For most Milwaukie, OR homeowners, the spring brings more than just a turn for better weather. The season is perfect for preparing your home for the warmer months ahead. At 3 Mountains Plumbing, we can’t overstate the importance of being proactive with your home’s comfort before it gets too hot. That’s why our HVAC team recommends installing a new AC during this time of year. Here are 11 reasons why the spring makes for an ideal time for upgrading your AC system. 1. Get Ahead of the Summer Business Rush Spring in Milwaukie is when we enjoy the calm before the summer storm. It presents the perf ..read more

Spring tends to be the rainiest time of the year in Oregon, and with all of that rain also comes a much higher chance of thunderstorms and lightning strikes. A lightning strike has the potential to cause severe damage to your home and ruin most things that are connected to your electrical system. While many people believe that using surge-protector strips will protect against damage from lightning strikes, this definitely isn’t the case. The only way to fully protect your home against lightning is with a whole-home surge protector. This article will explain the differences between surge strips ..read more

Your home’s HVAC system’s primary job is to move warm or cold air evenly throughout the property. If you fail to maintain it properly, your home might feel drafty with some rooms colder or warmer than you’d prefer. Your home’s energy bills can soar, and your indoor air quality (IAQ) could drop. Here’s everything you need to know about how your HVAC system can help or hinder your IAQ goals. How Poor Maintenance Impacts Indoor Air Quality How often do you clean the area around your furnace? If you’re like many, the answer is “not often.” Furnaces are often installed in rarely frequented parts of ..read more

Safe, contaminant-free drinking water remains essential for family health. While municipal supplies get treated, lingering risks still necessitate purification methods, like specialized filtration, to boost on-site protection. This article explains why water filtration is so important. Removes Lead Particles Aging interior pipes and some exterior municipal lines still utilized in communities contain lead soldering remnants from installation decades ago. Over time, gradual corrosion causes trace lead particulates to enter home systems through supply plumbing. These dissolved heavy metals pose s ..read more

Smart electrical outlets or plugs have among the highest adoption rates of all home automation technologies. These devices are relatively inexpensive and simple to install, and they can result in significant energy savings quickly. Smart devices are electronic devices that can perform some level of computing and connect to other smart devices to share and interact. A smart plug or outlet connects to your home network and can enable and disable appliances connected to it, track energy consumption and much more. Smart plugs not only work with other smart devices but non-smart appliances too, suc ..read more

The water heater has a major effect on the amount of energy that a house uses and its overall comfort. Conventional tank water heaters waste energy when they go into standby mode. Their limited capacity and recovery time can also make it difficult for them to supply enough hot water. As an alternative, tankless water heaters provide continuous access to hot water by reducing standby losses. With this on-demand technology, it becomes easier to manage a home’s energy consumption while also supplying enough hot water. 1. Space-Saving Design If you’re limited on space and want a more energy-effici ..read more

With such a massive range of style, brightness and color options available, it can often be quite difficult to know which type of light bulbs to choose. Having proper lighting in your home is important, but every room and space typically has different lighting requirements. This means you’ll usually want to use a different type of bulb in your bathroom than what you use in your bedroom, kitchen, hallways, etc. If you’re unsure of what type of light bulbs will work best in each situation, here are some tips to help you make an informed choice. Determine What Type of Bulbs to Use If you need lig ..read more

The ductwork is one of the most important parts of a central HVAC system, and this is true for systems that use either a furnace or a heat pump. The ducts are what supply heat to every room and also serve to pull cooler air back into the system so that it can be heated. If your ductwork isn’t properly designed or has air leaks, your heating system won’t be nearly as effective and will struggle to evenly distribute heat around your house. In this article, we’ll explain all you need to know about the ductwork in your home and how it can affect both airflow and heat distribution. Different Parts ..read more

If you’re looking for a new heating system for your Milwaukie, OR, home, making sense of your options isn’t always easy. There are multiple types of home heating systems to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Plus, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, so you need to understand all of your options to make the right choice. To help you do that, here are the pros and cons of the major heating system types you’ll have to choose from. The Pros and Cons of Boilers Boilers, as their names suggest, boil water to heat your home using hot water or steam passing through radiators o ..read more

When replacing the electrical panel in your home, you must check that the new panel is the correct size. A licensed electrician might need to upgrade your electrical system using a larger panel to accommodate a variety of scenarios. Here we explain everything you need to know about sizing an electrical panel, understanding electrical loads, and knowing when it’s time to upgrade or replace the panel in your home. Amperages and Electrical Panel Sizes Electrical panels are available in several different amperages or sizes. The amperage of a panel determines the maximum electrical load or total nu ..read more