Ways to Avoid Costly Plumbing Repairs to Your Garbage Disposal

Your garbage disposal is a valuable tool and helps you get rid of food waste. However, when your garbage disposal stops working, it can cost you a considerable amount of money to get it up and running again. Use these tips in your home to help you avoid costly plumbing repairs related to your garbage disposal through simple common sense and maintenance.

• Keep very hard items out of your garbage disposal. Food items like animal bones, shrimp or crab shells and un-popped popcorn kernels can damage your garbage disposal and the blades inside. Very hard and small objects may even get stuck inside and jam rotating parts, keeping your garbage disposal from working properly.
• Avoid putting high-fiber foods in your garbage disposal. Foods that are high in fiber like potatoes, banana peels and string beans are more likely to cause problems for your disposal than other foods. Consider composting or simply discarding high-fiber foods instead of putting them in your garbage disposal for grinding.
• Run water before you use your garbage disposal, as well as while the unit is in use. Running water into your garbage disposal can make it easier for the disposal to grind food items. Garbage disposals are made to be used while they are wet, not dry, so running water can help them do their job properly without jams and problems. You should continue running water into your garbage disposal for a few seconds even after the machine has taken care of the food items. Hot water may make it easier for the disposal to break down some food items as well.
• Try resetting your garbage disposal if it isn’t working properly before you call for repair. Most garbage disposals have a reset button somewhere on the unit, usually on the part beneath your sink. This may only be a temporary fix, but it can solve minor problems like a clog completely in some cases.

Contact Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions for more tips on how you can avoid costly plumbing repairs in your home. We can also help you with all of your plumbing, heating and cooling needs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about plumbing repairs and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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