7
Aug/16

Are Electric Cars Really Green?

by under Electric Vehicles

Tesla Model S RecallElectric cars may not be as green as you might think. The YouTube video tries to debunk this myth. It tries to let consumers know that there is lots of room to do more work before they really make a large contribution to the environment. Check out the video after you finish reading this post. Make up your own mind regarding whether it is the right thing to do. Are Electric Cars Really Green?

Are Electric Cars Really Green?

Based on the analysis that is portrayed in the video referred to above, all-electric cars are not as great at reducing emissions as everyone thinks. Yes, when you operate the car there are no emissions. But, the cost in terms of the environmental impact of producing the batteries can be high. Also producing the electrical power to charge them is almost the same as a traditional gas-powered car. Burning coal, oil, and natural gas to produce electricity cause a great deal of pollution. Wind energy and solar panels are better but not as much as you might think based on the analysis.

The writer notes that the analysis did not take into account such issues as the impact of nuclear power, battery efficiency improvement, car breaking regeneration, improvements in electric cars over the next 10 years, and other alternate power sources for electricity. Also, who funded the research, and are there any biases built into this analysis?

The bottom line is that the electric car business is still in its infancy and will have many new developments over the next 10 years and will get even better than it is today. So yes, it does not save us in terms of pollution today, but will it with improvements over the next 10 years. Time will tell.

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7
Aug/16

Spalling Concrete Causes

by under Repair

Spalling Concrete RepairMost consumers have seen spalling concrete and wonder what are the spalling concrete causes. We find our sidewalks in front of our homes look like the picture. Or perhaps our garage floors look like the one in the picture as well. One section of the sidewalk might be fine. The fundamental cause is usually contractors who do not finish the concrete properly. They add water to the surface to keep it moist until they have a chance to finish it. Or they start finishing the surface before the bleed water has a chance to be absorbed. Both of these actions weaken the surface of the concrete making it susceptible to environmental conditions.

Spalling Concrete Causes

Consumers who live in areas that are exposed to constant freeze-thaw conditions may experience more severe spalling conditions. They will see this in their concrete sidewalks and garage floors or driveways. Water can get between the cracks.

In most cases, it is only the surface that lifts up. It will remain strong. The surface does not look great. As a result, spalling can even devalue your home when it comes time to sell it.

In our next post “Spalling Concrete Repair”, we will quickly explain how consumers can do their own repairs. How they can make their garage floor, sidewalk or driveway look new again? For more repair information around the home, click here.

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21
Jul/16

Are Solar Panels Really Green?

by under Solar

Solar Site Assessment for your HomeThe standard assumption by most consumers is that solar panels along with wind technology is that they are green and make a positive contribution to the reduction of pollution around the world. But, are solar panels really green? Technology has been around for years. They are also touted as a green technology that will change the way that electricity is generated. Reductions in coal-based generated electricity will put many people out of work. Reduction in coal use will also reduce the amount of pollution. This is the argument of most environmentalists. What are the facts and will this trend really help us in the long run?

Are Solar Panels Really Green?

The jury is actually still out on this question, Are Solar Panels Really Green, believe it or not. This is still a relatively new industry. Before we can definitely say that there will be reductions in pollution based on solar panels. Here are a few examples.

Coal-Fired Electrical Generation Plants – Switching to solar panels will reduce the amount of electricity needed from these plants. Therefore reducing the amount of coal burned is a good thing. The reduction in the amount of local pollution is a good thing from an environmental perspective. Switching to natural gas will also reduce pollution.

Solar Panel Farms – They take up a large area. Nothing else can be done with the land they occupy. Much more space is required for solar panels than for traditional power plants. And water is becoming a short supply issue for many areas.

Manufacturing Solar Panels

China predominantly manufactures these products. China has very lax standards in terms of control of toxic chemicals used in the process. It takes a great deal of energy to make a solar panel. Toxic waste is not disposed of properly. China and other countries are having to deal with significant levels of pollution in their countries.

Recycling –  No business has yet developed to deal with the toxic chemicals in solar panels. They are ending up in landfill sites.

To learn more about various solar-related issues, click here.

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21
Jul/16

Purchase or Lease Furnace and AC Unit

by under Furnace

Purchase or Lease Furnace and AC UnitWe contacted our Real Estate Agent about whether we should purchase or lease furnace and AC unit. His answer follows and is quite enlightening. Basically you are going to pay for it one way or the other and it is up to you just how you want to do it. Some alternatives are more economic than others. After reading his answer decide for yourself based on your own situation.

Purchase or Lease Furnace and AC Unit

In terms of the real estate sales side of things, it is presumed that the furnace and A/C are bought and paid for by the seller.  If they are rented then the buy out is the key # required. At time of transfer of the deed it is expected that the seller will pay for it.  I think that you need to examine that and look at different scenarios. What if I had to sell the house in 3 years, 5 years 7 years or 10 years, what is the cost to ‘pay off’ the contract.
You are suggesting that you will remain in the house for the next 10 – 15 years. Life changes on a dime and maybe you will be facing family or personal instances where you must sell.  So somehow you have to factor that into your decision making.

Buyers Agent

As a buyer’s agent when showing homes, we take into account the furnace and A/C are 10 years or more. I emphasize to the buyers that they are going to have to budget for a new furnace and A/C  in the short term.  So if your contract is 10 years AND you actually expect to be living there for that time then maybe a rental plan would work to your favor.  (is the equipment free and clear and paid for after the rental contract?)
Bottom line is that everything boils down to price.  Your home would be priced accordingly – to market conditions. Also conditions of the home along  with the features and chattels etc. so, you are going to end up ‘paying’ either now or later.
Many of the homeowners on our street used the same guy someone had found.  He is a one man band so to speak, and he sells, installs and services the Goodman brand.  When we bought, it had a 10 year guarantee which has paid off for us. We had the burner unit replaced in the furnace at about year 9.  It works for us and him because he gives us all a great price on annual cleaning etc. and does everybody the same day for cash.  So that’s another bonus for him.
It’s a tough question to deal with – as the homeowner you are looking at a good chunk of change to make it happen. Just be sure that on the rental lease scenario, you are well aware of the buy out costs.  Also transfer costs / obligations conditions etc.
Hope this helps and hasn’t muddied the waters! For more energy saving ideas, click here.

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7
Jul/16

Rent or Buy Your Furnace and Air Conditioner

by under Maintenance

Rent or Buy Your Furnace and Air ConditionerOur furnace just quit working and our air conditioning unit is 27 years old! Amazing life cycle and it still works. The furnace is only 14 years old and we are trying to figure out if we should rent or buy your furnace and air conditioner or just repair it. Most people would just say replace it.

After all the AC unit does not owe you anything and it will likely quit sometime soon anyway. We could perhaps just repair the furnace and hope for the best. However we wondered what the economics would be considering repairing the furnace or replacing both the furnace and the AC unit. Also a third scenario has been proposed and that would be to rent both units. The price would include all cleaning and servicing for as long as we paid the monthly payment. My initial reaction was to always purchase however when you do the math, there is a surprising answer.

Rent or Buy Your Furnace and Air Conditioner

We assumed a 15 year study life, a cost of $9500 to purchase the units, a cost of $25 a month to provide service and warranty once the manufacturers warranty was finished. We also assumed a cost of $700 for repairs which would last for one year. The rent scenario assumes $50 a month for the furnace and $45 a month for the AC unit including all servicing and warranties.

Using these numbers it makes sense to rent if you are planning on 12 years or less to rent. It makes sense to purchase if you feel that the units will last longer than 11 years which they should. However I need to find $9500 to pay for the installation and I still need to pay $25 a month for insurance.

I can finance the cost of the furnace etc.  Or I could use some of my savings to pay for these units and forego any income I might get from the current investments. I am fortunate to collect 3% on my investments at the present time. This is a real cost to me which I would save if I were to rent the furnace and the AC unit.

This income when factored in changes the breakeven period from 11 years to 20 years. This is probably more than the life cycle of these new units and longer than I plan to live in the house.

I still need to confirm all of the estimates with actual quotations. However I am definitely leaning towards renting and not making a purchase at this point.

For more maintenance ideas and ways to save money, click here.

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7
Jul/16

Tips to Burglar Proof Your Home

by under Burglar Deterrents

Many people are traveling at all times of the year, especially in the holiday periods. Burglars know this and they are ready to take advantage of your empty home. We thought that it would be good to cover a number of tips to burglar proof your home. Avoid the frustration and invasion of privacy by following these tips. If you know of others that would benefit our readers, let us know and we will be happy to add them to the post. We have a number of other posts on this site that discuss issues around home security as well.

Tips to Burglar Proof Your Home

Make your home look like it is lived in – If you are going away, your home should still look as if someone is living in it. This can mean lights on timers, pool running in the summer, neighbors parking a car in the driveway etc.

Regular checks by Family or neighbors – may not stop them but it will let anyone know who is casing the home that people are watching.

Clear mail every day – or have someone do it for you. Newspapers and mail building up in the mail box is a sure sign of a vacant home

Maintain landscaping – whether it is uncut grass or an untidy looking yard, this can be another sign that no one is home.

Hi Tech Monitoring – alarms that go off if someone does break in are good to have. So are doorbells that trigger a call to your cell phone when someone tries the doorbell. Another is an alert whenever motion is detected in or around the house with a voice response. You may get some false alarms from local animals that roam the yard at night.

If you have added ideas, let us know, we would be glad to include them.

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7
Jul/16

Upgrade Aging Air Conditioners

by under Air Conditioning

upgrade aging air conditionersWhen is it time to upgrade aging air conditioners? Ours is over 28 years old and is still working. Our furnace which is only 14 years old just quit. We are having the furnace replaced and wonder if we should upgrade aging air conditioner at the same time. Perhaps we will get a discount for doing both at the same time and a rebate from the government.

Upgrade Aging Air Conditioners and Furnace

There are several reasons why we decided to replace everything at this time, rather than take a chance on the old AC unit. The following is our list and you can attach importance levels to them based on your own situation:

  • If the coil on the old AC unit leaks over the new furnace, the warranty is not valid
  • Twenty eight years is a phenomenal life cycle, maybe I would get several more years at most
  • Existing AC is very inefficient compared to the new units
  • Get the job done once and they do not have to come back other than for annual maintenance
  • Replace both and obtain full government rebate
  • Energy costs continue to rise, so efficiency is important to control utility bills
  • The existing system is noisy, newer units are quieter
  • Resale value for our home will increase with new units still under warranty if we sell in next 10 years

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21
Jun/16

Buy or Rent Air Conditioner

by under Repair

Buy or Rent Air ConditionerWould you buy or rent air conditioner equipment? The answer might surprise you and it really depends on the assumptions you make regarding the costs involved. The first step is to obtain several quotes for replacing your air conditioner through a purchase plan and also renting it if this program is available. Most people can do a straight line comparison of the total cost of the unit installed vs. paying monthly rental fees. There will be a break even amount at some point in the future, which could be around 10 years depending on the assumptions and the actual costs.

Don’t forget to factor in the cost of insurance for service and maintenance if you purchase your own AC unit.  If you plan to be in the home longer than this breakeven number of years, you may want to consider a further refinement of the numbers to do a proper comparison.

Buy or Rent Air Conditioner

For example, if your cost will be $5000 and you have the $5000 available, how much interest are you collecting on that $5000 today. If it is just sitting in a bank account collecting very little interest, then this next step will not be of much interest to you.

On the other hand if it is invested in something such as a stock paying 3 or 4% dividends, then you really have to factor in the lost income associated with cashing in the stock to pay for the new AC unit. Four percent will pay $200 a year for as long as you own the stock and possibly more from gains in the value of the stock as well as dividend increases.

This income will help to offset the rental cost of the air conditioning a considerable amount and move the breakeven number further out to where it might be interesting to rent instead of purchasing your air conditioning unit. Take a look at the previous post about rent vs. buying a furnace and air conditioning for a more direct example.

For more information about general repairs around your home, click here.

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21
Jun/16

Replace Aging Air Conditioners

by under Air Conditioning

Replacing aging air conditioners that are no longer working is a bit of a non decision. However what if it is still working and your furnace quits on you? This is the situation the writer is faced with. We decided to replace the AC at the same time that we are replacing the furnace. We wanted to have a new energy efficient model that will help to control our ongoing utility bills as well as increase the resale value of our home. A real estate friend of ours told us that if the furnace or the AC unit is more than 10 years old, they should set aside money to replace it. If we sell in the next 10 years, the units will still be under warranty!

Replace Aging Air Conditioners – Damage

There is another reason to replace the AC when you replace the furnace. If the coil begins to leak it could damage the new furnace. The coil sits on top of the furnace. Leaking water or coolant would damage the furnace causing it to rust, possibly short circuit the electric motor and other components.

We decided  to replace both our furnace and replace our aging air conditioner at the same time. After all it was 28 years old and really does not owe us anything. Because it is so old it is inefficient and so we will gain from some of the savings we will get from the new system.

Everyone is in a different situation. We could have taken a chance and just repaired our furnace. This would have cost $800 with no guarantees that there would not be other problems. Apparently our furnace is known for cracks in the heat ex changer as well which we do not want to deal with.

So a big expense, but hopefully the right one in the long term.

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7
Jun/16

Solar Power Impact on Traditional Power Systems

by under Solar Power Bus Model

Solar Power Impact on Traditional Power SystemsThere is no doubt that there will be a solar power impact on traditional power systems. The question that everyone is trying to figure out is how much impact will there be. What aspect of the system will be impacted? Solar power will impact these parts much differently. The areas of power generation can be broken down into the following categories: Fuel; Generation; Transmission; and Delivery. We will take a look at each one of these separately assuming two scenarios.

Solar Power Impact on Traditional Power Systems

Fuel

Fuel today for electrical power generation depends on sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear and hydro. Both large solar projects and rooftop solar will have an impact on these sources. Solar is really a new source of fuel. Power is virtually free with no impact on the environment.

Generation

Generation will focus on the lowest costs and the least environmental impact. This means wind power and solar projects combined with existing hydropower dams. Generation from steam generated by burning coal, oil, and natural gas will tail off in that order. This change will take place slowly as more and more solar comes online.

Transmission systems will still be required. Unless rooftop solar and local wind farms really take off.  This could still motivate and drive consumers to rooftop installations. Large solar projects and wind farm projects will still require long-distance transmission systems.

Delivery – Delivery will depend on the penetration of rooftop solar panels. Local utilities could find that their revenue could drop significantly. However this is still at least a decade away in North America.

Roof top solutions are becoming more cost-effective. Locations with already high per kilowatt per hour costs will see an impact within the next few years.

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7
Jun/16

Smart Home Component Design Strategies

by under Energy Savings

Smart Home Component Design StrategiesThe smart home industry is still in the early stages of development. There is not a smart home component design strategies plan in place. Many companies are developing components that will fit into a larger system however right now they are just components. They will be upgraded many times, there will be new devices added and gradually standards will be developed so that you can connect one companies devices to another companies devices and systems. But right now, it really is a confusing mess out there and also expensive.

Smart Home Component Design Strategies

What should a consumer do in a situation like this one especially if you are the early adopter type of person? The answer is to develop your own strategy around a smart home. Focus on the things that you really want to automate and those that provide security functionality. These devices and components are not cheap so you will also need to factor in your budget for this project.

Next spend some time reviewing those companies that have a complete system that meets your requirements. There is no sense trying to mix and match at this time from several companies if you want them to all interact with each other. Finally assess the companies that are in it for the long haul, have a development strategy of their own and provide support to their customers.

If you do all of this you may have a chance of installing a smart home system that meets your needs. It can interact with a central controller and is evolvable as devices and systems develop further. For more energy saving ideas, click here.

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21
May/16

Guide to Smarter Cooling of Your Home

by under Smart Homes

Guide to Smarter Cooling of Your HomeA smart thermostat like the one here can give you peace of mind and might even save you some money. Note we are not promoting this particular thermostat in our guide to smarter cooling of your home. We just used the picture to indicate that these types are available. A smart thermostat should allow you to program various temperatures throughout the day, it should have WiFi allowing remote connections to read and make adjustments and it should also learn your habits so that it will automatically adjust the temperature of your home during the day. The really smart ones will even shut off your heating or cooling system if they detect that a window has been left open.

Guide to Smarter Cooling of Your Home

The question is, “do you need all of these features, and will you use them”? We think that once the novelty has worn off, most consumers will ignore their thermostat. They will program it the way they would like the temperature in the house to be and then forget it. They might check once in a while online over the internet using their smartphones. Unless they are away for an extended period of time, they will likely never access their smart thermostat again.

If you are paying a premium for the thermostat, you are wasting your money in terms of using all of its functions. make sure that you can set different temperatures during the day and that is generally all you will need. Unless you are going to access the thermostat over the internet, it is just not worth spending the extra money.

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21
May/16

Lost Starbucks Gift Card

by under Saving Money

Lost Starbucks Gift CardLost gift cards cost us all money, however at least with a lost Starbucks gift card there is a way of protecting yourself from losing the balance on the card. Whether it is only $10 or a &100, no one wants to lose any money. All you have to do is register your card online and use your Starbucks card each time you pay for a coffee or purchase other food items at this store. There are other reasons why you should register these cards.

Recover your Cash – Lost Starbucks Gift Card

If you do lose your card and it is registered, all you need to do is call Starbucks and they will give you a new card and load the previous balance on to your new card. The balance will be clearly shown on your online account.

Other benefits of using one of these gift cards or loyalty cards is that they reward you for being a loyal customer with free refills, free coffees or food items after a specified amount of purchases and they provide you with free food items from time to time as well.

Starbucks has also recently changed its loyalty program. It is not as generous as it was in the past. However you just have to spend more to get the same amount of benefits. It appears to be still worthwhile, however you may want to review other loyalty

For more money saving ideas around your home, click here.

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7
May/16

Tesla Model 3 All Electric Car Pre Orders

by under Electric Vehicles

Tesla Model S RecallTest driving a Tesla Model S convinced this writer that Tesla is really on to something. The Model 3 which it announced recently (April 2016) will be a roaring success. Tesla Model 3 all-electric car pre-orders have surpassed all expectations. They will address them and deliver an industry-leading vehicle. The consumer will respond if you deliver quality, deliver safety, and luxury in all areas. The Model 3 is an interesting car.

Tesla Model 3 All Electric Car Pre Orders

As of the date of writing this post, Tesla has over 300,000 pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3. That is huge for any car vendor and really just the beginning. Sure there will be some shrinkage, but there will be a lot more orders coming in.

The Model 3 is an unknown car at this point. It will do 0 to 60 in under 6 seconds. It will have many of the same features that the Model S has. However, all features and details are not finalized. Tesla is not making the details available just yet. Prospective buyers are placing their orders based on the reputation of Tesla and the Model S reputation.

After test driving the Model 3, their faith in the car and the manufacturer is well placed. More to come on Tesla’s Model 3!

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7
May/16

Register Starbucks Gift Cards

by under Saving Money

Register Starbucks Gift CardsStarbucks recently updated its loyalty system and we thought it might be time to write about why it is still important to register Starbucks gift cards. The loyalty program is not as generous as it used to be. But that is really the subject of another post. To say the least, we are not happy about the changes they are making. All one can do is spend less money at Starbucks to register your displeasure. In the meantime, if you are given a Starbucks gift card for a birthday, Christmas, or some other special occasion, it s a good idea to register it for a couple of reasons.

Register Starbucks Gift Cards

Once you register the card and begin to use it, every customer will begin to collect stars. These stars accumulate towards a future free drink or pastry. As we said it is not that generous anymore, but it is something.

Secondly, there will now be an online track record of all of your expenses, how much you spent at the last location and how much is still left on your card. If for some reason you lose the card or it gets stolen, call Starbucks immediately and they will be able to shut down the card and transfer the balance to another card. You will not have lost all of your money.

Third, if you are unsure about how you are spending your money, you can always check your account online. Confirm how much and where you are spending your money. For more information about saving money, click here.

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21
Apr/16

Tesla Model S All Electric Car Test Drive Review

by under Electric Vehicles

Tesla Model S RecallTake the Tesla Model S all-electric car test drive and prepare to be amazed. This is the first time the writer has had an opportunity to drive this particular car. It was truly fantastic in many ways. But first a little background. As an average consumer, I cannot really afford this particular car. I told the salesperson when they asked me if I was interested in the car. The new Model 3 is more in my league with a base price of $35,000 vs. the Model S at $70,000 US. I took a fully upgraded Model S out for a drive. It was listed at $132,000 US with the full sports package, low profile racing tires and rims, etc. They did not seem to mind and offered the test drive to me in any case.

Tesla Model S All Electric Car Test Drive Review

The test drive lasted approximately 30 minutes. It consisted of city driving, highway driving, and cornering on curving mountain roads. A pretty good test for such a short time frame. There are many features on this car, however, I will just cover a few that really stood out for this test driver.

The salesperson was excellent, gave clear instructions, and probably has nerves of steel. Considering what the car is capable of he really was calm throughout the entire drive.

Our Review

Self Parking – The Tesla Model S self-parks perfectly in both parallel and mall parking situations. All you need to do is drive the car into a proper position aligned with the car ahead of the parking spot, place the car in reverse and touch the auto park icon on the screen. It does the rest and comes to a full stop properly positioned between the car in front and the car behind as well as 6 inches from the curb! The same applies to backing into a mall parking spot. It also parks itself in your garage, but obviously, we could not test this feature.

Auto Driving – is where the real action starts. We took the car up to the designated highway speed, turned on the autopilot, and took our hands off the wheel. It maintained the proper position on the road with no difficulty whatsoever. It uses the white lines on the road to maintain position in the lane. Occasionally they would disappear and the car would shift a bit in the lane and then correct itself.

There are all sorts of settings, however, for this test drive, the autopilot was set to follow a car in front to two car lengths spacing. A car pulled in front of us and then turned down a side street. In both cases, our car slowed and even came to a full stop while we waited for the car in front to turn right. It started automatically and came back to full speed once the way was clear.

Changing lanes is really neat. After checking that there are no cars blocking the lane that you are moving to, simply turn the turn signal control in the direction you want to move to and the car moves over. Of course, if there already was a car too close, it would cancel the lane change.

More Features

Speed Control – almost all cars have speed control, which of course the Model S does. It works closely with the autopilot maintaining your speed with 1 mile/hour and 5 mile/hour increments simply by a touch of a lever.

Ludicrous Mode – This is truly special and really demonstrates the power of this car. You can operate this model in regular, sport, and ludicrous mode. We brought the car to a full stop, placed both hands on the wheel, head back against the headrest, set the car to ludicrous mode, and fully depressed the accelerator. Experiencing 0 to 60 miles an hour in less than 6 seconds is truly amazing. Butterflies in the stomach, racing heart rate, and more. This car moves!

Many Other Features – There were many other features and capabilities available on this car all controlled on the large full-screen tablet centered between the passenger and driver’s seats.

You really have to try this car. Don’t take my word for it, take your own Tesla Model S All Electric Car Test Drive!

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21
Apr/16

How to Remove Red Wine Stains from Carpets

by under Stains

how to Remove Red Wine Stains from CarpetsThis is everyone’s nightmare, red wine spilled on a white carpet. Everyone wants to know how to remove red wine stains from carpets and in their minds it is urgent. There is no question you need to move quickly to get rid of the red wine stain, but it is important to clean it up properly and not leave a long term red stain on your carpet. So what do you do to get rid of that red wine on the while carpet? Turns out is fairly easy as long as you act quickly and get to work on the stain. Using while paper towels is the first step. Blot as much of the liquid as you can being careful not to rub the wine in further.

How to Remove Red Wine Stains from Carpets

Step 1: As we mentioned the first step is to blot as much of the liquid up using paper towels being careful to not rub it in further.

Step 2: Pour some cold water over the stain and continue blotting up the liquid. The water will dilute the wine and remove some of the color. Continue blotting as long as you are getting some of the liquid on the paper towels.

Step 3: (Note –  not verified by the writer, try on a test area) Mix baking soda and water in a three to one mixture. Apply it to the affected area and let it dry. Vacuum the next day and it should remove all of the stain.

Step 4: If you do not like the idea of step 3, go to a hardware store. Purchase a stain remover that works with red wine. The spot will stay wet for several hours after steps 1 and 2. So you will have time to go to the store and pick up the product.

If it is more serious or you’re not satisfied you may have to turn to a professional to have the stain removed. For more information on stain removal, click here.

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7
Apr/16

How to Remove Coffee Stains from a Carpet

by under Stains

Remove Coffee Stains from a CarpetWe recently spilled an entire cup of coffee with cream in it on our carpet just like it shows in this picture, but only larger. It was an accident that could have been prevented, but it is too late for assessing blame. We now have to focus on how to remove it. We talked to some friends, did a quick online search and also bought some stain remover from a hardware store. Whether we needed to do all of this is unclear, but the steps we followed based on the input we got, did the job and we want to share it with out readers. This is how to remove coffee stains from a carpet.

Remove Coffee Stains from a Carpet – Follow These Steps

Whatever you do, do  not wait. Get started now and follow these steps before the coffee seeps into the carpet and starts to dry on the fibers.

Step 1: Grab paper towels and begin blotting up as much of the liquid as you can. Do not rub the carpet. This could push the liquid further into the carpet and into the fibers.

Step 2: Dish towels will also work, just don’t rub the carpet. Soak up the liquid as much as you can.

Step 3: Take one cup of water and soak the area with water. Next use more paper towels and again soak up as much of the liquid as you can. The water will help to dilute the remaining coffee stains and  help to remove more of the stain.

Step 4: Mix two cups of warm water and a quarter cup of lemon juice.

Step 5: Apply the solution using a sponge. Cover the entire area and gently sponge up the stain.

Step 6: After use paper towels to soak up the water and more of the stain. The lemon juice acts as a mild acid to remove the coffee from the fibers. Do not use more than a quarter cup to avoid any long term change to the carpet.

Step 7: Rinse the area with cold water and using paper towels to soak up any liquid and dry it as much as you can.

Step 8: This step may not be required. We followed this step after we had completed the previous steps. we purchase a stain remover for carpets that specifically mentioned coffee. Follow the steps outlined on the bottle and remove any final indications of coffee stain.

This worked for us and you would never know that we had spilled coffee on our carpet. For more information about removing stains, click here.

 

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7
Apr/16

Guide to Smarter Heating of Your Home

by under Smart Homes

Many companies are offering smart thermostats for consumers to upgrade their home’s heating or cooling systems. This picture is a generic thermostat. We are not promoting any particular type. We just used this picture as part of our post about a guide to smarter heating of your home. When it comes to smart thermostats there are several basic requirements that consumers need to consider. These include – basic functionality, learning capabilities relative to heating needs, and internet connection via WiFi in your home. Most of all the ability to observe and also control the temperature in your home remotely.

Guide to Smarter Heating of Your Home

The basic objective is to reduce your heating costs and also ensure your home is comfortable. Remote control and internet connections are nice to have, but you really need to evaluate whether you will use these features or not.

A smart thermostat will have multiple time controls for various times of the day and will sense your schedule through manual adjustments that you make to the thermostat. Over time it will learn your schedule and heat your home accordingly.

If you do not have WiFi or if you do not have a smartphone, it is unlikely that this feature will be of much use to you. Of course, you can use your PC to observe and/or make adjustments, but most people want to be able to make adjustments on the go and a smartphone with internet data connections is often the best way to accomplish this.

Before you pay extra for a smart thermostat, evaluate your planned use of the features available. A thermostat will less functionality and lower cost might still deliver the savings you are looking for.

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21
Mar/16

Repairing Mold Damage from Leaking Water Pipes

by under Repair

Mold Damage from Leaking Water PipesMost consumers will never have to deal with mold damage from leaking water pipes. We hear of major floods and homes being totally destroyed by flood water or the subsequent mold that covers everything. These situations require professional intervention and major repairs. There are millions of other leaks such as the one shown in this picture that occur everyday and can develop into significant mold sources as well as causing significant damage to the home. If there are enough mold spores in the air, even your family can become sick and require medical attention. Any time you suspect mold developing, deal with it immediately and do not allow it to become a major expensive problem.

Mold Damage from Leaking Water Pipes

Sources of water and subsequently mold:

  • Slow leaking water pipes
  • A small leak in the roof
  • Windows are another source
  • Damp, dark and warm are the best places

Your health can be compromised if you do not deal with this problem, not to mention the damage and the cost of the repairs. The first step is to always repair the leak and eliminate the source of the water causing the mold. In other words – Fix the leak

Routine checks are good to do as well. Under sinks and around toilets are good places to check. If you smell dampness, follow your nose and check for mold.

Next you need to begin repairs and renovations. Start by removing all damaged wood and removing all drywall. If the mold is extensive, you will need to take special precautions, such as wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatus. You may want to hire professionals if it is a large job. Also ensure that the mold spores cannot spread to the rest of the home where they can cause health issues and the further spread of the mold.

If anyone has asthma in the home or is subject to allergies, you may want them to stay outside the home while this work is being competed.

Hire professionals if you are not comfortable!

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