Proper cleaning is among the best way to extend and maximize the life of your upholstery. Your investment on the upholstery of your house would mean nothing if you would let trivial things like stains and odor cause premature damages. Here are a few cleaning tips that would help assure the preservation of your upholstery. Read the rest of this entry »
Rugs can be beautiful additions to your home, but they can be expensive and sometimes delicate. It’s important to know how to clean and maintain them to protect your investment. This section on rug cleaning has some of the most important information for any rug owner. By following our tips, you can keep your rugs looking new for as long as possible.
If you plan to shampoo your carpet, you should pre-test a small area first to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Improper cleaning can ruin your rug! There are a few very common mistakes that people make when it comes to cleaning area rugs. These mistakes can end up subtracting years from the life of your rugs, and they should be avoided at all costs.
Common Rug Cleaning Mistakes
Don’t beat your rugs! Your mom might have taken her rugs out back, hung them on a clothesline, and beaten them with a baseball bat, but you shouldn’t. The only rugs you should shake or beat are inexpensive doormats. When you beat rugs, you can cause the woven threads to loosen, and you can damage the backing of the rug. Some rugs will separate from their backing after only one beating if they are poorly made. Don’t take the chance. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s much easier to save money on your gas and electricity bills in summer, isn’t it? You don’t need to keep your heating on, the long days provide more natural light, and cold food is so much more appealing in hot weather.
But what can you do to save money in winter, apart from wearing jumpers or cardies all the time? Surely there must be a better - and less bulky - solution?
One solution that will benefit you all year round is cavity wall insulation. You can expect to pay around £500, based on a three-bedroom semi-detached house, for the initial installation, but as it can save you roughly £90 per year in heating costs, it pays for itself reasonably quickly. Read the rest of this entry »
Over half of a household’s energy bill is being spent on heating and cooling systems; therefore, finding the right heater is extremely important in order to minimize energy costs and keep you and your family comfortable. In order to find a heater that is both affordable and efficient, when purchasing a heater, follow a few of these suggestions:
For Small Areas & Personal Spaces
Although heating your entire home with electricity may not be practical or economical, for spot heating small areas such as a small room or desk area, oil-filled radiator heaters are both safe and affordable choices. The oil within the heater never needs to be changed, making maintenance a breeze. Also, look for models with overheat protection.
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Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), often called geothermal heat pumps, tap into the heat naturally generated many meters below the surface of the earth. Just a little ways down, the earth’s temperature is warm and relatively stable, so these systems can bring controllable and effective heating, cooling, and hot water to residential and commercial buildings. Best of all, they allow people to do all this without having to use expensive and carbon-producing fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
There are two types of ground source heat pump systems: those with closed loops and those with open loops. In closed loop systems, liquid (usually with some sort of antifreezing/antiboiling agent mixed in) circulates through pipes buried beneath the earth’s surface. During the winter, when the goal is warming a house, the fluid absorbs heat from the earth and carries back to the building. This very hot liquid can be effectively used to heat a home, and also quite obviously becomes a free-flowing source of useable hot water. During the summer, the system is designed to actually draw heat out of the building, and either use it to heat water for household use or deliver it back into the ground. Open looped systems are similar, except that the water supply within the pipes is continually refreshed. Read the rest of this entry »
Have you recently purchased a new thermostat and are interested in keeping it in top condition? Perhaps you need that extra boost for your thermostat control, such as added humidity control, but are not interested in purchasing a whole new thermostat. There are several additional pieces that you may need or simply want for your home comfort control that can benefit your thermostat system. Read on to learn more about pieces you can easily find for yours!
Subbases: Thermostat subbases are usually included with your original thermostat, and if you took apart your thermostat, you would see the subbase already there. However, certain models require a subbase, and sometimes older models require that the subbase be purchased separately. With a conductive grid, the subbase connects heating and cooling mechanisms from your home systems to your thermostat face. Read the rest of this entry »
Now that winter is fast approaching, staying warm inside our homes become more important. One of the most common ways of keeping warm is by using gas space heaters. It not only takes the chill out of the air, but space heaters cost a little less than running the furnace all the time. But with that said, a gas space heater can also be dangerous if not used properly. Here are some tips to keep you both warm and safe.
1. One of the biggest concerns with using gas as a heating source is being sure you have good ventilation. Gas gives off dangerous fumes that you don’t’ want to breathe in. Read the rest of this entry »
Honeywell surveyed several thousand homeowners who bought a Honeywell Electronic Air Cleaner to help control their allergies to ask how the air cleaner worked for them.
Eighty-one percent of the respondents reported that the Honeywell Electronic Air Cleaner provided them “significant” relief.
Key Features for Honeywell F300 Electronic Air Cleaners:
• Meets American Lung Association Health House guidelines.
• Advanced, easy-to-use technology. Three-stage filtration includes exclusive electrostatic postfilter that improves filtration with minimal resistance to airflow.
• Easy maintenance. Optional Air Watch system reminds you to wash the filter cells.
• 5-year warranty.
• Model Numbers: Honeywell F300E1001, F300E1017, F300E1027, F300A1035, F300A1620, F300A1625, F300A2020, F300A2025, F300A2021, F300B2012, F300A2012.5, and F300B2012.5.
Capturing up to 98% of particles (3.0 - 10.0 micron) that pass through the filter, the Honeywell F300 offers one of the highest level of filtration on the market.
You can say goodbye to monthly filter replacements by simply washing the air cleaner cells in your dishwasher or sink.
Compared to throw-away furnace filters, the Honeywell F300 “Super Cells” give years of high-efficiency air cleaning while requiring no recurring replacement costs and only simple cleaning maintenance. The durable lightweight cells (9 1/2 lbs.) can be washed in your automatic dishwasher or soak them in any conventional wash container. What does it cost to operate? Very little. The F300 uses about the same amount of electricity as a 40-watt light bulb.
That’s 20 to 40 times higher efficiency than throwaway furnace filters, making the Honeywell Electronic Air Cleaner one of the best air quality control product on the market.
Julian Arhire is a Manager with DtiCorp.com - http://www.DtiCorp.com sells brand new Home, Residential and Commercial Honeywell HVAC controls, Thermostats and Honeywell Electronic Air Cleaners.
As with most things around the house, stoves need a little bit of tender loving care in order to serve you well throughout its life. Below are the main parts of your stove that you would need to check in order for your stove to work efficiently:
Fire Grate: This is the part on the bed of your stove that the fuel sits on. If it is a Multi Fuel Stove ensure that the grate can be riddled easily enough. If the grate does not move or is restricted in its movement remove the grate when cool and check for distortion and cracks. Please note that these do occasionally wear out and the normal reason behind this is often due to the ashpan not being cleaned regulary enough. Remove the ash daily as the ash can catch fire and will put direct heat onto the bar which will reduce the life of the grate. Read the rest of this entry »
If you live in an area of the country where it gets extraordinarily hot during the summer months, you know that air conditioning is crucial to your comfort. Air conditioning can also prove very useful in rooms that contain computer equipment, such as servers, in order to keep all of the electrical equipment cooled off so that it continues to function properly. It can be costly to install and then run a permanently mounted air conditioner, yet a portable room air conditioner provides an efficient solution for your seasonal cooling needs.
One benefit you will receive from using a portable room air conditioner is that you can position it exactly where you need it. Because it moves on smooth-rolling casters, it is a simple matter to change its position to the best advantage around your home or office. For example, a portable air conditioner can help you start your day with pleasant cool air in your kitchen along with your first cup of coffee. Kitchens typically get rather hot with stoves and dishwashers going, and can be unpleasant to work in. Bring the pleasure back with a portable room air conditioner that cools your kitchen off so you can cook in comfort. Read the rest of this entry »