Trees in the Home Landscape

Author: Paul Duxbury
Source: articleage.com

Trees add so much to the home landscape! They provide shade,
clean air, habitat for wildlife, value to your property, and
even memories.

If your yard does not have any trees at the moment, you may want
to consider planting some. Studies have shown that trees and
landscaping add value to your property. Even if you do not
intend to sell your property, trees can provide years of
enjoyment. If you have trees in your yard, check to see that
they are healthy. If they are near the end of their life
expectancy or show signs of decline, you may want to plant new
trees that will become established before the old trees are
removed.

If properly located and planted, trees can help control energy
costs. A large shade tree planted on the southwest side of the
house can provide cooling shade in the summer, helping reduce
air conditioning costs. Once the leaves drop in the fall, the
winter sun is free to warm your house on cold winter days.
Evergreen trees, planted to block cold winter winds, can help
reduce winter heating costs.

Have you wondered what you could do to reduce greenhouse gases
and address global warming? Planting trees will help! One of the
greenhouse gases causing the most concern is carbon dioxide.
Plants take this gas out of the air and use it in
photosynthesis. Carbon is stored in the wood and living tissues
of trees. When leaves fall and are composted, carbon is added to
the soil. This improves the soil for plant growth and stores
more of the carbon in the form of soil organic matter. Carbon
can be stored for hundreds of years in the trunks of trees or in
the form of lumber, furniture, and other wood products. By
planting trees in your yard, you can help reduce greenhouse
gases.

Trees also provide shelter and food for a variety of wildlife.
While installing bird feeders will help attract birds to your
yard, providing them with nearby trees and shrubs to escape
danger, build nests, and obtain food, will be even more
effective. Squirrels and other small mammals use trees for
nesting sites and food sources. When selecting trees, consider
what food value they may offer to the wildlife in your community.

Trees can offer years of enjoyment. Planting trees and watching
them grow can be part of your family’s memories. Consider
planting a tree to commemorate a milestone in your family’s
life. While raking leaves may seem like a chore as you get
older, jumping in piles of leaves can be a treat for children.
Hanging a swing, building a tree house, or simply relaxing under
the shade of a tree on a hot summer day can be a memorable
experience.

Save Yourself From Allergens and Enjoy the Comfort

Author: Faith Williams
Source: articleage.com

Discover the newest – but oldest- way to make you and your home environment healthier – radiant floor warming systems. The ancient Roman Baths used hot air and hot water for health benefits in the Romans’ bathing rituals. Today, using radiant heat, the heat stored in the floor is similar to the heat provided by a radiator – with one big difference. No longer will allergens like dust mites, dust, pollen, mold or pet hair be blown around your home and aggravate your allergy symptoms.

Allergy proofing your home isn’t easy, but can have big payoffs for the allergy sufferer. Airborne allergens are one of the hardest types of allergens to avoid. Heating and air conditioning systems have been established as harbors for molds. With vents to every room in the house, your heating and cooling system can be an effective distributor of airborne allergens such as pollen, mold, animal dander, feathers, house dust, and even dust mites.

Radiant floor warming works by heating a wire heating element under the flooring surface. The heated floor radiates heat to the people and objects in the room. The flooring surface is maintained at a comfortable, yet higher, temperature than the ambient temperature of the floor before the heat was turned on. Since the radiant heat is conducted from the floor level up, it helps provide a warm and comfortable environment for the occupants of the room. It provides even, uniform heat throughout the room. There are no moving parts to blow allergens into the air – so you are not breathing them in!

Doctors often recommend removing carpets to eliminate some trapped allergens. Even with daily vacuuming, you may not catch all the allergens that have settled down to the bottom of the carpet. You also run the risk of stirring up the dust with your vacuum cleaner. Tile, stone, and hardwoods are easier to keep clean by weekly mopping. Radiant floor warming materials are designed to work under tile, stone or hardwoods.

Using a programmable thermostat, you can have the floor turn on just before you get out of bed in the morning and turn off when you leave for work. You can even adjust it to turn on later for weekend mornings. Whatever your lifestyle, you are in control of the radiant floor warming and can help keep those airborne allergens at bay!

DESIGNING YOUR LOG HOME: Tips to keep you out of trouble

Author: Mercedes Hayes
Source: articleage.com

Nearly every log home is a custom design, whether you are altering a stock plan or starting from scratch. By their very nature, custom floor plans open up a large number of untested challenges – especially if you are trying to design the house yourself. With almost all log home manufacturers, an in-house architect will take your design and turn it into a set of drawings that conform to their building system. Your home will be structurally sound. However, don’t necessary expect them to point out every inconvenience or snafu in your design. This is a hands-on business, and in the end, your house design is on you… and you’ll have to live with it. Here are a few pointers I can suggest to make your design more efficient.

MECHANICALS: Open floor plans are the essence of the modern log home. They make a home feel larger, and keep the cook from feeling isolated. However, if you’re planning a second floor you need to consider how you are going to get the plumbing, the electric and the ductwork (both supply and return) to the upstairs rooms. You won’t be using the exterior walls for that, so you need to create enough interior walls on the main floor to fit all the mechanicals. Even if you use radiant-floor heating, you’ll need ductwork for the air conditioning. There are some systems that use high-pressure ductwork much smaller in diameter than conventional ducts, so there are other possibilities if you are pressed for space. But the best solution is to think ahead. Each object in all likelihood will take its own space between the 2x4s. If you’re tempted to use an interior full-log wall (or none at all), you may be sacrificing an opportunity to get more ductwork upstairs.

PLUMBING: The wisest floor plans are the ones that try to keep the bathrooms together (either back-to-back or one directly above the other) and the shortest runs on the plumbing. This can’t always be done, but when placing the upstairs bathroom, try to line it up with an interior downstairs wall. This way the plumbing doesn’t have to snake all over the place.

CLOSETS: I would venture to guess that log homes are usually notoriously short on closet space. I know my home is. First of all, it would be a terrible waste to put a closet against an exterior log wall. Why hide your beautiful logs? And because we try to keep the square footage down to a minimum, it almost seems a crime to waste precious space on closets. However, there’s more than one reason to include them. Not only do we seem to collect more stuff as we get older, but by law in several states the closet determines whether a room is a bedroom or an office. This could affect the resale (or refinancing) of your house. Here is a suggestion: put two closets side-by-side on the wall separating two rooms; the closets may not be huge, but it doesn’t change the shape of the rooms. Try to include a coat closet near your front door.

WINDOWS: As I’m sure you’ve already read many times, you can’t have too many windows in a log home. The wood sucks up the light like a sponge. If you have a large empty wall, the insertion of a window near the peak not only lets in more light, it adds character. Some people add windows along either side of a shed dormer. Placement can be critical; in my case, I had to move the roof line to increase the size of my bedroom window, because by code it needed to be 6′ square for egress (In any upstairs bedroom you’ll need your windows to be large enough to climb out in case of fire.). Also remember that too many direct-set windows will decrease the amount of air flow to your upstairs. In my house I added an awning (a small hinged window) to the bottom of stationery windows in my dormers. This helped let air in, but even so the rooms can be stuffy. A ceiling fan helps, but ultimately I may need to add a skylight to create a draft.

KITCHEN VENT: One of the more difficult decisions we made concerned how to vent the range hood. If you don’t want your stove to be on an exterior wall, you are going to have an interesting puzzle. Will you run the exhaust duct between the floor joists to the exterior? Will the run be so long you’ll have to add another fan? I gave in and moved my stove to the exterior wall, but then we had to cut a hole in the logs for the vent. Horrors! How do you hide that? My builder built a little cedar box around the hole and we were lucky enough to have a porch roof underneath, so you can’t see it from every direction. Still, this ugly vent is on the front of the house, and had I thought of it, I may have moved the kitchen to the back of the house.

CRAWL SPACE vs. BASEMENT: There are many reasons to opt for a crawl space rather than a basement – none of them particularly comfortable. Aside from the obvious disadvantages of a crawl space, there are a few things we didn’t think of. I, in my blissful ignorance, didn’t give any thought to the ugly electrical panel. Of course, I knew we’d have meters and a panel, but I didn’t think of where they were going. What I didn’t know was that by code, we couldn’t put the panel in the crawl space. Since we don’t have a garage, the electrical panel was installed in one of our rooms on the log wall. Isn’t that lovely? Another disadvantage of the crawl space: you’ll need a short water heater if that’s where it is going, and you may need to purchase a horizontal-mount furnace. Because our water quality was poor, we had to install a purification system. This 54″ unit must be mounted upright, and our crawl space is 48″ tall. We had to punch a hole through the concrete floor to make room for the unit.

GUTTERS: Yes, you want to get the water away from your log home at all costs. There can be challenges; we have an alpine-style home with a vaulted ceiling. However, the roof comes to a deep V on the corners that create a magnificent rain chute. This is not necessarily wonderful when it dumps onto your deck! Because of the generous overhang that comes with a log home, the end of that V projects far from the walls and doesn’t make a logical angle from which to hang a downspout. On one corner I satisfied myself with an old-fashioned rain barrel, and on the deck side we had to divert the water to the pergola we built against the house, and ran a gutter along the edge of the pergola.

OVERHANGS:You should have at least a 1′ foot and preferably a 2′ overhang to protect your logs. This overhang needs to be taken into consideration when designing your roof line. If you have overlapping angles, make sure you are not creating a water trap or a snow trap. There are times your overhang might bump into another angle of the roof. You may actually have to raise part of the roof a little to make clearance.

DOOR SWINGS: This can be one of the most annoying errors you can make and not catch until too late. Think of what your door is covering when opened all the way. Is it covering another doorway? Will two doors bang together? If you are in a tight space, will it open all the way at all? When we installed our bathroom vanity, we didn’t think about the door swing until the plumbing was already hooked up. The door cleared the vanity by one whole inch; it could have been worse. You can compensate by swinging the other way (before it’s already hung, or your hinges will be on the wrong side). Or, in the design phase you can use a narrower door. Or get a smaller vanity.

ELECTRICAL: The electrical and plumbing layout will not come from your log home architectural drawings. The manufacturer is not concerned about where you put your outlets. Once the plans are firmed up, the time will come for you to sit down with the electrician and mark exactly where you want your outlets, switches and light fixtures. Local code will determine the minimum distance between outlets, but anyone will tell you to put in more than you need; eventually you will probably use them anyway. Even if you don’t need it, put your cable and telephone into every room; it’s so much easier and cheaper to do it up front. Also remember, you can’t ever have too many lights in a log home. Plan ahead for those fixtures – especially the ones in the ceiling. They will not be pretty to add later on.

DEAD SPACE: If you are building a huge log home, you’ve got so much space it doesn’t really matter. But for most of the rest of us, every inch counts. There are some approaches that might maximize your floor space. First of all, do you really need hallways? Some space-saving designs arrange the rooms so they all open into a small hallway. I prefer none at all. Also, consider that every closet door creates dead space. If you can arrange your floor plan so that closet door swings into a place which is already dead (for instance, another closet door or a foyer), you might open up the room a bit. Does your loft serve a purpose or is it merely an open hallway from room to room? Can you put a piece of furniture on it? If not, perhaps it would serve to give it an angle and make your “open to below” space a little smaller.

Hopefully I’ve helped a little bit. I learned many of these tips the hard way, and I’m sure there are plenty more I haven’t bumped into yet. After all, a custom home is one giant learning curve.

Fuming Over The High Cost Of Electricity? Switch To Oilheat

Author: News Canada
Source: articleage.com

(NC)-With the cost of electricity skyrocketing and unstable, now is the best time to switch to oilheat, says the Canadian Oil Heat Association.

“Not only does oilheat offer a reliable, safe heating alternative,” says COHA president John Butt. “Oil is also one of the most cost-effective heating fuels available.”

According to COHA, when electric customers switch to oilheat, they can experience cost savings from 25 per cent up to 50 per cent.

“When electric baseboard owners convert to oil, they usually report immediate fuel savings and equipment payback surprisingly fast,” says Butt. “And there’s the added value of increased comfort. Oilheat can produce air from registers that is as much as 30บF/17บC warmer than electric heat pumps.”

Oilheat is also the best choice when it comes to water heaters. Switching from electric to oil can save homeowners hundreds of dollars a year and oil-fired water heaters boast half the recovery time of electric models.

Conversion from electric to oilheat is relatively simple and the cost to convert depends on a homeowner’s current situation. Homes with ductwork require no structural change – the heat pump is supplemented with a furnace or boiler and heat exchanger that use existing ducts. A home that is currently equipped with electric baseboards requires minimal structural change – an oil-fired boiler can distribute hot water through hidden tubes to new hydronic baseboard radiators. There is also the option to add central air conditioning by switching from baseboard to forced air with new ductwork.

“When homeowners switch from electric to oilheat, they’re not only taking advantage of a safe, dependable and comfortable heating fuel, they’re also taking advantage of a competitive market,” says Butt. “You choose the supplier that best meets your needs and enjoy a quality product and the personal and dependable service that comes with choosing oilheat.”

For more information on oilheat, visit www.newoilheat.com. For a list of dealers in your area, visit www.coha.ca and click Find your dealer.

Balloon Decorations – The 7 Pitfalls of Balloon Decorating and How to Avoid Them

Author: C. Prosper
Source: ezinearticles.com

If you are a beginner (or a seasoned professional), you should definitely know the 7 basic pitfalls of doing balloon decorating and how to avoid them. These mistakes are so critical because based on them all of your future success and credibility will rest. The basics are literally and figuratively the foundation for your success.

The 7 Basic Pitfalls of Doing Balloon Decorating:

Pitfall #1 – Mix-Matching Ribbon and Balloons – When you are creating a balloon bouquet, you never want to, for example, attach a red ribbon to a purple balloon or a yellow ribbon to a green balloon. Red ribbon goes with red balloons. Yellow ribbon goes with yellow balloons. Purple ribbon goes with purple balloons. The only exception is white ribbon which is neutral and will work with any color balloon.

Pitfall #2 – Using Printed Balloons – You should never even dream of letting your customers talk you into to putting printed messages on your works of art, such as a Happy Birthday or Congratulations message on your balloon arches. Writing on balloon art is illegible and looks like graffiti from a distance.

Pitfall #3 – Using Message Or Cartoon Mylar Balloons – An even worse “sin” of decorating is to use a message Mylar or cartoon balloon as part of your art. This is talking the whole profession back 50 years.

Pitfall #4 – Doing Single Arches on The Outside – I know that the temptation is definitely there, but single arches cannot and will not resists the outside elements; they are just not strong enough. A good gust of wind will tear them apart.

Pitfall #5 – Leaving Doors Open While You’re Decorating – When you allow any latex to be exposed to draft, direct sun, or glare, within a very short time, they will start to become opaque whitish and ashy looking.

Pitfall #6 – Leaving Balloons In The Path of Direct Air Conditioning – The same effect that an open-door draft will have on the sheen of your balloons is also the effect of direct air-conditioning. Within 30 minutes, the will be milky looking, ugly and opaque.

Pitfall #7 – Over-Inflating Balloons – I think that this is the cardinal crime of would-be balloon artists and most beginners. The art of balloon decorating is achieved by slightly under-inflating your balloons less than their full capacity, making sure that each balloon is the exact same size as the rest.

And now I would like to invite you to get your Free Instant Access of 3 Chapters of my book “How To Become A Balloon Artist and Make Up To $100,000 A Year” and instant Free access to my WEEKLY video tips of “Balloon Decoration Ideas” which will show you how to set up and start your own profitable home-based balloon decoration business. You can get your 3 free chapters now and opt-in for the FREE weekly video tips magazine when you go to

http://www.secretsofballoondecorations.com

From Charles Prosper “The Baron of Balloons”

Grow Box Hydroponics Suggestion Guide

Author: Archie K Page
Source: ezinearticles.com

Advantage of choosing a hydroponics grow box manufacturer that produces custom built units versus one-size-fits-all variety.

Purchasing a hydroponics grow box is much like purchasing a car. When you purchase a car you do your due diligence. You do everything you can to read and research everything about your new car before you buy. You should be all over the Internet looking for reviews and articles, blog posts, research on forums and find out everything you can about that car before you buy it. You should definitely visit the manufacturers website multiple times and really study that car from top to bottom. You should memorize all this specification and attribute that car has. You know how fast it car can accelerate from 0 mph to 60 mph.. You know how much gas that car use is on the highway and how much gas it uses on the road. And you definitely want to know how much horsepower that car has under the hood.

So why would purchasing a hydroponics grow box be any different? You definitely want to take the time to do the same amount of research on a hydroponics growbox that you would when buying a car because buying the right hydroponics grow-box certainly is a huge decision as well. If you’re in the market for a new hydroponics grow box the first thing I would do is go to the website of the manufacturer of the grow box are interested in and study the specifications and the features of that grow box from top to bottom.

What you really want to do is familiarize yourself with the technologies and the features that are available in that in that specific growbox. Every hydroponics grow-box is a little bit different in terms of the features you are actually getting. Don’t mistake the clean outer shell of growbox as being as simple as a box. There’s a lot more to grow box than what meets the eye. A lot of grow box machines all look the same at first glance. Much like a car might look the same at first glance as most of them have four tires, windshields and a dashboard. But grow-boxes can contain very different components under the hood much as a car has. While in the case of a hydroponics growbox features you would look for is the amount of lighting and wattages used, the fans that are used and they’re CFM rating, the size of the carbon scrubber installed on a growbox machines are all very important. These are all need to know specifications that you should memorize to make a good buying decision. Some manufacturers will try to rip you off by lower offering lower quality fans, or a small or nonexistent carbon scrubber that will do little to remove your grow odors. So if you really want to take the time to get to know the details of the website manufacturer as much as possible and really get to know the features and specifications of the hydroponics grow-box that you’re interested in .

The next thing you would want to do is take a look at some other manufacturers grow boxes. Now what you want to do is to compare specifications closely. Take a look at the lighting systems for instance. How wattages and lamps matchup? Do the other manufacturers offer features such as vertically mounted florescent lights on their grow-boxes? Beware of manufacturers that simply offer one type primary HID lighting systems and not a variety of various types of lights. You also want to take a look at the size the fans and blowers used on the growbox system. If the growbox manufacturer is simply using inexpensive computer fans to cool the growbox you might want to check with other manufacturers to see if they are offering the same or more powerful fans within your price range. If a manufacturer is using large squirrel cage blower fan to keep their grow-box running cool that is a very good sign. Be sure to pay close attention to the differences in features, options, and fan, as well as lighting when comparing various grow boxes from different manufacturers to one another within your same price range

You should also beware of manufacturers that offer a one-size-fits-all variety grow-box. A lot of growbox manufacturers will try to sell you a hydroponics growbox with just a minimal amount of features and options. This means when you purchase your growbox you’re lucky if you can choose more than they a CO2 system and may be some extra nutrients go along with the system you are purchasing. Take a look if the grow box manufacturer offers features and options that you are really going to need into the future. Another thing you can look for when purchasing a grow box is whether the manufacturer offers a system that is totally automated, which takes out all the work of adjusting pH levels and adding water and nutrients your grow box system. This type of automation really gives you back a lot of your time and makes it a lot easier to use your new hydroponics grow box. I would definitely recommend a hydroponics grow box that is capable of maintaining itself. The next thing you would look for is whether or not various grow box manufacturers offer features such as air conditioning to keep your unit running cool. A lot of users will not get high success rates when growing indoors because of their grow boxes run too hot. What you’re looking for is the manufacturer that offers air conditioning and very powerful squirrel cage blower fans to keep their grow-box systems running extremely cool at all times.

If you’re interested in learning more about hydroponics completely free of charge I would highly recommend checking out this hydroponics grow box website linked with this article. They have a free hydroponics tutorials section that covers the use of grow boxes and how to get the most out of them. Various tutorials include pH adjustment and other necessary skills that you’ll need when growing with hydroponics in a grow box or in a spare room.

Hydroponics Grow Box Tips and Suggestions by Archie Page http://www.homegrown-hydroponics.com.

1 Bedroom Tampa Apartments

Author: Chad Fisher
Source: articlesbase.com

The Tampa and St. Petersburg area is really growing. There are many companies there creating a lot of new jobs and attracting investment from all over the world.ÂIf you are new to the area, it would behoove you to look for an apartment to rent instead of jumping in to buy a home. You can always buy a house later, but get to know the area by looking at the rental market and seeing whre you want to live in the greater Tampa Bay area. The Reflections Apartment in Tampa has great deals on 3 and 4 bedroom units. They are over eleven hundred square feet and start at $423 a unit. There is onsite laundry, fitness center, high speed internet access, basketball court, volleyball court, air conditioning and a pool. With all these lovely amenities you should definitely give these apartments a chance. Studio apartments at the Countrywood complex in Tampa Bay start at $499 and are over 450 square feet in size with one bathroom. Enjoy on-site laundry, air conditioning, pool, dishwasher and a fitness center and many other great benefits to living at the Countrywood. The beaches in Tampa are spectacular – Clearwater beach is suchÂa great place to go and the warm Gulf water is great to take a dip in. There are many shopping malls in the area as well as great restaurants – you will never be hurting for something to do. The cost of living in north Florida is extremely reasonable so expect your hard earned dollar to go a long way for buying essentials like groceries, utilities and clothing.

Peruse the latest Tampa Bay apartments for rent and finally a place with all the amenities you are looking for here at http://www.apartmentsforrenttoday.com/

Most of a Conservatory is Glass! Here is What You Need to Know

Author: Nate Rodnay
Source: ezinearticles.com

Your new conservatory or orangery will incorporate large areas of glass and your choice of glazing type is very important – the following will guide you through the different options and explain how the various choices will affect the way in which you use the new space you have created.

Solar Controlled
The direction in which your conservatory faces will dictate what type of glass would be most appropriate. A north-facing conservatory will have a different glass requirement to a southwest-facing one simply because it is exposed to less direct sunlight.

High performance glass can prove very expensive – choosing solar control glass to keep you warm in winter and cool in summer can cost as much as £3,000 more than you would pay for standard double-glazing. However, this investment can prove very worthwhile.

Scientific tests completed at the height of summer show that standard double glazed conservatories could reach temperatures of 149°C, rendering the building inhabitable. Solar glass will reduce the room temperature by 64°C, leaving the interior only 10°C greater than the temperature outside. By adding comfort cooling, or air conditioning, you can reduce the temperate even further to create the ultimate climate-controlled environment.

Insulating
The thermal efficiency of glass is measured in U values – the lower this value the greater the ability of the glass to keep you warm. Therefore, select glass with a sufficiently low U value and to ensure your conservatory or orangery is warm and comfortable in winter. Some vendors also add an Argon gas to the inner gap between the two glazing layers to further enhance the heat retaining performance, if required.

Government guidelines recommend Pilkington K glass, but that glass and specification is no longer acceptable according to experts. A standard glass that achieves a U value of 1.1 is recommended- this means a heat loss reduction of about 55% compared to the Government’s recommended standard Pilkington K glass.

Self-Cleaning
There is no such thing as totally self-clean glass. There is, however, the option of easy clean-glass. This specialist glass allows rainwater to wash away a considerable amount of the dirt and grime. Whilst it won’t mean you can do away with your window cleaner, it will reduce the work required by around 80%.

Security & Safety
This is a crucial concern to be taken very seriously – your peace of mind is of paramount importance. Expert vendors incorporate a special glass that is virtually unbreakable and even supply bulletproof glass!

Locking systems are constantly evolving but professional burglars keep up to date with all the latest developments. Many now attempt to break in by cutting through the door hinges. Specialists counter this threat by adding additional features to your doors, which make the task considerably more difficult for potential intruders.

Living In Your New Space
You obviously want to make full use of your conservatory or orangery the whole year round. This means designing adequate heating, cooling and ventilating systems, after due consideration of the orientation of the structure and how much direct sunlight it will receive.

In winter, a conservatory or orangery can become too cold for comfort and extending your existing central heating system may be the most practical solution. Electric convector heaters can also provide instant heating options, while underfloor heating is a space saving and efficient alternative. Climate-controlled air conditioning can prove a worthwhile investment for the summer. Roof blinds reduce heat and glare from direct sunlight and may be essential if your conservatory or orangery is south facing.

All of these considerations are matters where an expert’s knowledge and extensive experience will prove invaluable.

Breckenridge offerd the most comprehensive choice of conservatories, contemporary extensions and orangery in a choice of materials as well as a range of pool enclosures, summer houses and windows & doors.

Emergency LED lights does not tax the electrical system of the vehicle

Author: Sunil Punjabi
Source: articlesbase.com

Since power is required for the operation of various things within the car like headlights, cooling fans, air conditioning, emergency lights, radio, camera, or computers, the normal electricity system of a vehicle is often not able cope with these myriad demands. But emergency LED lights use less than one-fourth the power of other types of emergency lights. So, in vehicles that use emergency lights, the electrical system is not over-taxed. Emergency lights are giving all other types of emergency lights a run for their money these days. Despite the fact that they don’t come cheap, emergency LED lights are beating others in competition at many levels because some of its features are highly attractive to users. Besides the brightness of emergency LED lights, and its astonishingly long life span of nearly 100,000 hours, something that endears it to users is its low energy consumption. Satisfying the energy requirements of any vehicle, even those that do not require emergency LED lights, is not easy because power is needed for a whole lot of things like engine cooling fans, headlights, ignition coils, radio, air conditioning, and a host of other car interior comforts. The power for all this is provided by what is known as alternator, which takes it from the gasoline engine and converts it into the form of energy necessary to power these contraptions. With police vehicles that may require many extras like computers, cameras, and emergency lights, whether those lights are emergency LED lights or not, the pressure on the vehicle’s electrical system is comparatively higher. Because of the array of equipments inside a police vehicle that need proper electrical supply, even when the alternator is at its functional best, the energy produced is not sufficient to run all the implements and peripherals. When the energy that comes via the alternator is not enough to power the stuff, the system relies on the reserve power supplied by the battery. It is in the background of such exacting power demands that emergency LED lights become very useful. When power provided by the alternator is not sufficient for a police vehicle, users try to manage the extra power demand by connecting a pulley to the alternator to make it spin faster and generate more power, or by having extra batteries installed in the vehicle. However, none of these are foolproof solutions. It is not cost effective because high performing batteries do not come cheap. And manipulating the alternator results in its wear and tear faster, thus making the whole exercise a losing battle in the long term. The demands that emergency LED lights makes on the vehicle’s electrical system is at the most one-fourth of what other conventional emergency lights like halogen or strobe will make. Depending upon the size of the vehicle and the size of the emergency lights used it could even be one-fifth. So the question of accelerating the alternator, and thereby sending it to the repair shop before its time, does not arise at all so far as one is using emergency lights. There will also be no need to invest in heavy-duty batteries. Because emergency LED lights consume only limited electricity, it leaves enough power for other necessities like computer, camera, radar, or whatever else the police require for efficient functioning. Extreme Electrical Dynamics is a one-stop shop for emergency LED lights and many other items like Strobe Lights, Flashlights, Sirens, Deck Lights, etc. Please visit the site for more details of various items available – http://www.extremetacticaldynamics.com/

I am a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP,MCSD, MCAD.Net,MCSD.Net, MCP-.Net 2.0). I have been conducting Training and Certification Guidance for Microsoft Certifications for the past 8 years. I also own and manage a Web Design and Development Company and a SEO/SEM Company. I also like to write Articles on various subjects.

Senior at Home Care – Heat Precautions For the Elderly

Author: Patty Adams
Source: ezinearticles.com

Seniors are especially prone to complications related to exposure to excessive heat. Now that we are in the midst of our summer weather, seniors and their family and friends should be aware of the risks to older citizens during excessively hot weather. You may hear that a “heat advisory” or “excessive heat advisory” has been issued by the national weather service. But exactly what does that means?

A Heat Advisory is issued when there is a heat index of 105 degrees Fahrenheit but less than 115 degrees Fahrenheit for less than 3 hours per day or nighttime lows above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. An Excessive Heat Warning is issued when the heat index is at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit for more than 3 hours per day for 2 consecutive days, or when the heat index is more than 115 degrees Fahrenheit for any period of time.

General symptoms of heat-induced illness include:

- increased body temperature

- extremely hot and dry skin

- strong, rapid pulse rate

- throbbing headache

- dizziness

- vomiting

- nausea

Additionally, seniors should be aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat Exhaustion symptoms include:

- heavy sweating

- weakness

- skin cold, pale and clammy

- weak and shallow pulse

- vomiting and fainting possible

The following are symptoms of Heat Stroke:

- high body temperature (106 degrees or higher)

- skin hot and dry

- rapid and strong pulse

- possible unconsciousness

*Heat Stroke is a Severe Medical Emergency* Seek help immediately.

Older people don’t adjust well to extreme heat. This is due to increased heat production and a lessened ability to dissipate heat. Medications can also cause an older adult to have trouble tolerating heat, therefore causing the heart to become overworked in its efforts to assist in the body’s cooling system. It’s a good idea for friends, neighbors, and relatives to check in on seniors during extreme temperatures.

Here are some tips for seniors dealing with the heat.

- Drink plenty of water. Drink 2-4 cups of fluid per hour. If you are going out, take a water bottle with you. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.

- Eat smaller, lighter meals

- Keep your home cool with air conditioning or a fan. If you don’t have air conditioning or a fan, go to a place that does such as your local senior center, mall, library, movie theater, or place of worship.

- Wear loose fitting, lightweight clothing. When outside, wear a hat and sunscreen

- Avoid exercise or exertion, especially during the hottest parts of the day.

- Be aware that some of your medications may cause greater sun sensitivity. Consult your doctor about your medications and the heat.

Patty Adams is the Marketing Officer of CareGrade. CareGrade is a free, web based referral service for families searching for senior care services such as home care or assisted living. For more information, go to http://www.caregrade.com or call 856-273-9980