Maximizing Your Heating and Air Conditioning System’s Performance

You may feel warm and cozy during the winter (or cool and comfy during the summer), but your wallet may be groaning due to your high energy bills.

According to the United States Energy Department, cooling and heating costs account for 56 percent of a household's monthly expenditure. As such, homeowners should take particular care in choosing a suitable heating and air conditioning system for their home. But apart from air conditioning and furnace installation, homeowners should make sure that their systems are working properly, and if need be, air conditioning or furnace replacement should be in order when these systems are starting to show signs of age and failure.

To maximize your comfort while minimizing energy costs, here are some helpful tips.

Whether you are planning to install a new system for your new home or considering upgrading your current one, the whole process begins with finding an experienced and reliable contractor. Homeowners should be aware that most contractors tend to specialize in a particular niche, with some focusing on kitchens and others having more expertise in bathrooms. The best specialists often have an energy auditor at their employ.

You may choose the most efficient heating and cooling system but this won't matter if you do not remedy problem areas within your home. This is why many homeowners can benefit from the services of energy auditors who are equipped and qualified to evaluate a property. Using equipment like blower doors, gas leak detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and kill-a-watt meters, these qualified professionals can identify areas in your house where hot or cool air can escape which, in turn, minimizes the efficiency of your cooling and heating system. By knowing where these problem areas are, you can remedy these problems at once and boost the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems.

What are these solutions?

Air sealing is particularly helpful for areas in the house where air typically escapes. Over time, these losses can amount to a significant expense. Typically, providing a solution to this common problem will pay for itself in just a few years in terms of annual savings.

You might also want to improve the insulation in your home, particularly along the walls and up the attic. Without proper insulation, your heating and cooling system have to work doubly hard to achieve a comfortable temperature level. Conversely, with the right insulation, you can slash your energy costs by about half.

If you utilize a water heater system in your home, you might want to invest in a programmable thermostat. Typically, a water heater will try to maintain a set temperature even if nobody is going to use water in the house. A thermostat will allow you to control the heater's temperature at set time periods, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of the heating system without paying a steep price.

About the Author: Kenneth Lawrence is a passionate "handyman". His craft involves DIY concepts and he would like to share guidelines and tips about stuff on home improvement. He writes and reads almost anything that can hone his skills and increase his knowledge about DIY concepts. His latest discovery is from http://www.ventwerx.com/.

Putting Up Signs outside Your House

If you’re going to put up signs, safety or otherwise, outside your house you need to ensure that doing so is legal and doesn’t pose a safety threat to members of the public, for example blocking their view of the road. 

Quite a number of people have run afoul of their local councils and police by erecting signs outside their home, and although there are often very good reasons for doing so, and may in fact be in the public’s best interest, it is important to note that there are legal and safety considerations to take note of and that you could find yourself in trouble for trying to make your local area a better, safer place.

Advertising and promotional signs

If you’re going to advertise your small business, one based at home, online or in the local shopping centre or high street, you will need to adhere to specific regulations concerning the erecting of signs for advertising purposes. Regulations that govern advertisements are put in place for the safety of us all and help to keep residential areas looking neat and tidy which also has the effect of keeping property prices healthy for the benefit of homeowners. 

Therefore, although it might seem as though the Government and local councils are somewhat heavy handed regarding the regulation of advertisements in residential areas, there are some very good reasons as to why they are regulated to the extent they are. 

Although it’s highly unlikely that you will need to apply for planning permission to erect a sign with your building number on it or a sign that says ‘No Junk Mail’ or ‘Beware of the Dog’, you will, however, need to apply for permission to apply for any sign larger than 0.3m or any size if it is illuminated. Furthermore, there is also legislation governing temporary signs that are larger than 0.6m, which is the size of an estate agent’s sign, though such signs aren’t regulated in the same manner.

Disabled parking signs and parking bays

If you are disabled and a Blue Badge holder you may be allowed to put a disabled parking sign and parking bay outside your home. There are criteria to adhere to as you can imagine, which will include being a Blue Badge holder and the vehicle being registered to that specific address. As with all activities of this nature, you will need to contact your local council to make enquiries and seek consent which could take months.

Furthermore, even though it might be your home and you were the one who made all the arrangements, as it will be a recognised disabled parking space no one else can park there without risking a fine (which goes for visitors to your home also), plus any Blue Badge holder can park there, not only yourself.

No parking signs

Many people have erected no parking signs outside their homes and understandably many have run afoul of their local authorities for doing so because there are rules and regulations concerning traffic signs which we all have to adhere to for obvious reasons, i.e. no one should have the right to make their own traffic rules. This is for the safety and wellbeing of the general public and although you might find it difficult to park, or even gain access to your home, you will need to seek consent from your local council before erecting any signs of this nature.

There are some very good reasons why this is so, for example to avoid altering the flow of traffic which could result in congestion, causing confusion for motorists which could result in accidents and redirecting traffic through areas that have been designated low traffic density areas like school districts for example. Furthermore, even if you are granted permission to erect a no parking sign outside your home this would generally not be enforceable so other motorists can still park there and you might find that some make a habit of it just to annoy you.

Take note of these considerations when putting up signs outside your home and don’t forget to seek consent from your local council before doing so – there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself in trouble otherwise.

About the Author:

A company with more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Archer Signs is a leader in providing safety and traffic signs in the UK. They have their own manufacturing facility in Nottingham.

Raising A House In Brisbane

Why would you want to go through the bother of raising a house? Most people philosophise, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Or to reword it a little, if your house is still standing, don’t mess around with its foundation. In the case of house raising or restumping, you could be throwing your daily domestic arrangements into shambles, risking a failed outcome, or – this is the one that’s really hard to swallow – unnecessarily spending gobs of money.

As a matter of fact, there are plenty of valid, legitimate reasons why people would want to raise their house. At the top of the mind, you could probably think of homeowners who belatedly realise that their area is prone to flooding. They would probably want to do this if they’re attached to their homes, if moving to another house is a less practical option, and if the benefits of staying far outweigh the risk of being flooded.

Still related to water, raising or restumping a house may also be periodically necessary in many coastal homes where the high winds, sand storms, and sea surges may inflict damage. If your home seems to be tilting; your floor, sagging; your doors and windows, sticking; your walls and floors, manifesting cracks, etc., you may very well need the services of a restumping contractor.

In beautiful Brisbane, houses may suffer compromised stumps if the timber is rotting or if the stumps have settled some due to soil movement or frequent exposure to moisture. Raising a house in Brisbane does not have to be only about repairing damage, there are plenty of clients who engage the services of a Brisbane restumping contractor for home improvement purposes.

There are many positive changes made possible by restumping. Brisbane contractors, for instance, point out that a fortified foundation fetches more money in the event of a sale. Besides this, raising a house also often expands space, giving the residents more room, be it for storage or for actual living purposes. Then, of course, a raised house means a taller house, giving those in it a higher perspective, which can then translate to a better view of the surrounding neighbourhood or of the horizon.

Restumping is a job for an experienced professional. Do not, by any chance, try to attempt it yourself. You don’t want anybody to be just messing with your stumps, so find an accredited expert with a solid reputation so you can be guaranteed excellent customer service, exemplary workmanship, and high quality materials.

About the author: Kenneth Lawrence is a passionate "handyman". His craft involves DIY concepts and he would like to share guidelines and tips about stuff on home improvement. He writes and reads almost anything that can hone his skills and increase his knowledge about DIY concepts. He uses helpful sites like http://qldhouserestumping.com.au/reasons-might-raise-house/ when writing his articles.

Moving House — Tips That Eliminate The Stress From Relocating

Moving day — you either dread it or loathe it. Sure, the prospect can mean that you’re moving into a better house and a better neighbourhood or that you’ve gotten a promotion that requires you to relocate. But the very act of sorting out, packing, and lugging all of your stuff from one house into another is about as exciting as sliced bread.

If you had it your way, you’d probably prefer to just pack your clothes and leave or sell all your possessions when moving house. You can just buy new stuff. Unfortunately, that’s not always an option and it’s rarely economical to get new furniture and new appliances. But you don’t have to settle for one or the other just to avoid the stress of relocating to a new home. Use these stress-busting moving house tips and make the experience a better one.

Plan ahead by getting multiple quotes from moving companies and getting all your packing boxes in advance. Stress comes into the picture when preparations for moving are done at the last minute. You can start by getting quotes from several moving companies. You can make a better, informed decision on a service provider when you have enough time to think about rates and services.

The next step is to determine the sort of packing boxes you’ll need. To ensure that your items stay safe and secure while in transit, you’ll need to get the appropriate packing boxes. TVs need boxes reinforced for extra protection; glassware, china, and other breakable items need their own boxes, with bubble wrap, and mattresses need the right covers so they stay protected from dust. And don’t forget to label boxes, from the contents to their designated areas.

• Choose which ones you can take with you and which items you can put in storage. Just because you’re moving house does not mean you should take everything with you. Storage facilities exist so that you can get more space in your property and have a proper place for stuff you might not be using for a long while.
• You can also choose to sell off some items and get extra cash for the move or give away items you’ll never use.
• Pack a moving kit. Just as you would put every essential item in a bag when travelling (e.g., passport, ticket, and IDs), so should you pack a few necessary items when moving house. These may include items for repairing like a screwdriver or hammer; items for unpacking like a retractable utility knife; and fully charged devices like a tablet, so you’ll have music when unpacking your stuff. Getting organised this way will help make your move efficient and, to some degree, even pleasant.

Author: Kenneth Lawrence is a “handyman”. His craft involves DIY concepts and  he likes to share guidelines and tips about  home improvement, building, construction and more.  He writes and reads about almost anything that can hone his skills and increase knowledge about DIY concepts. Kenneth recommends checking out http://www.fortknoxselfstorage.com.au/hints-and-tips/moving-countdown-checklist/ for more house moving tips.