Turn down the temperature of your hot water at the central heating boiler, at the immersion tank (if your water is heated by electricity), or on your instant water heater. Don’t waste energy heating water only to have to add cold water so that it is not too hot to use! 60°C / 140°F should do it. Read the rest of this entry »
Select the correct saucepan size for the heating element or gas flame.
Cut food into small pieces before cooking — it will cook more quickly.
Put a lid on top of the pan when you can; your meal will cook much more quickly, and you won’t be wasting energy. Read the rest of this entry »
Wait until hot food has cooled down before putting it into the fridge.
Don’t keep the fridge door open any longer than necessary. Read the rest of this entry »
When washing clothes by hand, there is no need to have the water hot. Most non-greasy dirt will wash out easily with cold water and detergent. Cold water is fine for rinsing your clothes afterwards. Read the rest of this entry »
When washing dishes by hand, fill a bowl with warm water and a little detergent, washing the ‘cleaner‘ items first. Read the rest of this entry »
Renewable energy is energy produced by a source that continually renews itself. Well-known sources are the sun, moving water, wind and plant materials. This energy can be used for space heating and hot water heating, and to produce electricity for your home. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t worry about your pet tripping the infrared sensors in your home. The alarm companies will activate the “pet alley,” which is a few inches of undetected space that can be adjusted for your cat or dog. (It can be designed according to weight, say, less than 30 pounds.) Read the rest of this entry »
5. Adjusting the room temperature.
If you notice large differences in thetemperatures between rooms, adjust the dampers in the room registers. Usually the damper controlling the airflow in the room farthest from the unit should be fully open, while the one in the room closest to the unit should be nearly closed. Read the rest of this entry »
Heating and cooling costs are a major part of the operating expenses of a home. Many factors affect the temperature in your home and the amount of energy consumed to achieve a comfortable level. The number of windows facing east and west, prevailing winds and landscaping, family size, the number of lights burning (about 90 per cent of the energy used by incandescent bulbs turns into heat), and the efficiency of your heating and cooling system all contribute to the temperature. Read the rest of this entry »
About 10 percent of the energy used in the home goes for lighting. It doesn’t cost much, maybe $100 a year, but it’senough that doing something about reducing those costs is worthwhile, since energy-efficient alternatives are available. Most home lighting is provided by incandescent lights—the regular light bulbs commonly found in home fixtures and lamps. With these types of light bulbs, only about 10 percent of the electricity used produces the light, while the rest ends up as heat. Your air conditioner works harder in the summer, and you’re paying for an expensive form of heat in the winter. Read the rest of this entry »
About 20 percent of the energy used in the home goes to heat water. If your water heater feels warm to the touch, it probably needs to be insulated. Fiberglass blankets for water heaters are available in kits at most hardware and building supply stores, or you can use leftover insulation. Just remember not to cover the top of a gas water heater or you’ll block the air to the flue. Also, be careful not to block the airflow to the gas burner at the bottom of the heater. Read the rest of this entry »
There are numerous detection devices available and choosing the right one to protect a particular area isn’t always easy. There is a whole range of circumstances to take into account — the size of the room, what’s in it, even how it is constructed, as well as what’s outside or even across the road.
You may need one or more types of detectors in any one area — for example, there are bound to be doors and windows to protect as well as the room itself. There may also be very large areas of glass, such as a patio door, draughts or heating, which may make it difficult to site certain types of detectors, and you may have pets in the house which will mean careful positioning and directing of the detection pattern. Read the rest of this entry »
There are no specific British Standards for control panels (or alarm devices themselves), although elements of BS 4737 relate to features found in alarm equipment. This is likely to change with the introduction of European Standards which will, for the first time, require individual components to meet levels of performance and construction.
It is very important to understand how an alarm system is operated if false alarms are to be avoided. To reduce this risk, manufacturers have been making instructions easier to follow and many panels now incorporate a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) giving plain English step- by-step instructions to guide users through the arming, resetting and disarming procedures. Read the rest of this entry »
The extensive range of equipment available can prove very confusing. Your main aim is to find a system which is easy to understand, uses proven technology and can be extended, if necessary, at a later date.
Personal recommendation is probably the best way to choose a company to install your alarm system.
Then, if the installation or system should prove unsatisfactory, you do at least have an official organisation to approach to take up your complaint and investigate the situation.
You should obtain at least three quotes from reputable installers and remember — the cheapest may not necessarily be the best value. Read the rest of this entry »
The most important additions to the camera outfit are the extra lenses. If you have always used a standard lens on your camera, you may not find it easy to decide which would be the best lens to buy next. Obviously, you want to start with the one that will be the most versatile for your type of photography. As a first buy, most photographers choose a wide angle lens (28mm) or a telephoto lens (135mm). If you like taking scenic landscape pictures or you want to include a wide area without having to step back with the camera too much, then a wide- angle lens is a good choice. Read the rest of this entry »
The biggest attraction of a 35mm single lens reflex camera is its versatility. Not only is it a useful piece of equipment in its own right, but it can be the ‘heart’ of a complete camera outfit. You can add things like extra lenses, filters, a flashgun, a tripod, as and when you feel you need them, to help you get the results you want.
Smaller items—a blower brush for cleaning lenses, or a cable release, for example—also form part of the serious photographer’s equipment as the collection builds up. And, of course, you will need a gadget bag, or a carrying case to keep everything in. Read the rest of this entry »
The lens-to-camera attachment is very important on SLR cameras. It must be easy to fit, light-tight, and link up smoothly with the camera’s controls. There are two basic types of lens mount—screw thread and bayonet. Screw thread mounts: found on the older or less expensive SLR models. Their great advantage is standardization. All screw thread lenses fit any make of 35mm camera body made for this type of lens mount. Read the rest of this entry »
A camera which is reasonably compact, easy to operate, and can take a whole range of lenses opens up dozens of new possibilities for any photographer. Telephoto lenses for sports action pictures and better portraits, wide- angle lenses for depth in sweeping landscapes and pictures in cramped spaces, or close-ups of insects using a macro (close-focusing) lens. The pentaprism SLR camera can provide all these things. It is the most popular interchangeable lens camera, widely used by amateurs and professionals alike. There are others with interchangeable lenses—for example medium format SLR cameras and some viewfinder cameras—and these are discussed in detail later on. Read the rest of this entry »
Most modern cameras make it impossible to make a double exposure unintentionally. But sometimes double or multiple exposures provide unusual and interesting results.
A few cameras have a switch or lever to allow the shutter to be retensioned without advancing the film to the next frame. This makes accurate register of the subject components possible and gives the most successful multiple exposures. Read the rest of this entry »
Even the most accurate through the lens exposure meter can be fooled by a subject surrounded by large dark or light areas, subjects which are predominantly back lit, or those against unusual backgrounds. These can influence the meter, providing false information about the light level. Thus the main subject is over-exposed if the meter reacts to a large expanse of black background and, conversely, underexposure of the subject results if it is back lit or surrounded by a large bright area. Read the rest of this entry »
