Noritz vs. Navien

Hey …. It’s “Dan the Plumber” blogging again!

Here at Splash Plumbing, you know we are fans of Noritz tankless water heaters, and have installed many of their models in Orange County cities like Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa.

Splash Plumbing is a full service “affordable plumbing” company, and we pride ourselves on keeping up to date on plumbing technology, especially when it comes to tankless water heaters. But, when I received a phone call from a potential client in Laguna Beach, asking for a Navien Tankless Water Heater, I was stumped. I never heard of them... how embarrassing is that?

Here I thought we were one of Orange County's best tankless water heater installers and I did not even know of this manufacturer… What a shot to my ego!

As I spoke with the caller, I explained that we only install Noritz Tankless water heaters and while I was doing so, I looked up Navien Tankless Water Heaters on the internet. Indeed, I did find them at http://www.navienamerica.com/, and thought I could surf their website while talking to the caller… at least that is what I thought (with good intentions).

It literally took 3 minutes to load their HOME PAGE! What do you think I was doing while the remainder of their site was loading? Yeah that’s right, I opened a new tab on my browser and went straight to http://www.noritz.com/ and directed MY NEW CLIENT to do so as well.

The Noritz website loaded in 3.5 seconds, I was able to show my client the model I had picked out for her Laguna Beach home, and an agreement was made!

Well the deal was made, Splash Plumbing has a new client, and there is another Noritz tankless water heater installed in Laguna Beach. Whatever happened to http://www.navienamerica.com/ you ask? Honestly, their website did not fully load and from what I saw, I was not impressed.

Here are the primary reasons why we select Noritz Tankless Water Heaters for all of our clients in Orange County:

- HUGE selection
- Versatile installation
- Availability
- Stainless Steel tankless water heaters
- Direct contact to our manufacturer
- Outstanding customer support
- Gi-nor-mous (yes… it’s a word) showroom for our clients to visit!
- Fast, clean and informative website

There you have it. As far as we are concerned, Navien Tankless Water Heaters still seems to have a lot of work to do in comparison to Noritz Tankless Water Heaters … but then again, that’s only my opinion.

Oh, how is my personal Noritz Tankless Water Heater, that I installed in my Mission Viejo home working? With 4 women in my house, I still have lots of hot water!

Aapam - A Kerala Delicacy

The soft,spongy dosa which is slightly thick in the centre and lacy edges is truly an irresistable breakfast dish. Yes, I am talking about aapam, which is a very common breakfast of Keralites apart from puttu. The popular combo is Aapam and Potato stew or Kadala curry. Both the sides tastes awesome with aapam. In Tamilnadu, coconutmilk is usually served as a side which is also a good match for the soft aapam. There are umpteen recipes which guarantee you the best aapam. My recipe is a simple straight forward one, which I have adapted from my Amma. I have eliminated an additional step which Amma follows. Amma uses only raw rice and coconut for grinding. Then she will prepare a thick , but free flowing paste out of a tablespoon of batter mixed with 1 cup of water. The cooked batter paste is then mixed to the batter and left to ferment.  This is to get soft aapam. I omit that step and instead add a handful of urad dal while grinding.

To prepare aapam, you need that special pan to get the perfect shape for aapam - with a dome in the centre and lacy edges.  Now a days you get the non-stick aapam pans which makes aapam preparation a breeze. Earlier, amma used to use the deep kadai for this and had to struggle lifting the appam from kadai. If you don't have an appam pan, you make it on regular dosa tawa. You don't get the shape. But cover and cook only one side.

You need

Raw rice - 2 cups

Split urad dal  - handful

Grated coconut - from half of a coconut

Salt to taste

Cooking soda - 1/4 tspn

Method

Wash and soak rice and urad dal together for 5 hours or overnight. Grind together rice, urad dal and grated coconut till smooth. Add salt and leave to ferment for 6 hours. The batter consistency should be thinner than dosa batter. Add cooking soda and leave it for 10 minutes for the soda to act.  If you are not using the whole batch, divide the batter before you add soda. This way you will have fresh batter to start with the next day. With soda added batter, I feel you don't get the same result the next day.

Keep the aapam pan on the stove and smear little oil on the pan. Take a ladle of the batter and pour, starting from the outer edge to the centre of the pan. Hold the handles of the pan and give a gentle swirl so that some batter from the edges will flow down to the centre. This method will leave only a thin layer of the batter at the edge which will turn crisp on cooking. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes on moderate heat. If you like a crisp exterior, you can conitnue to cook for few more seconds for it turn brown else remove.

I served with the chettinad tomato chutney which went very well with aapam.

Aapam is regular for breakfast at home and I have been thinking of posting this for a while. But will forget to click the picture everytime. My R.Manni (co-sister) has been asking for this recipe, for quite a long time and fianlly a mail from my reader prompted me to do the post at the earliest.

Green Plumbing at Home

Innovative Plumbing Solutions That Can Save The Earth AND Save You Money!

One of the best arguments for making your home green is that a few simple changes can save you lots of money on utility costs. While green plumbing solutions can be a bit more expensive up front, the long-term savings are significant enough to warrant serious consideration of some of the following products.

The gold standard for energy-efficient appliances, electronics, lighting, and yes, even plumbing fixtures, remains the Energy Star label. You can find this designation clearly marked on qualifying products. However, green innovation is an evolving industry and there are lots of exciting new options on the market these days.


Toilets:

Composting toilets do exactly what you think they do. Without water or a septic/sewer connection, these units collect solid waste and convert it to—ahem—organic fertilizer. Worried about the smell? Several companies offer odorless models.

Low flow toilets or dual flush toilets are hot items right now in green home construction and remodeling. They use significantly less water than traditional commodes and dual flush toilets let you choose how much water to use depending on the type of waste you need to dispose of.

Waterless urinals are odorless, hands free devices that use scent-blocking biodegradable chemicals to filter liquid waste and force it down the drain. They claim to be not only cleaner and more environmentally friendly, but also easier and cheaper to maintain.


Showers and Sinks:

Low flow aerators are popular and easy additions to green your faucets. These small metal devices attach directly onto the head of the fixture—no special tools needed—and allow you to adjust the flow of water out of the faucet. The best part is that aerators don’t affect water pressure in the slightest.

Low flow showerheads are similar to aerators—you can modify rate of water flow without sacrificing pressure. There are several models on the market; look for those with non-aerating spray, which can shorten the time it takes for water to heat up and will save energy.

Motion sensor faucets are really popular in new commercial restroom construction. We’ve all used them—put your hand under the faucet and the water comes on; move your hand away and the water shuts off. There are now several models appropriate for residential use.


Water Heaters:

Instant spigots provide hot water on demand, saving energy because water does not have to be kept continuously heated in a storage tank.

Solar water heaters harness the power of the sun’s UV rays—which are completely free, by the way—and convert them to usable energy. There are many different types of solar water heaters out there; a qualified dealer can help you find the one that’s right for you.

Point of use water heaters are actually a series of small tanks only where you need hot water. Rather than store and heat enough water for an entire home’s worth of various uses, these miniature units hold just enough water for a specific task like taking one shower or doing a load of laundry.



Related Plumbing Information...

• Horizon Plumbing Services
• Green Your Home...Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
• Cutting Edge Solutions for Energy Efficiency