2016 New Year Reflection

Water Heaters Only, Inc 2016 New Year Reflection

Well, it’s almost the New Year and that means many people will be reflecting upon all that happened this year and also looking towards the next year and what may happen then. And, yes, that also means a whole new round of New Year’s resolutions that will likely be broken by mid-February at best, but we’ll talk about those in a little bit.

In the meantime, when looking back at the past year here at Water Heaters Only, Inc we are once again very proud of the work that we have done and the thousands of happy customers that we have helped and the fact that we have been in business for over [biz-years] years now. Our customers are the best and we are grateful for every one of them. We are also very grateful for our fantastic technicians, who are often the only people that our customers meet face-to-face. And, of course, how could we forget to be thankful for all of the employees at our corporate office? This group includes all of our sales staff, who are the first people our customers encounter and who set the tone for every facet of the job and who work with the technicians to make our customers very happy with the work being done. There are also those involved in the accounting department, HR and marketing. We all work hard and have a lot of fun while we all do our jobs and we all work together to provide the best customer experience possible.

Looking back on the past year

This past year was another successful one for Water Heaters Only, Inc. We generally base our idea of success on the fact that our customers are happy with the work that we do for them and continue to send there friends and family to us for their water heater service. These days it’s pretty easy to see how our customers service is, but the fact that we are 5-star rated on Yelp and have been A-rated on Angie’s List for the last several years. At this point, we are proud to say we have served over 500,000 satisfied customers and we just continue to grow.

Speaking of growing, we have also really doubled our efforts to attract more property management clients and that means we have been doing a lot of outreach in our Los Angeles and San Diego service areas. We belong to many apartment associations such as the AOA (Apartment Owners Association), the CAA (California Apartment Association), and NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers). We even joined a new group this year: the AAOC (Apartment Owners of Orange County). These groups allow us to network with property managers and make sure these companies are aware of the services we have available. That also means we attend many different conventions and expos hosted by these various groups such as the AOA Million Dollar Trade Show and the RHA Expo. Some of these (like the RHA Expo) have themes and this allows us to really get creative and have some fun at these shows. Here are a few photos of our recent booth at the RHA Expo, which had a Hollywood movie theme. Many of the property managers got their picture taken with our “Johnny Deep”.

Water heaters only is hanging with the stars.
W.H.O. is cheesin it up with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Singing and dancing on the way to our next water heater replacement.

2015 was also the year that the new DOE water heater efficiency guidelines went into effect. As of April 2015 all water heater manufactured or sold in the United States need a higher energy efficiency. These new water heaters started being produced in early 2015 and started to roll out just after April 2015. It was initially thought that these new guidelines would result in dramatically more expensive water heaters; however, thankfully, at the end of the day, the new water heaters ended up only being a little more expensive than the water heaters we had been installing. For more information about these new guidelines, you can read our blog post post 2015 new DOE water heater guidelines by clicking this link:

Looking ahead – 2016 New Year Reflection

Now we look to the year coming up and this is when the dreaded “New Year Resolutions” start appearing. Yes, there is nothing wrong with setting a goal to better yourself and resolving to see it through, but so many people set unrealistic goals that they end up giving up before the new year has really gotten underway. According to the website statisticbrain.com, nearly half of all Americans – 45 percent – make New Year’s resolutions; however, only 8 percent actually successfully achieve their resolution. Why is that? Well, we don’t pretend to know, but it’s a pretty good guess that these resolutions involve lifestyle changes that the person hasn’t been successful at to begin with, so, often, failure is right around the corner.

For example the top five resolutions for 2015 included:

  • Stay Fit & Healthy
  • Lose Weight
  • Enjoy Life To The Fullest
  • Spend Less, Save More
  • Spend More Time With Family & Friends

And these are not impossible tasks, but if they were easy, then everyone would be their ideal weight and eat only the healthiest foods, but they don’t because a lot of folks don’t take into account how difficult changing one’s lifestyle can be. For a full list of the top ten New Year’s resolutions plus some other great information about these resolutions and healthy eating.

Water Heaters Only, Inc and 2016

Why did we bring that whole resolution thing up? To make the point that the best way to achieve success in your quest to see your resolutions through is to resolve to do something that you know you can do because you have done it before, but maybe you can improve upon the current version of what your doing.  Small steps to a long term goal, tend to yield results more often than huge unrealistic goals.

That’s why our New Year’s Resolution for 2016 is to continue to provide the best customer service we can and to make sure we continually live up to our reputation. You can read about the expectations we set for ourselves and what to expect when you hire Water Heaters Only, Inc for you water heater replacement. However to sum it up, our guarantee means that when you use Water Heaters Only, Inc we guarantee low prices, quick service and quality products.

And how do we know that we can make our resolution stick? Because that guarantee has been in effect since we got started all the way back in 1968. 1968! That means that in 2016, we will have been in business for 48 years. Wow! And you don’t stay in business that long without a long list of satisfied customers. In fact, to date, we have over 500,000 happy customers that have used our service for water heater repair or water heater installation. That’s half of a million customers! That’s why we can feel pretty confident that we can keep our resolution and make sure our guarantee is in effect all year long.

Now, as we wrap up this New Year blog, we want to bring it back to water heaters for a moment. As the clock strikes midnight and 2016 arrives, we strongly recommend that you find a few minutes to take a look at your water heater. Just like when the clocks change and fire departments urge homeowners to check the batteries in the smoke alarms, we urge folks to use the changing of the year as an opportunity to make sure their water heater is working properly. First, you might consider flushing your water heater. After that, it’s a good idea to closely inspect your water heater and make sure there are no leaks. Also, do you hear a rumbling noise? We have a whole Water Heater FAQ page dedicated to answering your questions about a whole host of water heater issues that you might be dealing with. Just click this link for more information: . If you want more information, you can always call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and one of our water heater experts will be happy to answer question you might have and they can even help set up an appointment to have one of our technicians come out and take a look. Just give us a call at 833-379-8800.

So, in conclusion, we here at Water Heaters Only, Inc. would like to extend our warmest wishes for you and your family to have a Happy New Year in 2016. We are looking forward to another great year of stellar customer service and we can’t wait to get out to some more trade shows and expos, so if you are a property manager or owner, feel free to drop by our booth and say “Hi!”. In the meantime, whether you are a property manager or just have a water heater problem, give us a call anytime and we will be happy to help you. Again, that 24 hour number is 833-379-8800. Happy New Year everyone!

By John Heaters Google + |Facebook

Water Heaters Only Holiday Blog

Happy Holidays From Water Heaters Only, Inc

Our Holiday Blog

I know we’re all asking our selves, is it really that time of year already? The answer is yes, it’s Christmas time and we couldn’t be merrier here at Water Heaters Only, Inc!

That merriment has a lot to do with our great staff, but mostly it comes from the great customers we have! Of course, it maybe has a little to do with the company Christmas party that we had at the Delta King in Sacramento.

It was a murder mystery themed dinner and a lot of fun was had by all. Here are a few photos from that night:

But the merriment didn’t end there as we also just had our office holiday potluck and Secret Santa gift exchange. Did I mention that we love the holidays here at W.H.O? We work hard and we play hard and we always make sure we are having at least a little fun along the way no matter what we are doing.

One of the things that makes holidays so special is the wonderful food and that includes favorite recipes that we all look forward to every year. In that spirit, we thought we would share just a couple of our favorites. This first one is for the most amazing sweet potatoes ever!

NORMA’S “KICKED UP” SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

 Serves 12-16

INGREDIENTS

5 ½ lbs. sweet potatoes

½ cup dark brown sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup bourbon

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. ground nutmeg (fresh, if possible)

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 (8oz.) can cubed pineapple

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg whites

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until tender, about 1 ½ hours. Peel and transfer to a food processor along with the brown sugar, bourbon, butter, ½ tsp. salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, eggs and pineapple. Pulse 4-5 times until all ingredients are mixed. Consistency should be chunky and not completely pureed. Transfer contents to a 9”x13” baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until contents are heated through.

2. While casserole bakes, bring sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a 1 qt. sauce pan over high heat; attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook, without stirring, until syrup reaches 250 degrees. Place vanilla, remaining salt and egg whites in a large bowl; beat on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until soft peaks form. While beating, slowly drizzle in hot syrup and continue beating until meringue is thickened and cooled.

3. Turn oven to broil. Spread meringue over casserole and broil until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

And, of course, cranberries are a staple, but the hard part is making them a little different just for fun. With that in mind, here is a simple recipe for Cranberry Salad. (Don’t worry, it’s not a “healthy salad”!)

CRANBERRY SALAD

INGREDIENTS

1 lg. pkg. cherry or raspberry jello

2 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

3 stalks celery, diced

1 lg. can cranberries

3 lg. red apples

1 lg. can crushed pineapple

Chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are best, but it’s your choice)

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Dissolve jello and sugar in boiling water. Finely chop apples and mix with cranberries. Add celery, cranberry-apple mix, pineapple and chopped nuts to jello. Pour into a pan or jello mold. Once it is set, serve with dollop of cream cheese dressing on top. (See recipe below)

2. Cream Cheese Dressing: Mix orange juice into softened cream cheese using mixer or by hand until well blended.

Finally, we want to end this blog post with some helpful water heater information. The holidays are about a lot of things including spending time with friends and family and sometimes that means houseguests. So, to help make sure you (hopefully) don’t run out of hot water while Grandpa showers, we suggest that you take a look at your thermostat on your water heater. It’s usually the red knob located right near the bottom of the water heater where you light the pilot. If you look closely, you will see temperatures listed on the red knob. Typically, there’s a Vacation setting followed by higher temperatures. Unless your thermostat is already set to high, go ahead and turn it up a little. Don’t crank it up to High, just nudge it up a bit. Then, after waiting a bit, check the hot water coming from your faucets to gauge the temperature. Be careful when you do it and never adjust the thermostat without following up with a hot water check. If it’s too high, someone could get scalded including Grandpa and that won’t make for a happy holiday. However, with the right adjustment, your hot water should last at least little longer while you have extra house guests.

Well that’s it for this holiday blog. One final note: The new Department of Energy guidelines will be taking affect starting April 2015 and this will increase the cost of water heaters and may make replacing your water heater a whole lot more trouble than it would be now. So look for our blog post explaining all about these new guidelines in the New Year. This will likely be in our January or February blog post. In the meantime, you can always give us a call at 833-379-8800 and one of our water heater experts will be happy to discuss these new guidelines and your options moving forward. See you next year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at Water Heaters Only! Oh, and Happy New Year, too!

By John Heaters Google+ | Facebook