Posted By: Paul Guzman, GM

 Energy Efficiency Is A Lot Of Garbage - By: Jim Olsztynski - From: The New York Times 

Denmark has 29 waste-to-energy plants and 10 more are planned or under construction. Across Europe, there are about 400 such plants. The U.S., with 50+ times the population of Denmark and more than 60% of the EU’s, has only 87 trash-burning power plants, almost all built at least 15 years ago.

There is something elegantly green about turning useless rubbish into profoundly useful energy. So why aren’t we doing more of it? Click here to read the rest of the New York Times article.

Marin's Best Plumber 2010!!!

Just a quick thank you to everyone who voted for us in the Pacific Sun’s annual Best of Marin Contest.   We are here to serve our community, and your votes are the ones that count.  Thank you to all our loyal customers, friends and family who support us and our families!  Without you there would be no us!  See you soon!

You can check out the rest of the winners here Pacific Sun\’s 2010 Best of Marin

Posted by: Paul Guzman G.M.

So here is what we decided to do. First, we are letting you all know that the best way to protect your home and family in the event of an earthquake is to have an “Automatic Emergency Gas Shutoff” installed at the gas meter on your home.  These will turn off the gas to your entire residence if it senses a quake with a magnitude of 5.4 or greater.  This will save your home from any gas related fires if you are not there, or possibly save you and your family if you are trapped inside. (Yes we install these.) Second, we are going to give $25 to our local “Habitat For Humanity” (They just recently started working in Marin County.) every time we install an “Automatic Emergency Gas Shutoff” for one of our customers.

Now, you may ask, why Habitat for Humanity?  What about Haiti, or Chile?  Originally, we were going to send the money to the other countries, but then a wiser, older friend asked, “What have you done for your local community lately?”   And, sure, on an individual level, the people who work here all give of their time on their own, whether through their church, or local groups, or schools, but what has O’Connell Plumbing done lately?  Sadly, the answer is not as much as we should.  So we decided that the money we give from our “Earthquake Valves” should stay here and help the families that need it on a local level.  We are also putting together a program where all of our plumbers will be available to help on Habitat For Humanity projects throughout the county.

Normally our Earthquake Valves are $811 (That includes all taxes, parts, labor, and standard ¾” installation.) and our Elsie’s Club Members get them for $689.  But in an effort to protect as many of our neighbors as possible, for the rest of the year we are going to offer our Elsie’s Club price of $689 to everyone, and give our Elsie’s Club Members another %10 off for a total of $620, and of course, donating $25 of the proceeds from each valve to Habitat for Humanity.

We look forward to working with all of you in the future, making our community a better and safer place to live.  See you soon!

Posted By: Paul Guzman

Thank You Marin!!!

Just a quick thank you to everyone who voted for us in the Pacific Sun’s annual Best of Marin Contest.   We are here to serve our community, and your votes are the ones that count.  Thank you to all our loyal customers, friends and family who support us and our families!  Without you there would be no us!  See you soon!

You can check out the rest of the winners here Pacific Sun\’s 2010 Best of Marin

Posted by: Paul Guzman G.M.

The actual language used in the Bill is:

“No person shall introduce into commerce any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting, or fixture intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption through drinking or cooking that is not lead free… This includes kitchen faucets, bathroom faucets, and any other end use device intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption through drinking or cooking, but excludes service saddles, backflow preventers for nonpotable services such as irrigation and industrial, and water distribution main gate valves that are two inches in diameter and above.”

 Click here to read the entire Bill

WHAT DOES AB‐1953 REALLY MEAN?

AB‐1953 in essence mandates that any plumbing product used in a drinking or potable water system must be lead free. This includes faucets, hose bibbs, ball valves, pressure reducing valves, etc.

Some controversy has arisen over the phrases “introduce into commerce” and “fixture intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption”. Several attorneys, politicians, and industry experts interpret these phrases to mean the following:

“Introduce Into Commerce”

This has been interpreted to include sale by any distributor, both retail and wholesale, and installation by any contractor, both in new construction or repair project.

“fixture intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption”

This has been interpreted to mean any plumbing product connected to a drinking or potable water system. This includes ball valves, hose bibbs, pressure reducing valves, etc. The idea being that the lawmakers included a clear list of items that are excluded from the law. So if the lawmakers wanted to exclude ball valves, hose bibbs, or other items, they would have added them to the list of excluded products.

What does this mean for You?

It means that any contractor working in your home can only use approved faucets and fittings withing your home.  Be wary of any “deep discounts” offered as it may be a way of getting rid of old non-conforming inventory.  Another good rule of thumb  is to check the license for any contractor working in your home and make sure he has a good track record proven over time. 

Any good contractor’s goal should be to make sure your family is comfortable and safe, not just tomorrow, but for the life of your home.  New products and the quality with which they are produced allow us to do that on a regular basis, just make sure that the quality of contractor matches the products in your home and you’ll be happy and comfortable for a long time.

Posted By: Paul Guzman

From all of us at O’Connell Plumbing!!!!  

Then, speakin’ only for California, when the union lost the residential side of plumbing because of the “right to work” laws and the ease of getting a sub-contracting license, almost anyone could call themselves a “plumber” and set up shop.  And it gets worse.  In our state, there is no test, no license, and no regulation at all for “plumbing” employees.  Hey, a biz can hire a person who worked at a hardware store for a week and LEGALLY send them to your home when you call for a plumber. 

Okay, okay I’m gettin’ to the “free” estimates part.  With all the slack laws in place to allow such a problem to exist, what I consider un-ethical employers could now pay their people as cheaply as possible, refuse to invest in training, offer no medical insurance whatsoever, so could afford to come to your home and give you “free” estimates.  These folks can’t pay for background checks, drug testing, training, and don’t even look too hard at the history of any dude or dudette who say they can turn a wrench.  And just for your info, teaching the “trades” is the number one educational “benefit” taught in prisons — San Quentin included. 

So there’s your “free”.  There’s the profile of many companies that come to your home for “free”, and there’s the profile of the individual you are allowing into your home to give you that “free” estimate.  If this is the company you want in your home — well, good luck, because you might need it.

What’s the alternative?  O’Connell Plumbing, Inc. – Diamond certified; Green Screened; PHCC trained; Green Plumber’s, USA accredited.  Want more? Just phone and ask.

Ed O

The part for you and I as consumers that comes into play is how do we afford multiple service or diagnostic fees if we’d like to have different companies look at our problem?  The simple answer is to call a company you can trust from the gitgo.  Well, “Duh!” you say, but that’s where our company and Diamond Certified come into play.  Go to our home page and follow the Diamond Certified connection under the Plumbing Category.  (There are other plumbing companies listed in D.C. but they’re locations are in Heating or Sewers … enough said?)  Anyway, in a couple of clicks you can find out what hundreds, if not thousands, of customers have said about us over the years.  Oh yeah, one more little note: ALL of the money you “invest” with us stays in Marin.  We’re a local, home-grown company so you don’t pay extra for franchise or licensing fees that head out of state.  I mean, California needs every penny spent in California to stay in California.

I’ll explain how you can still get “free” estimates in another post to follow. 

Posted by ‘ol Ed

All us plumbing companies come at you because we want your patronage.  The old “yeller pages” are full of plumbing companies, the internet lists hundreds of us — there are approximately 200 companies in Marin County alone.  So how do you choose? 

Well, why not choose a 3rd party recommended plumbing company?  That narrows us down to only 4 in Marin County.  And what better 3rd party recommendation than a company that puts its money where its mouth is — Diamond Certified: www.diamondcertified.org.  They’ll guarantee we do a good job or pay you $1000.00 – now that’s a number even I can trust.

Okay, now why, out of the 4 plumbers recommended, should you choose us?  Simple — We are the only FULL SERVICE plumbing company listed.  The others do a bit of new building, a bit of sewer cleaning, a bit of water softening, a bit of remodeling, a bit of this, a bit of that … and a “bit” of service.  We, on the other hand,  are service-only — totally dedicated to service plumbing, totally dedicated to keeping your home healthy, safe, and secure. 

If you’re a woman looking for plumbing service then you should know that our company is owned by a woman, Rebecca Kleiner, my lovely wife and partner who understands service from a woman’s point of view.  If you’re a guy wondering why my lady owns the company then you should know she’s smarter, better looking, and more business oriented than me ‘ol Irish self.  If you’re a pet wonderin’ why we’re woman-owned you should know that she has katz and firmly believes we are responsible for the clean, fresh, water you get every day from your own owner …, er,  I mean pet-guardian.

Well, now that you know we’re Diamond Certified, are a Service-Only company, and that we’re woman-owned, you should also know that our male plumbers are good-looking, have nice smiles, talk gently, have “feelings”, and are generally considered to be the best technically trained dudes on the West Coast.  (We are = opportunity but have not found any women plumbers … yet; though you may rest assured Ed O’Connell hizzelf is working diligently to this end.) 

If you’re reading this, then you’re already in our site, so look around to find out even more about us.  And don’t trust just what we say — trust our Diamond Certification and what our present customers say about us.  Dang, but we really are that good.  Dang, but I’m really not that humble.

Have some fun today.

‘ol Ed