The Brooklyn home service company offers homeowners advice to cut utility bills and keep their home safe while they are away Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning, a family-owned home service company serving Brooklyn and Manhattan since 1906, says that homeowners can save some money and keep their energy costs down while they’re on vacation Read more
Industry News
The Brooklyn home service company offers homeowners advice to cut utility bills and keep their home safe while they are away
Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning, a family-owned home service company serving Brooklyn and Manhattan since 1906, says that homeowners can save some money and keep their energy costs down while they’re on vacation by following a few easy tips this summer.
Brooklyn’s Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning offers homeowners advice to cut their utility bills while they are away on summer vacation.
“We remember the big things like hiring someone to watch the pets and getting a neighbor to take in the mail while we’re away on vacation,” said Michael Petri, owner of Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning. “But we should also follow a regimen that will help us save some money and energy while we’re off taking a much-needed break. Just because your house is empty doesn’t mean your appliances aren’t running up your utility bill.”
Petri said these tips will help homeowners escape a big utility bill while on vacation:
- Adjust the thermostat. Unless the pets are staying home with a sitter, there is no reason to run the air conditioner to cool the home as often as when it’s inhabited. A programmable or smart thermostat can be adjusted to a vacation setting. These thermostats can also be used to bring the temperature back down on the day the homeowners are set to arrive so they can return to a cool house.
- Turn down the water heater. Some water heaters come with a “vacation mode” setting that allows homeowners to turn down the water heater while they are away. This can save money on heating water while the family is away.
- Close the blinds. Keeping the sun from shining into the home and warming it up can help keep the HVAC unit from turning on more frequently.
- Unplug electronic devices. Taking the time to unplug “energy vampires” like computers, televisions and coffee pots can help homeowners save on energy bills. Many appliances continue to use energy even when they are turned off so unplugging them while the family is on vacation also helps eliminate possible fire hazards.
- Turn off the lights. Make sure all the lights in the home are turned off before leaving for vacation. An even better option is to set up a few lights on a timer so some come on at night. This works as a deterrent to burglars but still saves homeowners money by not running lights during daylight hours.
“We all need a chance to get away from the routine of our regular lives,” Petri said. “And, while we’re away, we don’t need our appliances to continue the same routine as though we were home. Following these tips can help you save a bit of money while you’re gone and can even work to safeguard your home from fires or burglars.”
For more information about Petri Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Drain Cleaning, visit https://www.petriplumbing.com/.
Through December, the company will give away a Carhartt® Thermal-Lined Duck Active Jacket to each weekly winner Bradford White Water Heaters, an industry-leading manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and storage tanks, announces the Bradford White For the Pro® Photo Contest, offering weekly opportunities through 2023 for contractors to earn a Carhartt® Thermal-Lined Duck Active Jacket. “We’re Read more
Through December, the company will give away a Carhartt® Thermal-Lined Duck Active Jacket to each weekly winner
Bradford White Water Heaters, an industry-leading manufacturer of water heaters, boilers and storage tanks, announces the Bradford White For the Pro® Photo Contest, offering weekly opportunities through 2023 for contractors to earn a Carhartt® Thermal-Lined Duck Active Jacket.
“We’re proud of the work that our For the Pro® customers do, and this contest is a fun way for us to showcase their skills and demonstrate our commitment to professional installation of our products,” said Neal Heyman, director of marketing for Bradford White.
To enter, contractors can simply submit a photo of a recent Bradford White installation at https://www.bradfordwhite.com/photo-contest/. Contractors are encouraged to include themselves and their teams in the photos.
Pat Hansell of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is the first weekly winner of the Bradford White For the Pro® Photo Contest.
A new winner will be selected every week through December and shared on social media. Pat Hansell from West Chester, Pennsylvania, is the first weekly winner.
Bradford White’s unique For the Pro® platform provides powerful digital tools that help contractors do their jobs and grow their businesses. Features of the platform include:
- Find a Pro contractor directory
- For the Pro sales material
- RightSpec® tools
- Technical and promotional videos
- For the Pro® Training Academy
For more information about Bradford White Water Heaters, visit https://www.bradfordwhite.com.
Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online skilled trades training, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Southern Home Services Corporation, a leading residential home services provider specializing in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and generator service, replacement, and maintenance. This important collaboration names Interplay Learning the exclusive content engine for technical training and the designated LMS Read more
Interplay Learning, the leading provider of online skilled trades training, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Southern Home Services Corporation, a leading residential home services provider specializing in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and generator service, replacement, and maintenance. This important collaboration names Interplay Learning the exclusive content engine for technical training and the designated LMS provider across Southern Home Services’ growing network of 25+ locations.
Recognizing the crucial need for a standardized technical training and development system across its expanding portfolio of companies, Southern Home Services Corporation aligned with Interplay Learning to deliver a unified and scalable training solution to their 750+ technicians. By leveraging Interplay’s cutting-edge digital learning platform, technicians at every business location will have seamless access to industry-leading training tools and resources, including immersive 3D simulations and virtual reality experiences.
Interplay’s diverse content catalog will ensure that technicians across various skill levels and trades can enhance their knowledge, acquire new skills, and earn essential career-building industry certifications like EPA 608. Further, the platform’s built-in skills assessment tool will play a vital role in identifying and addressing technicians’ skills gaps, providing targeted learning paths to bridge those gaps. The state-of-the-art training program will also assist Southern Home Services in improving recruitment, addressing labor shortages, reducing callbacks, and driving revenue growth throughout its extensive network.
Matt Ellenberg, Training Manager at Southern Home Services, emphasized the importance of Interplay’s training and development on company growth, stating, “Training equals next month’s, next quarter’s, and next year’s revenue dollars. This partnership with Interplay is an investment in our technicians’ career development and a driver of future revenue.”
Chief Operating Officer Drew Poskon adds, “This training partnership is a testament to our commitment to providing best-in-class training that directly translates to best-in-class home service experiences for our customers.”
The relationship between Southern Home Services Corporation and Interplay Learning marks a significant milestone in advancing technical education delivery throughout the trades. By leveraging leading technology and comprehensive training resources, both organizations are poised to shape the industry, ensuring continued growth and success for Southern Home Services and its dedicated workforce.
“Interplay is thrilled to work with Southern Home Services in setting a new benchmark for technical education across the trades,” said Doug Donovan, CEO of Interplay Learning. “We are honored to work alongside them to drive acquisition success and provide their expanding workforce with a centralized system of career-building tools necessary for sustainable growth.”
Analysis finds the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code can reduce deaths from extreme heat by as much as 80 percent As heat alerts affected nearly 110 million people, a third of the U.S. population across 15 states, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a new report on July 13 called “Enhancing Resilience in Buildings Through Read more
Analysis finds the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code can reduce deaths from extreme heat by as much as 80 percent
As heat alerts affected nearly 110 million people, a third of the U.S. population across 15 states, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published a new report on July 13 called “Enhancing Resilience in Buildings Through Energy Efficiency.” The report – which followed a study by a team of energy experts from DOE’s Building Energy Codes Program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – outlines the value for states and communities that adopt the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC) to enhance resilience in response to more frequent and intense extreme weather events attributed to a changing climate.
The report underscores the impact of the 2021 IECC in protecting occupants from extreme temperatures due to power outages associated with hazard events.
The report’s findings serve as a clarion call for policymakers to adopt the IECC. The IECC’s requirements:
- Improve envelope efficiency in buildings to permit occupants to shelter in place safely for more than four days during a disaster-induced power outage coupled with extreme heat or cold.
- Extend habitability by as much as 120% during extreme cold and 140% during extreme heat and reduce deaths by up to 80% during extreme heat and 30% in extreme cold.
- Provide, for new single-family buildings, benefit-cost ratios from 2 times to over 6 times, making a strong financial argument for adoption.
For additional information on the report and the Code Councils’ continued advocacy for building resiliency, visit www.iccsafe.org/energy and www.energycodes.gov/energy-resilience.
Watts has announced a new webinar: New Tech in Backflow Prevention: The Future is Now. It’s ASPE-accredited and worth 0.1 CEUs. On Wednesday, August 16, 2023, 12:00 p.m. ET., participants will learn about: What backflow is and why it is required The principals of continuous monitoring Understanding connectivity considerations and options The nuances of indoor Read more
Watts has announced a new webinar: New Tech in Backflow Prevention: The Future is Now. It’s ASPE-accredited and worth 0.1 CEUs.
On Wednesday, August 16, 2023, 12:00 p.m. ET., participants will learn about:
- What backflow is and why it is required
- The principals of continuous monitoring
- Understanding connectivity considerations and options
- The nuances of indoor vs. outdoor installs
- Sustainability in backflow prevention
Visit watts.com/BackflowDayCEU to register.