So, economically speaking, these local businesses are able to stay in business, employ more people, and spend more locally.
Another benefit of buying local is that it helps generate more jobs making the local economy more prosperous. According to www.sustainableconnections.org, small local businesses are the largest employer nationally. These employees presumably give better customer service because they are local and know the local culture.
Maeser is a perfect example of a small, locally-owned and operated business. Our founder, Marvin Maeser, started his business with a box of tools and a pick-up truck. We have weathered bad economic times and have grown in prosperous times, always committed to hiring local technicians, managers, and office staff. We use local companies, hire local subcontractors, and purchase supplies from local companies whenever possible.
So as the cliché goes: Buy Local, Think Local, Be Local. Think local first when needing plumbing, heating, cooling or bathroom remodeling, because we believe in Louisville’s hometown businesses and its hometown charm.
Once upon a time, a bathroom was nothing more than an utilitarian place to use the toilet and get clean. Times have changed considerably from a very small, functional room to enclose a tub, sink and toilet, to a more spacious, more comfortable spa-like retreat. And because the trend is to have larger bathrooms, we are seeing furniture becoming a vital part of bath décor.
Of course, just adding furniture for no reason is hardly a good idea. What you want to strive for is combining a piece of furniture that has a purpose. For instance, a beautiful, antique armoire can serve as a linen closet housing towels, toiletries, cleaning supplies, bathrobes and more. A vanity with cabinets , drawers, a mirror and a chair can be tucked in a corner for additional storage and for applying makeup, etc. An old stool for sitting or standing on while a child brushes their teeth.
There is a growing interest in using vintage pieces for bathroom use, also. Consequently, furniture manufacturers have started offering reproduction pieces that come ready to hook into a home's existing plumbing system. This makes the idea of furniture in the bathroom even more appealing. Make sure measures have been taken to avoid possible mold and mildew on your vintage piece if you decide to recreate an antique into a usable piece for your bathroom. Looking in antique shops, junk stores, flea markets, estate sales or grandma's attic might give you the pieces you are looking for. Take measurements of your bathroom before heading out on a shopping adventure so your purchases work well with your floor plan. Allow enough swing clearance for doors and cabinets.
Another great idea is to repurpose furniture normally used in other rooms in your home. Perhaps a kitchen stool, foot stool, coffee table, window frame for a mirror, night stand, apothecary cabinets, book shelves and anything else your creative mind can come up with.
The rule is that there are no rules. Your bathroom should reflect your style, dreams and vision. Are you loving these ideas but hating your teeny tiny bathrooms? Are you dreaming of a larger bathroom? Give Maeser a call. We may be able to expand your bathroom to encompass a pantry or closet to enlarge your bathroom space. Visit our showroom to get started.
Thursday, May 8, 2014 marked an exciting day for Maeser. After months of planning and construction, your friends at Maeser were finally able to celebrate the opening of Maeser’s Bath Design Studio with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Located in the Jeffersontown Industrial Park off of Watterson Trail, our Bath Design Studio sits beside our office on Electron Drive.
Maeser has been a member of the Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce for 24 years. Members of the Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce and City of Jeffersontown Mayor, Mayor Bill Dieruff, were present for the ribbon cutting and celebration. Mayor Dieruff and the Council Members of the City of Jeffersontown proclaimed May 4, 2014 to May 11, 2014 to be Maeser Master Services Week and May 8, 2014 to be Maeser Bath Design Studio Day.
A representative from Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s office also proclaimed May 8, 2014 to be Maeser Bath Design Studio Day in Louisville. Also present for the ribbon cutting were our many vendors and contractors who contributed time and material to our beautiful Bath Design Studio. Maeser is very proud of this new addition which will further improve the services we provide to you, our customers.
Do you want to remodel your bathroom? Give us a call for a free estimate. You can use our studio as a tool to begin your bathroom remodeling process.
Picture your dream bathroom. Maybe you are picturing the beautiful bathroom you visited at a nice hotel, or a bathroom on one of the television home shows you enjoy watching. Nevertheless, you have started dreaming about the bathroom possibilities you could have in your own home. Maybe you have pictured lighting that can be adjusted for brightness, spacious counter tops, and heated flooring? Imagine a shower with beautiful tile on the walls and floor. You can feel like a new person after showering under numerous sprayers and shower heads in a new luxurious shower.
You do not have to stay at a hotel in order to use a bathroom this beautiful and updated. Maeser can help you remodel and design your own bathroom to be even more amazing than the hotel bathroom you once envied. Maeser has expanded their operation to include a bathroom remodeling showroom that is now open to the public. With help from Maeser, you can create a bathroom oasis in your own home with modern features and amenities that you can choose and customize in our new Bath Design Studio.
Maeser’s Bath Design Studio features all of the design elements needed to make your bathroom dream a reality. Our Bath Design Studio features examples of lighting, flooring, tile, shower walls, counter tops, custom-made vanities, fixtures, mirrors and so much more. When you visit our Design Studio, you are able to see and touch the fixtures, tile, vanity cabinets, lighting, and more that will all come together to create an amazing new bathroom. By visiting our studio, you can truly customize your bath to your needs and style.
Whether it is a hall bath, half bath, master suite or a completely new bathroom addition to your home, our Bath Design experts will help guide you through the process of selecting anything and everything you may need or want. Not only will a brand new bathroom provide an updated feel to your whole home, it will also add resale value when the time comes to sell your home. Both are great reasons, but the best reason is the tranquility and pleasure a beautiful, updated bathroom will give you now. The ability to start your morning in a shower that is inviting, safe and beautiful, is a wonderful way to start your day. Maeser can even transform your bathroom into an aging-in-place bathroom with a larger doorway opening for a wheelchair, a walk-in tub, a comfort-height toilet, a curbless shower and more.
Maeser will lead you through the renovation process from start to finish and take care of every aspect of your bathroom remodel. We provide exceptional customer service, reliable suppliers, knowledgeable assistance and skilled craftsmen who share our focus on reliability and top-quality products.
Give us a call for a free estimate. You can use our studio as a tool to begin your bathroom remodeling process.
We are starting to see green sprout up from the ground, buds on the trees and the smell of Spring in the air. It seems like a long time coming after the unusually cold and snowy winter we have all just endured. Although we are all happy to see Spring make its appearance, with it comes its own challenges. Allergies in the Ohio River Valley can be brutal for some people and an annoyance for the rest of us. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Louisville is one of the worst city for allergy sufferers. Louisville and the surrounding communities experience allergy issues as grass and tree pollen appear. Staying inside your home is not only impractical, it won’t solve the problem. Our air quality inside can be just as bad as the outdoors and sometimes even worse. Your family may experience persistent sore throats, watery eyes, nasal drainage, itchy skin or swollen eyes, however, there are steps you can take to improve the air quality and lessen the allergy triggers within your home:
• Keep a dust-free, clean home
• Vacuum at least 2 times a week
• Wipe down cabinets
• Take off shoes before entering your home
• Use allergy-proof pillow cases
• Wash your bed sheets once a week in hot water and allergy-free soap
• Consider replacing carpet with hard wood flooring
• Wash and brush your dog frequently
• Use window shades instead of drapes or mini blinds
• Use mold and mildew fighting cleaner in the bathroom
• Consider painting your bathroom and kitchen with paint that inhibits the growth of mold
Other steps you can take are having a whole-house air purification system installed. This system is designed to help reduce germs and mold in your home, plus reduce odors and toxic chemical vapors. Maeser also recommends installing a whole-house furnace humidifier which delivers the perfect amount of moisture to your air so mold and mildew cannot thrive.
Contact your Home Comfort Consultants today for a free estimate on how we can improve your indoor air quality system today!
World Plumbing Day is an international event that celebrates plumbing and the significant role it plays in sanitation, the health and safety of our modern society, and the technological advances in sanitation practices over many years. History has proven that sanitation was an afterthought, rather than a specific purpose when it came to the original idea of plumbing.
The Romans are usually credited with the sewer and the first plumbing system. They moved large amounts of water through their aqueduct system, however, the Roman public baths were havens for bacteria and disease with their unfiltered and stagnant water. Epidemics such as dysentery, typhoid and cholera were directly related to poor sanitation practices. The science of good quality water supply for health would not be discovered for several hundred years.
The British Medical Journal conducted a survey in 2007 to determine the greatest medical discovery dating back to the beginning of the Journal's existence in 1840. The science of sanitation received the most votes, over other medical discoveries such as antibiotics and anesthesia.
The slogan, "The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation" takes on a more significant meaning when we look beyond the United States to some countries with poor plumbing safeguards:
• In India, 7.5 percent of deaths are related to water and sanitation issues
• Worldwide, 88 percent of diarrhea cases are due to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation
• Inadequate plumbing contributed to the spread of the SARS virus that broke out in Asia a few years ago, attributing to hundreds of deaths
• Lack of safe drinking water and poor sanitation claim the lives of 3.1 million people in the world per year
Plumbers are highly skilled technicians who have the training and expertise to maintain and improve our plumbing essentials. All plumbers must have years of experience and training before they can become the licensed journeymen who tend to all of your plumbing needs. We appreciate our plumbers for their hard work, which is often performed in less than ideal environments. From dark, wet crawlspaces to toilets, sewers, and septic tanks, plumbers handle the messy situations so we do not have to.
So, everyone, let's stand up and toast the plumber with our sparkling glass of tap water!
Hopefully the Polar Vortex deep freeze is over for the winter of 2014. Maeser worked non-stop to repair frozen pipes or to prevent them from further damaging your home. There were days we took over 1000 calls from our loyal customers with plumbing issues. Thank you for trusting us with your home. As home-comfort experts, we suggest you review how to prevent your pipes from freezing so this won’t be you the next time we have bitter cold temperatures.
There are three causes of frozen pipes: poor insulation, a quick drop in temperature and the thermostat is set too low. Be aware that any time temperatures dip to 32 degrees, unprotected pipes are vulnerable to freezing, especially when you factor in the wind chill.
We are seeing insufficient insulation in attics, crawl spaces and on pipes that are situated on an outside wall. Consider purchasing pre-cut foam insulation for your pipes. It is inexpensive and easy to install.
Maeser also suggests sealing leaks in your home’s foundation that allows the cold air to come inside. You can use spray foam insulation or cold-weather caulking. Take care not to cover vents as this could cause dangerous results. If you are unsure, find a professional or err on the side of caution. There are several cut-off valves in your home, however, knowing where the main water shut-off valve could keep your home from extensive damage if a pipe were to burst. Every person in the household should know where this valve is located. Tag the valve with a Maeser Emergency Shut-Off tag so it is easily seen.
Another suggestion is to be careful when turning your outside spigots on in the Spring. It is possible your pipes were damaged and there were no outward signs during the bitter cold. If water doesn’t flow out of your spigots, this may reveal pipe damage. Again, know the location of your main water cut-off valve.
So many of our customers endured this harsh winter with damage to their pipes and home. We hope you will consider our suggestions to make the next winter season worry-free and know that we are here if you need a home-comfort expert.
Another Valentine's Day has come and gone. This year, we asked our customers to write us a love poem to Ducky, and the winning poem writer won a dozen roses that were delivered on Valentine's Day. We had a great time reading the creative entries from our customers. It was certainly hard to pick just one poem, but we chose the poem submitted by Alma.
Here it is:
Oh Ducky! How did I ever get so Lucky?
To have you in my life, before there was such strife!
The cold winters and hot summers, the clogged
drains and countless drips, Oh how my scenarios
have flipped! When I see the big truck with that
smiling duck, I'm forever heart-struck!
Throughout this year, we have planned different interactive campaigns that are not only fun, but let us interact with you, our customers. We want to get a better idea of what you want and need. Believe it or not, we may even have products and services that you didn't know about. If you ever have a question about a product or service you have heard about, call and ask us about it! We hope you think ‘Maeser’ first, and we strive to provide you the best service and information possible.
Our next campaign this year is the Ugly Bathroom Photo Contest. Just submit a photo of your ugly bathroom, and you can win a wonderful prize. Visit the Ugly Bathroom Contest link on our website to submit your photo and see what prizes are available for the ugly bathrooms that get the most votes. You can even vote on the ugliest bathroom while you’re there, so make sure you visit maeser.com to vote daily. The bathroom with the most votes will win.
We have planned a wonderful year full of opportunities and contests in order to further involve and serve our customers. We want to again thank you for thinking ‘Maeser’ for all of your plumbing, heating, cooling, geothermal, and bathroom remodels needs. We're sweet on you!