SUMMARY KEYWORDS
generator, people, furnace, abt, running, power, home, week, rodents, check, rosalie, heating system, fac, diy, ductwork, bit, andrew, air, clearance, damage
00:02
Before you start your next do it yourself project listen to this. You Got This! is on the air. You Got This! is hosted by ABT plumbing electric heat and air owner Andrew Twidwell and Rosalie Brown, with a helpful hand. Here are Andrew and Rosalie
00:17
Hi, this is this week’s episode of You Got This, the show about DIY do’s and don’ts. Shows brought to you every week by abt plumbing, electric heat and air. And this week, Rosalie’s flying, not solo. But I don’t have Andrew with me. And that’s why anyone who’s listening is going Who is she? And why is she talking? Andrew is away this week. So I have brought one of my favorite people both in my professional life and my personal life. They’re the same person. I brought her to come be a guest this week and talk to us about all kinds of different stuff. I just want to say DeeDee, I want you to come on and say hi. And I also want you to remind everybody what you do and who you do it for.
01:07
All right, well, hello, everybody. It’s DD Vieira here with AB t electric, plumbing, electrical, heating and air. And what do I do? I heard cats all day. But seriously, I run the H back department.
01:28
Right, right. Right. Okay, before we get into all that good stuff. So I’m, I haven’t been able to do this with you in person for quite a while. Um, okay, so we got to catch up on that real quick. So before this incredible storm that we experienced last week, and a lot of people are still experiencing. You had a nice holiday, right? Yep. Pretty peaceful, cool holiday. That is our first show of the year. So that’s why I’m kind of bringing up the holidays. I know, they feel like a million years ago. But
01:57
ya know, it was a good holiday. And you know, got to see some family. And that was really nice. And last year, it wasn’t around anybody for the holidays. So it was nice to kind of share in that again. And yeah, even with the storm, it was still nice to have a little bit of snow and a white Christmas. And it was fun.
02:22
It looks pretty, didn’t it? It looks beautiful.
02:28
Day, and then after that, it was a little hectic.
02:33
Yeah. So you know, people think it’s always like sunny in Southern California. Or it’s always, you know, like, really warm. And I have friends that are like, you don’t even need a jacket, you must turn the AC on your mom. I’m like, hi. I didn’t have snow storm, thankfully. But because I did live through several of those for about 16 years. But it’s been like 41 in the morning. And it’s been getting all the way up to the a high of like, in the 50s. So it’s winter everywhere, baby. Yeah.
03:10
Yeah, so family. And all the storms that were here are now hitting like all through, you know, West Virginia, and the Carolinas. And so now they’re getting it.
03:23
Yeah, it’s not, it’s not pretty, I was just talking to our friends over it, you’ve been at yesterday, and then a couple days before, and I just want to really remind everybody that if you don’t already know, which, if you’re local to Nevada County, you know this and find that to be the best resource for emergency information. And, uh, you know, just it’s incredible how they put together maps, and here’s what’s open and what’s not. And here’s who still has power out and things like that. So I just want to give a little shout out. So you’ve been net, because they’ve been a great resource for folks that are, you know, trying to find out what’s going on. I mean, there’s people right now, we’re recording this on the fourth of January. And there are people currently that are still looking at possibly being without power for the next couple of weeks. And I’m not making light of this at all. I’m usually very sarcastic and kind of a bit of a I don’t know, a jerk probably. I’m actually really, really sympathizing with people because I know that this is you know, many years ago when I lived on van Iran, there was nothing stranger than you know, the roads would be paved and people will be going back you know, into their lives and you know, I would go into town and everything would seem normal but I also wouldn’t have power you know, I went without power for like 12 days one time and it’s just kind of surreal because everything else around you seems like it’s back to normal or many things. But you know, when you’re you don’t have heating and you don’t have power, it’s like it. I think it really gets on your it. There’s a lot of issues to it. But I mean, I just think that the mental kind of, it’s hard. So I know we’re all hurting.
05:09
I’ve lived at the top of Banner. And in 2010, the first Snowmageddon, we lost power for a month, there was so much damage, that we lost power for a month.
05:26
It was crazy.
05:27
It’s unreal. Yeah, like, total, the, just everything, I mean, not being able to shower or not, you know, running your generator 24/7. And there’s just so many different aspects to it. It’s just, it’s a really hard journey to be on when you’re without power for multiple days, and especially in multiple weeks.
05:47
Yeah, it’s really, it’s just hard to imagine. So we’ll just kind of wrap that by saying that, and hopefully, you know, everyone’s going to be restored soon. We’re thinking about everybody. And we’re certainly looking forward to better things coming in 2022. Because I don’t want to set us up for you know, everything. So we’re doing this over zoom, as you can probably tell by the sound quality, we were able to have a quick Andrew and I got a couple of quick shows in the studio. Towards the end of the year, we’re back to zoom. And DD is not in a great like, internet spot, but we’re going to push through and do our best. I also just kind of want to say to Diddy, you know, you asked me why I didn’t have a camera on and I’m going to tell you the truth now that we’re recording. If you catch sight of my dog in the background, because you love my dogs so much already know what’s gonna happen, you’re gonna get distracted by the dog. So that is why you cannot see me because if you can’t see me, you can’t see Theo.
06:50
I know that’s like torture, that’s just not right.
06:55
Don’t worry, I’ll text you. I’ll text you bunch of photos later, I promise. Alright, so we, you know, I’m good two thirds of the show left to go and review very proud of me that I didn’t completely derail. Let’s talk a little bit about when I asked you to come on and fill in for him. You know, initially, it was like, who could fill those shoes. But let’s be clear, you’re out in the field, and you’re doing the H fac work. And you’re probably one of the more skilled people I could invite to come and talk about this stuff. We’re going to talk about kind of, I don’t know how words are actually want to go with this, it’s going to be kind of maintenance things you can do things to look out for. But today’s definitely gonna be about your H vac system, and really maximizing it and doing what you can right. Keep it going again, you know, up and running, right?
07:46
Yes, yeah. And I also would like to touch base a little bit about since everybody in the county is how we use generators right now, or a good portion of them a little bit of generator care as well that they can do on their own, you know, to keep their generators up and happy and running as well. Well, let’s,
08:06
why don’t we jump into the generator, because I’m assuming that we’ve got probably more people using generators now than we ever have before. So take take the ball and run for a little bit.
08:19
Okay, so, um, one of the things that we come across a lot with customers having issues with generators right now, two things. One is making sure your generator is has enough oil in it. To have service, even if it’s running at the moment, 24/7 have a technician come out and services, do an oil change filter change spark plugs if needed. You know, it’d be down for a couple hours. But that is really important to do that type of maintenance and keep your generator running healthy. So that in times an emergency like this, it is ready to go and will run continuously. Another aspect is making sure you have fresh gasoline. I know that people getting gas has been a little scarce up here when all the power was out downtown. But I think that that has been resolved. And I know people were siphoning gas from cars that had been sitting on their property for a while and that can cause a lot of issues as well. So you may want to run down to any local auto parts store and get some fuel treatment and run it through your generator. This is basically for non propane rain generators. And just make sure you get that system cleaned up a little bit and keep it from gumming up. Another thing is generators, you know yes they can just run outside in the rain and snow but it’s not great for them to have A bunch of snow piled on them. So if you can fashion a little bit of a DIY little lean to shed over one, that would be a good idea. You can even just get a piece of, you know, tin metal roofing if you have laying around or plywood. And even if you can just lean it up against something so that it’s kind of, you know, only half on the ground half leaning up, just to keep rain and snow and Bud and branches off your generator till you can fashion something a little bit more stable would be a really good idea. I know that leaves and I’m sorry, branches are still falling. You know, we can branches. enough wind that we have going on right now is bringing down kind of the rest of things that have been clinging on for the past week or so trying to protect your generator is pretty much Paramount this moment, especially if you don’t have power, and it’s your sole survival at the moment.
11:06
Can I can ask you a quick question about the DIY around the generator? Well, wait, I’m going to dive in and ask you. So what is there and I don’t want to put you on the spot. But ideally, and maybe it depends on the manufacturer and the type of generator and kind of your setup, right? But is there ideally, a clearance that you would suggest around that because you know, the danger and people kind of, you know, throwing something together too quickly. If it doesn’t have enough clearance, that can be a problem, right? So is there a suggested clearance, you would you would say for you know, building something around your generator, if you were, you know, if you kind of had to do it right now.
11:48
Right, you definitely want to make sure that the exhaust is fully open to breathe and export all the exhaust of the engine. So don’t block that, like you don’t want to take a tarp and just throw it over and cover your entire generator. While it’s running. You know, the top the generator, you can have a board on top of it. But keep the sides clear, is what would be recommended. I don’t have specifics on clear, you know, clearances and tolerances, but I would definitely say as open as possible and to not block it at all will be best just to cover the top of it and make it you know, if you could have a little overhang around the whole generator by a foot maybe you know, even that would be helpful. If the if you can make a bigger, great, you know, and you can fashion some legs underneath it, get some four by fours and do it that way. That’s even that’s fantastic. But just getting something over it over the top of it to protect it would be a good thing. Okay, just make sure yeah, leave the sides open so it can breathe and the exhaust is key and having it not overheat. Okay, perfect so you have
13:15
a little list of things you are going to kind of mention. So we’ve got the we’re going to go ahead and do some quick you know, care for the generator we’re gonna watch out the gumming up with the old gas that’s been sitting around that kind of stuff, right? And then make sure that it’s got some some good clearances protected. Um, is there anything else on generators you want to cover?
13:35
Um, again, just check the oil. You know, a lot of people don’t think about how much oil generator uses check oil level, you know, it’s just like any engine yo car engine, that if it doesn’t have oil, it will seize up and not work again. So just make sure you know, check it I will check it every few days just you know, especially if it’s an older generator. It’s better safe than sorry. And you can anybody your local parts store can tell you what wait oil to put in the particular generator you have and or you could look it up online if you have access to cell service.
14:20
Okay, perfect. Okay, so to your next topic. We’re going to talk a little bit about No, we just heard about generators. But let’s say that you’re a spec system is up and running. What what are some things people can do to take care of their traditional heating systems?
14:45
So right now, especially because we have such an issue with in the wintertime with rodents, making nests in attics and under homes and using insulation, especially from ductwork is You know, if you see signs of mouse or rat feces in your home somewhere like in a cupboard, whatnot, I would have not only an exterminator come out, but I would have a technician come out and just check your system and make sure that they have not made their way into either the furnace or the ductwork itself. Because one, you don’t want to be breathing that in. If they have torn any of the ductwork, you don’t want to be conditioning space in your, the air in your attic, or the air under your house when it should, all the air conditioned air should be in the home itself. Those are important to change your filters regularly is really important. We get a lot of no heat calls. And people you know, we’re obviously very busy right now, as are most all HVAC companies and especially in these trying times have kind of emergency issues happening in our county. And many of the know he calls are literally clogged air filters that people just have not checked. And that prevents the unit from running. So it’s a really easy thing to do and to resolve. And it will save you a lot of money not only just in having a company come out to change your filter for you. But in repair costs down the road. Because when your furnace can’t breathe, it causes damage. So you really want to make sure of those things. And we’re seeing a lot of breach right now with rodents and animals in ductwork. And in we actually had one customer who had a squirrel living inside of her furnace, and it had taken a lot. Yeah, taken a lot of ductwork, insulation, twigs, acorns, and it caught fire. So you know, really important to have your system looked at, you know, at least once a year, but in right now, we’re just getting a lot of calls for rodent issues, and I would just have someone come out and just double check your stuff. Make sure everything’s clear. And in working order.
17:16
I can’t even imagine it, maybe because I just watched the movie a couple weeks ago, but it makes me think about Christmas vacation, the holiday Christmas movie, and the squirrel in the Christmas tree. And I don’t mean to laugh. Good trauma of having a road in my heating system would really? Yeah, that would do me in I’m telling you. Sorry to hear about that. But um, so if you guys do so like let’s say, let’s say that an ABC technician discovers that you’ve got, you know, the homeowner has got rodents, right. So what’s the next step there, we don’t chase the rodents out, do we
17:58
know we recommend you know, that you call a exterminator extermination company to come out and handle that aspect of it. And then we can clean the equipment and make sure everything’s running. And you know, if there’s any damage to wiring and that kind of thing, because rodents like John wires, we can handle all that stuff and duct repair. But as far as getting them out of whatever space are living in, in the attic or on your home, and sealing up how they’re getting in. Definitely leave it up to an extermination company and, you know, get on their list ASAP if you got something going on.
18:37
Yeah, so we’re not even though abt keeps expanding, we’re not adding rodent removal to our services. Not this year anyway.
18:45
I don’t think we’re gonna be into that. And we have a lot of great companies up here. So you know, in our area, so you can definitely call reputable company and you can call the office and we can give you recommendations if you’d like. But there’s a lot of good companies up here.
19:06
That’ll take care of that. Okay, anything else that people can be looking out for or should be doing?
19:13
Um, you know, if there’s been a power surge, which obviously we’re having with storms and whatnot, and you smell anything funny when you try to turn your furnace back on or you hear anything, you know, pay attention to those things. You know, power surges can do a lot of damage to appliances, your home, your refrigerator, microwaves and of course, your furnaces. And, you know, that’s something that you definitely want to be aware of as well. And if you’ve had a big enough power surge, or you’ve had something else in your home damage and outlet or an appliance, you know, in your kitchen or whatnot, definitely have someone come out and If your furnace, if you physically can’t get to your furnace and look at it, if you can get your furnace to look at it, you might just take the door off and just look at the control board and look for any signs of burn marks, smell of anything having burnt, you know anything like that, because that’s where you’re going to tend to be super noticeable if it’s taken a large electrical hit.
20:25
Wow, wow, like that would scare me. So you’re without power and all sudden it all comes back on. It’s like your, your system just gets overwhelmed. And and then like, let’s say that my system is overwhelmed. Could I really damage my I could damage my heater, right?
20:43
Yeah, it could definitely damage your heater. I mean, it can, it can take out the control board, it can take out motors, you know, electricity is super powerful. So and most of all, you just don’t want to have a fire, you know, something was burnt. And it continues to smolder or anything like that, you know, even electriss electrical wiring within the walls of your home. Usually just having a power outage won’t generally damage anything. But if you’re getting a bit large power surge, you’ve noticed other problems in the home since the power went out, I would have your furnace hooked up. Wow. Okay, so
21:23
the good news is that you took us through some good points I needed I needed your help today. What is the part of the show where we start to talk about what ADT can do for people. So I know that the schedule is a little hectic right now. But if someone were experiencing any of those issues with their furnace, or needed it to be looked at, we could still encourage them to call the office and get on the books, correct?
21:47
Yeah, we are. Our guys are working really long hours. And we are doing everything we can to get to every single person as quick as we can. You know, especially because a lot of people only have a furnace further heating system. So you know, it’s we have customers that have, you know, two feet of snow on the ground, and it’s 40 degrees inside of their house. So we are doing anything and everything
22:12
possible to reach as many people as possible. Okay, yes, sounds good. Okay.
22:19
broseley is if your generators hooked up to your furnace, please make sure that that is hooked up properly. And you can call any electrician including us to come out and check that out for you.
22:29
Okay, that’s a really good point. Okay. So let me just make sure everybody has the phone number that they can schedule their appointment with, especially if you are concerned about your quarterly, please make sure you mentioned that when you call the office, you can reach abt at 530-230-9092. We don’t just do h fac we do plumbing and electrical, of course. And you can find us on the web. You can’t schedule your appointment on the web. You can find us on the web easiest. abt.com Find us on Facebook. And the last thing I’m going to mention today, besides a big thank you to Diddy for showing up is now through January 15. You can vote for abt and the union’s best of annual promotion. And we certainly would love to win this year. So if you can get over to the union website and vote for abt, we would surely appreciate it. That is our show this week and we will catch you all next week. Thanks for listening and we’ll talk to you soon.
23:25
Thanks, Andrew. Thanks, Rosalie. Now let’s get that project started. You got this. We’ll be back next Friday morning at nine o’clock on Cancio Newstalk 830