Adrienne Bennett is the first African American female to become a master plumber in the U.S. Her whole life--and whole career--she has faced adversity as she's tried to rise through the ranks of her trade. But, with much resilience, passion, strength, and dedication, she never gave up.…
Your Home’s Second Wind with Air Purifiers
You may have seen our blog post about air filters and MERV ratings – but what we have in store for you is on another level! One of our newest products here at SupplyHouse.com is General Filters’s line of air purifiers, under the collection name Second Wind. The Environmental Protect…
How to Handle Hard Water
Hard water can make or break your plumbing, it's as simple as that. It doesn't affect everyone, but you'll know if you have hard water. Here, we'll explain what hard water is, break down what water softener is, and how it helps improve the quality of your water. You might think hard wa…
Weird History: Fourth of July Plumbing and Heating Facts
Happy Independence Day! To celebrate the holiday today, here are four weird history facts about our nation's history with heating, plumbing, and HVAC that you may not have known! Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove in 1741. It was a metal-lined fireplace with a hollow baffle n…
Breathe Easy: Explaining Air Filters and MERV Ratings
Air filters work with a homeowner’s HVAC system to circulate clean air throughout the home via central ductwork. They oftentimes slide into a specialized compartment on, for instance, a furnace. Once the air is called for, the furnace pushes it through the duct where the filter is located, so any …
Construction Camp in Austin Teaches Girls Trade Skills
They do summer camps a little differently in Austin, Texas. Thanks to the National Association of Women in Construction, thirteen middle-school aged girls are learning the skills needed to begin careers in the construction industry and other trades. During the week-long camp, they h…
Ancient History: What Did We Do Before Air Conditioners?
Air conditioners may seem like a staple of society, and many places across the country and the globe can't survive the summer without them. But what did we do before these air-cooling machines were invented? Let's go all the way back to ancient Egypt, where, like most technological innov…
Gates Foundation Funds Magic Toilet that Vaporizes Waste
The Gates Foundation is at it again. They have a history of making extraordinary innovations when it comes to toilets and waste management systems. Thanks to their Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, a New Zealand company has found a way to treat sewage directly in people's homes. Scion Res…
Cheap, Clean Water, Made by the Sun
One of the largest issues facing the world right now is access to clean drinking water. In more developed nations, plumbers protect the public's health by providing them with safe, clean drinkable water. Other parts of the world struggle to gain access to this. But, a new device, run solely on solar…
New ‘Super-Wood’ Becomes Cooler in Sunlight
New research shows that you might be able to cool your home with ‘super-wood.’ By stripping the wood of its lignin before densification, it actually allows the densified wood to cool in bright sunlight. By doing this, buildings that are constructed using this material would have a s…
Zone Valves That Use ProPress?!
Hey all! I’ve got a small, but in my opinion, fantastic item today. Anyone who has ever sweat a valve has done this at least once: everything is going smoothly, the valve sweats in just fine, you go to test it by closing it and the valve fails. Well, what do we do? Remove it, take a l…
An Inside Look at Plumbing Fittings
Are you having issues filtering through our thousands of plumbing fittings? Trying to fix that leaky faucet, but don’t know what you need? Then you’ve come to the right place! We know fittings can be complicated, and our dedicated staff is here to help, so we’ve creat…
