Noise & Entryway Progress

Why Is Pinewood Better Than Sheet?

If you’re considering buying or even constructing your own wooden building, be it a dog kennel, kid’s playhouse or garden shed, you may well be wondering which type of material is the best to use. 

You will no doubt want to have a wooden construction that can withstand the elements and will be a lasting feature in your garden. While you may be tempted by sheet wood because of its cost and ease to cut, any good wood supplier will tell you that using solid woods like pinewood will be a far better choice, and here’s why.

Pinewood vs. Sheet

To start with it’s important to recognise the differences between sheet and pinewood, as you can then gain a better understanding of why pinewood is the superior material to use for wooden constructions that will be used outdoors. 

With solid woods like pine, it is taken from one solid wood piece that is then kiln dried to remove the moisture and strengthen the composite of the wood. These solid pieces of wood can then be cut into various sizes and thicknesses, depending on the nature of the construction. However, it’s important to know that as a solid wood they are harder to cut than sheet, so it’s essential to use the correct tools to avoid damaging the wood and to make sure you get an accurate cut. 

Sheets on the other hand are a manufactured material that are made up of multiple layers of thin solid wood, which can be softwood and/or hardwood. These plies of wood are then glued together, and compressed to create one solid sheet of plywood. To increase the strength of the sheet wood, each layer of ply is rotated by 90° as it’s laid, so the wood grains run in different directions. Plywood is relatively easy to cut with the right tools and also comes in a variety of thicknesses and dimension.

The Merits Of Pinewood

Of course, what we’re really interested in is why pinewood is better for wooden constructions such as workshops, tool sheds or summer houses, and the first thing to note is its durability. Pinewoodhas been used for centuries to build houses and the reason for this is because it is incredibly long lasting and robust.

Thus if you’re building even a small structure from wood, you want to make sure the material you use is going to have a long life, given the right treatment and protection of course.Choosing pinewood over sheet will ensure this. As a solid piece of wood that’s been seasoned it will be far better equipped to withstand the elements, whereas sheets are prone to ply separation on the edges in damp or wet conditions. 

Secondly, another aspect to consider is the strength of pinewood versus sheet. While both have good strength qualities, sheets are definitely weaker. When put under heavy strain or weight, such as shelving or holding up a roof, the individual plies making up the sheet can weaken and bow. However, as a solid piece of wood, the pinewood is much stronger; able to take the weight of something like a roof construction with very little chance of bowing. 

To conclude why pinewood is the best choice, you only have to look at the beauty of natural wood. With pinewood you can see the grain of the wood that can be enhanced with varnish. However, sheets require veneers with wood effects or paint to give them an attractive finish. 

Put simply, it’s easy to see why pinewood is better than sheet for something like a wooden garden shed or workshop. Hopefully after reading this you can see the benefits too, but if not don’t despair because at York Timberyou’ll see it all clearly from our high quality range of products.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog UK http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/07/why-is-pinewood-better-than-sheet.html

4 Easy Ways to Spruce up your Interior this Spring

Get your spring preparations underway and really relish spending time in your home again. Check out these 4 top tips.

1. Out with the Clutter

Start off by ridding your home of unnecessary clutter, debris, and unwanted or outdated items. Go through your home room by room and find out what you can recycle, repurpose, give away, sell or throw out. It really helps the spring cleaning process to do this first so that you have enough room to get cleaning and redecorating with the minimum of obstacles and debris in your way.

2. Get The Paintbrush Out

The parts of your home that fade into the background in everyday life are the ones that will need your attention more than ever. Settled dust and residue on your skirting boards, picture rails, doors and windows needs some time and attention. Clean these gently with paint-friendly surface cleaner before you get the brushes out. Adding a new coat of paint on joinery features will help your home look its best – it really is all in the detail. Try out light and bright colour palettes bringing in neutrals and accent colours. Check out the specialist range of paints available from Mighton for all these purposes.

3. Get Creative with your Living Room Décor

Bring in fresh new styles with a new rug or coffee table, put away those winter comforts for now, and focus on getting the best out of your living space for the spring and summer. Whether you’re entertaining or relaxing alone, make your home fresh and cosy with interesting ornaments and statement lighting. Bring in accent colours with home accessories like candles, throws and picture frames. When you’re on a budget, even just rearranging your room can breathe a new lease of life into your home.

4. Bring the Outdoors Inside

Bring in some fresh cut flowers or some potted houseplants for your living room, kitchen or bedroom, and the place will be lit up immediately, air quality will be slowly improved and so will your mood. It’s proven that keeping and tending to plants in our homes has a beneficial impact on our health, as well as looking really on trend. Houseplants like yucca plants, Swiss cheese plants, succulents and cacti are very trendy in interior design at the moment and are easy to look after.

With these tips, your home will look sparkling for spring. A good clear-out works wonders, and makes way for new little touches of décor that will help you love spending time in your home.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog UK http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/07/4-easy-ways-to-spruce-up-your-interior.html

Charlie’s First Vacation

It’s been a while since we had a Charlie update, so I thought it might be fun just to look at how my sweet, wild pup handled her first (and only, to date) vacation since she became a part of the Fogle family.

During my recent road trip up to the Richmond & DC area, Charlie came along for the ride. I have to say, it was quite a treat to take her traveling with me for the first time (normally when I travel, she has a dog sitter or goes to a day camp). She didn’t stay still much, (there were just too many fun things going on), but I did manage to snap a few photos of her throughout the trip. She isn’t the kind of dog who can run around in a new place without a leash, so I bought a tie-out and thought we’d be good to go. Those ears still kill me!

For the record, she did not behave herself very well for the first few days. The first part of the trip started in a place called Deltaville, Virginia, which had a beautiful view (I love those cotton-candy sunsets!) and a convenient dock to enjoy the river. The fireworks spooked her though, and she escaped not one, but three times during the first 48 hours of the trip (I was very embarrassed for inconveniencing people because of it, but everyone was extremely understanding and helped track her down… phew). As a result, she’s now got a brand new harness that seems to really keep my strong but skittish gal in check.

She also really liked barking at the fireflies whenever the sun went down.

But unlike how I struggled at first, Charlie definitely figured out the whole relaxation thing pretty fast. This was, like, Day One.

The guest house pictured in these photos was dog-friendly, so I (thankfully) didn’t have to feel self-conscious when she made herself at home on the furniture (the owner had another dog who was also lounging around, so I guess Charlie just decided to go along with local customs to fit in, ha).

Later on in the trip, Charlie also came along for a quick two-day stay in Virginia Beach. The guy I went with and I thought we were pretty well-covered by finding a dog-friendly hotel, but for whatever reason, the hotel turned out to be several miles away the area of the beach that would actually allow dogs. No matter — we just drove over and walked her down to the water’s edge. Which turned out to be… well… interesting.

Before this, Charlie had never seen sand, the ocean, or understood any part of how that environment worked. For a dog who gets nervous just trying to go from rug to hardwood floors, it’s putting it mildly that Charlie was kind of uncomfortable with the whole concept (except watching all of the other dogs happily running around, digging, and running into the ocean, that is). Sadly, she lasted all of five whole minutes.

The second that evil, cold ocean water hit her front paw (about 30 seconds after I snapped the photo above), she did her best impersonation of a dog in real, mortal danger and promptly flipped out. We took her back to the hotel and continued the trip, but with a few more funny memories for me to share. :)

Charlie may have handled the whole trip pretty much exactly the opposite way I did (relaxation = instantaneous, enjoyable activities for humans = made of NOPE), but I’m thrilled I got to have my crazy pup along for the ride. She is suck a kook, and every new experience is a guaranteed riot!

Have you ever taken your dog on vacation? How do they handle it?

The post Charlie’s First Vacation appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/charlies-first-vacation/

DIY Disasters - What To Do When It All Goes Wrong

More and more homeowners are keen to save themselves a fortune and tackle some DIY at home. It’s true that the cost of skilled labour doesn’t come cheap. But if you make a mistake, you may be costing yourself more money overall. Lots of us have dabbled in DIY at some point. Perhaps you’ve tackled the painting and decorating. Or maybe you’ve had a go at installing a new kitchen. Whether the project is big or small, things can go wrong. You may need to react quickly to get it put right.

Lots of us have had some bother with dishwashers, washing machines, sinks, and baths. The drainage system can get blocked, or the tap fittings simply aren’t compatible. Even if you pay for installation when you buy your appliance, some stores won’t fit in the new plumbing if it isn’t already there and right for the machine. But if you get this wrong, you could be in for big trouble!

This pic is from Flickr

As soon as you spot something isn’t right with the plumbing, it’s best to call out an emergency plumber. Pick one with a rapid response. The more water that leaks over your home, the more damage it will cause. Water has a nasty habit of getting into every nook and cranny. In just a few weeks you may have mould growing in places you can’t even reach. Put a good size bucket in place to catch the leaks, and have a spare on hand for when you need to empty it. Use towels to shore up the spread of water on the floor.

Most of us know to double check the location of pipes and wiring before we bang nails into the walls. Even so, it’s quite common to get caught out. If you’ve hit a wire, don’t attempt to retrieve the nail. Instead, turn off the power at your main trip switch box if it hasn’t already tripped. This will avoid the risk of electrocution. Damaged wires could, in rare cases, become a fire hazard. It’s best to have them checked out by an electrician.

This pic is from Flickr

Hanging a new door can give you an enormous sense of pride. It’s such a cumbersome job! But when you come to realise that you’ve locked yourself out in the process, your pride can quickly turn to embarrassment. An emergency locksmith can normally get you out of a fix. This will save you having to damage any part of your house to regain access. Home security is very important, so it’s worth the extra cost to avoid any problems.

Bought the wrong size? Most DIY stores are very good about swapping products if you get your measurements wrong. But if you’ve cut a length of wood or metal wrong, there is little you can do other than starting over. Another trip to the DIY store may be in order! Many of us have tried to salvage little mistakes like this but then been unsatisfied with the quality of finish at the join. It’s up to you and perhaps your budget how you approach this one. Sometimes it’s just quicker and easier to start again.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog UK http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/07/more-and-more-homeowners-are-keen-to.html

One Project In, One Project Out

Hey, friends! I was going to share a vacation recap today, but I decided to toss that aside in consideration of some recent events that I’m still trying to process (the only details I’m going to share about it right now are here, but thanks to those of you who have already left comments). Charlie’s recap will still be on its way because her experience was just too damn funny not to share, but for today, I think it’s better to focus on what it is that I do best: start projects (finishing them is a whole other story, though).

One of these is happening in the interior of the house, while the other is a huge project I’m super excited about, and both are hopefully going to make my home a lot more guest friendly.

Organizing the Entryway

It’s been a long while since I did anything to the entryway area, and I realized when I got home from my road trip that this…

… is just ridiculous. This little nook has been really tough for me to figure out how to organize, but the main issue is that because it’s not pretty or helpful in any way, I use it as a dumping ground. I hardly ever use the closet, and I brought the coat rack down from the guest bedroom because I kept tossing coats on the bench instead of hanging them up (I’m not proud of the sheer laziness of that, but we all fall into really annoying habits sometimes).

Almost everything above that you see in that picture needs to be installed somewhere else in the house (mostly upstairs), but when I lug things in from the car, this is where it goes first. I’ve been working with a hardware company this summer, so they have sent me a package full of goodies to help turn this into something that doesn’t make me audibly groan anymore. I have some fun ideas, and I’m looking forward to seeing it come together.

Leveling Out the Back Yard

Ok, so I’ve taken out trees, moved plants over, built some garden beds, and done some makeover stuff back here before, but I’m excited to finally announce that I’m going to begin one of my biggest projects ever. There will be video. There will be lots and lots of labor and sweat. And pretty soon, a spiffy new place to entertain. And, it’s all going to be thanks to one amazing brand partnership that I’ll be sharing with you guys soon. But first, let’s just just take a quick glimpse at what we’re now going to call the “before” photo:

And just for shits and giggles, some really lazy Photoshopping to demonstrate my excitement about what’s going to be happening. Boom!

I’m going to be renting a giant toy* (eep!) and using it to move the large dirt mound on the left side of the yard into the depressed area along the back (you guys might recall me talking about this sink hole problem before). Then, I’m going to probably have to grab some extra fill dirt to level things out even more. And once that’s done, I’m going to add a shed back here (remember, the garage isn’t very large, and having extra storage space for the garden supplies will be so helpful) and build a large area that will be my new spot for entertaining (the tiny cement patio that I’ve worked on before will get some updates as well, but it will be used as a separate space… hopefully for a grill).

Will all of that happen this summer? Ha! Shit no. I have other projects already going on that need to be addressed as well, so I’ll be happy if just the ground gets leveled out and I don’t do anything stupid. But since even that is a giant first step, I’m going to recap the whole thing in a few posts and show you how it’s done. Can you tell how excited I am?!?! My personal life is kind of a shit sundae right now, but this? THIS. My friends have offered to take me to a gun range to do some target practice as a form of catharsis, but I chuckled and thought to myself, “actually… I think I have a better idea!”

*For the record, I know this is a serious piece of machinery, so I’m going to be safe about it and will be encouraging you guys to do the same in the upcoming tutorials. But I’m just also already giddy at thinking of how badass I’m going to feel sitting in this thing, which is kind of funny when you consider how much I loath mowing my grass.

Alrighty, enough for now. I need to go hit something with a hammer.

The post One Project In, One Project Out appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/one-project-one-project/

Kitchen Details: The Sink

I’ve been asked a number of times recently what my favorite project is to date, and hands down, it’s still the kitchen (so far). I especially love the area around the kitchen window: the striped window treatment, the sill for my succulents (one of the few spots in the house that gets a good amount of morning sun), the new faucet, and my ultra-deep undermount stainless sink.

I already covered all the details about the faucet in a previous post here, but I also promised at the time to eventually share the details about the sink and answer some FAQs that come my way. So, I’m back today to give you a little bit more detail about it and how I maintain the surrounding countertops. Now that I’ve been using this sink for a few years, I’ve gone through a little trial and error and found what works (and even though this post is not sponsored, there are a few referral links in here that help support this site if you were to buy products off of my recommendations, magic-internet style… for more info, you can grab details on my disclosure page).

The sink: it’s awesome. But in the below picture, it’s also dirty (I did that on purpose, just hold on a sec).

I had a beat up old double sink before, but one of the things I loved about this one was that it was a single basin and deep. It was provided to me several years ago by a local company called National Builders Supply, now more simply known as Supply.com (they are based in Austell, GA, which is where I grew up).

This exact model is made by Houzer (similar smaller version here), and my favorite part has to be the drain grooves at the bottom (for whatever reason, they just look more upscale me). I also like the curved corners, though I’ll admit that I was in quite a panic when cutting the hole into the countertop didn’t work out quite as perfectly as I expected.:

The sink undermounts to the butcher block counters, which can pose two main issues: water splashing up and leaving spots on the surrounding lip of the counters, and rust stains in the sink (you can see one in the basin below on the right side). But hey, since this blog is all about lessons learned in DIY, I wanted to share all about how I’ve gotten around these two problems and keep the sink area looking pristine.

As you can see from the close-up photo below, these are those water spots I was talking about. Usually, I’m pretty good about wiping the sink down if anything splashes out, but I’m also not the most diligent about oiling down the counter on a regular basis (I do it only every few months, tbh). As a result, stray water spots form on the counter around the lip of the sink pretty easily. From day to day, this isn’t really all that bothersome, because you can’t really see it unless you get closer.

And whenever I have wet hands or water the plants along the window sill, sometimes a water drop or two will cause the wood to show a few spots along the back of the sink area. It’s normal for butcher block to show some “character” over a few years of use, but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind! Luckily, there are two products that solve these issues for me every time.

How I clean my stainless steel sink

It probably goes without saying that when it comes to cleaning, I would rather literally haul rocks first. So I make every effort to find a product that does as much as it can for as little effort as possible.

The solution that eventually worked for me is Bar Keepers Friend, which now comes in a convenient spray bottle.

I just spray the foam on and let it sit for a few minutes, then use a little elbow grease to remove rust marks, residues, water marks, old veggie grime, and anything else that falls into the sink (like stray leaves that fell off one of the plants, for example). It quickly polishes to a nice shine, and then I can move on doing things… like not cleaning the sink. End of story.

How I remove water spots on butcher block

For water spots, I use the same exact oil and wax treatment that I’ve been using since I first installed the counters: Howard Butcher Block Conditioner.

I’ll usually throw it in the microwave to nuke it for a few seconds to get the wax to flow out of the tube easier, but I apply it with either a little paper toweling or old t-shirt fabric (since it’s well-washed, it doesn’t produce lint).

I slather the mixture on and let it soak into the wood, usually overnight. Anything else that doesn’t soak in gets wiped back off (to keep the surface from feeling gummy). Sometimes, it takes a couple of applications for spots to totally disappear, but the almost always do.

For anything stubborn, I run a little bit of sandpaper over it, clean off debris, and then oil. Works like a charm.

Thanks to the deeper sink, I’m a lot better about keeping the kitchen looking more cleaned up — I know that there are plenty of folks who are Team “Beside The Sink”, but the deeper basin is great for folks like me on Team “In The Sink”! For you Team “Immediately In The Dishwasher” people, well… being perfect must be nice. ;)

As I mentioned, there was a mistake made when the hole for the sink was cut during its install; the blade bent out around the curve, cutting the underside of the corners closest to the edge a little too much. My uncle and I did our best to help hide it as much as possible (once I stopped freaking out, that is) by cutting a small sliver by hand, re-attaching with wood glue, and filling with a little walnut putty.

The color of the putty doesn’t take the oil as richly as the rest of the wood, so I might someday go back in and darken those spots a little, but I really don’t notice it anymore. It’s on the inside right corner of the sink, so when you’re looking around the room, it’s pretty much invisible because it faces away and your eyes are drawn elsewhere (plus, imperfections in butcher block that are filled with small bits of putty isn’t totally unheard of).

But anyway, one small piece of the puzzle has been figured out, and I love the view!

What’s your favorite feature in your kitchen?

For more info on the kitchen makeover and progress to where we are now, check out the House Tour pages.

The post Kitchen Details: The Sink appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/kitchen-details-sink/

DIY Courage Tonight & Speaking at the Haven Conference!

If you’re one of my friends or one of the people I’ve met IRL from this blog, you probably wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I’d told you that I came out of the womb an extrovert. My mom has often reminded me that even as a preschooler, I couldn’t leave the house without running into someone I knew — a teacher, someone from church, the parent of a classmate, etc. — and I’d stop what I was doing to have a quick chat. At times, that would go to extremes, like disappearing from my mom to wind up in the next aisle over, conversing with (to her) an adult stranger. But, child safety issues aside, I had very little fear of speaking to people I barely knew. It also explains why I rarely left the house as a teen without insisting on makeup (hmm, or maybe that’s maybe just being your average teenage girl).

Anyway, the thing is this: I enjoy meeting new people, being in new situations, and often feel zero fear when it comes to combining those two things… as long as its only a few people at a time. Once you throw in a sizable amount of eyes and ears paying attention, all of my confidence dissolves like a raccoon eating cotton candy. There’s just something about standing alone in front of a crowd — mouth open, my usual lack of filter ready to let the first thing tumble out — that utterly terrifies me. So naturally, for most of my life, I avoided it as much as possible.

Fast forward to getting my MBA, and I was forced to work on this crippling fear and make an effort to turn it into a legitimate skill. After all, businesses need people to do things like present and persuade and such, so I found the communications class (where we literally had to record and watch ourselves awkwardly honing our skills) extremely helpful (awkward and scary, but helpful). Face your fears and jump in head first, right?

The blog was also growing a sizable amount during that time, and I realized that eventually — whether I was ever going to be comfortable or not — I’d have to put myself in front of an audience. Over the years, I’ve pushed myself to test the waters every now and then — with an online TV series, with Youtube, and lately, with live streaming (you guys were AWESOME to speak with on Facebook Live, so I’m definitely doing that again!). But I guess I just wanted to give you some background so that you understand how big of a deal these next few things are going to be for me… because they are probably going to be the biggest ones yet!

Tonight: #DIYCourage

It’s a little late to have all of you know about this live (I signed up for it kind of last minute, so that’s on me), but regardless, I’ll have the link up and you can tune in tonight or you can check it out after the discussion. My friend Brittany (Pretty Handy Girl) asked me to hop on her DIY Courage chat this evening at 8:30 EST to discuss my ongoing projects and share a few stories (some of which you guys might not have heard before!). Sara Bendrick, host of DIY Network’s I Hate My Yard, will also be hosting, and Lee Dahlberg, a model/actor/comedian/artist will also be joining. If you want to know more about it, you can check out Brittany’s post and click here to join us at 8:30 EST. There will also be a $100 gift card giveaway during the talk!

Again, here’s the link! DIY Courage

Next Month: Haven Conference!

Many of you who regularly read DIY blogs probably know about the Haven Conference already; it’s DIY & decorating professional blogging conference that always happens in Atlanta, GA every summer, and one I’ve attended several times before (recap 1 / recap 2 / recap 3). I’m not kidding when I say that without this conference, I might not have some of my best and closest blog friendships (which grew to becoming lots of IRL friends).

So if you’ve never gone, now’s the time to reconsider. This time, it’ll be August 5-7, and if you’ve visited their website recently, you’ll see a new picture on the Speakers page this year: mine!

If you’re wondering what we’re going to be talking about, here’s the summary we wrote for the conference schedule:

What in the heck makes a “good pin” these days? How do I find viral Facebook content? What Instagram strategies still work? In this course, Sarah, Jenna, and Amy will walk you step by step (and spill their secrets) of utilizing their favorite social media to power your blog’s growth. You’ll learn about various social media strategies including how to master both Google and Pinterest analytics to maximize your Pinterest potential, how to best network with peers and influencers, and increase your total reach with a multi-pronged approach. Come prepared for a no-frills, no-BS talk on actual strategies (when, what, how many, etc.) and maybe a few laughs.

Luckily, I have two spectacular bloggers on the panel with me. We’ve already been making lots of jokes about having a swear jar up at the front to keep us in check.

Amy (Mod Podge Rocks, Washi Tape Crafts, DIY Candy) and I have been friends for a number of years now. She is incredibly savvy and basically the entrepreneur I wish I could be — books, product lines, several successful blogs, etc. I pretty much want to be her when I grow up. But perhaps the most amazing thing about Amazing Amy (in my opinion) is that she’s a true cheerleader and supports other bloggers. In fact, she was my very first design client before I’d even thought about forming a business for doing web design services (no joke, I offered to help her on something simple and she immediately asked if I wanted to design her soon-to-launch site, DIY Candy… and my business was born). I’m sure that our discussion will be enlightening with just her on the panel by itself! Maybe I can be comic relief.

Other than her questionable preference for cheap beer (ha — sorry, I’m a local craft gal), Jenna (Rain on a Tin Roof) is awesome. Her style is incredible and unique, but I think what I like most is that she’s fearlessly real. She’s also obsessed with Pinterest analytics, which is why she joined our speaker panel for Haven.

——-

That’s it for now, but with a slew of outdoor projects coming up later this summer, I’m planning on doing several more Facebook Live and YouTube videos to show you guys some more hands-on stuff. You can go ahead and subscribe to those now so you’ll get the notifications as soon as they begin, but until then, I hope I see a couple of you join for the DIY Courage chat tonight!

The post DIY Courage Tonight & Speaking at the Haven Conference! appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/speaking-at-the-haven-conference/

How To Make Your Home More Energy Effiecient With These Helpful Tips

After buying your home, maintaining it and paying the bills can be quite costly. So many of us strive to reduce the bills as much as we can. We may meal plan to reduce the food bill; we might shop around for the best insurance quotes. You may search around for the best energy deals, and that’s great. But could you be missing out on something else? This is where looking at how efficient your home is can help. So I thought it would be a great time to consider some of the helpful tips that can make your home more energy efficient.

Sourced image

Insulate your home

Insulating the walls and loft space is a great way to make your home more energy efficient. Insulating helps keep heat in the home instead of escaping. So you are less likely to waste energy by letting warm air escape through the roof and the walls. While this helps during the cold winter, you will also find insulation has benefits in the summer. It allows cool air to stay in the home when it is hot outside, making your home cooler. Insulation can save you money on air conditioning and your heating bills.

Take a look at your windows and doors

In the same way, heat can escape through your windows and doors. They can also let cold drafts in and make your home inefficient. This is where considering revamping your windows with some Quality Double Glazing can make a big difference to your energy usage. With the benefit of double glazed windows, it means you can not only just save on your heating. It allows you to open up your blinds and curtains and let sunlight in. Reducing the number of lights needing to be switched on, and therefore the amount of electricity being used.

Sourced

Replace old appliances

Some older appliances can use up more electricity than new energy efficient ones. So replacing the older ones could save you a lot of money on the electric bills. Make sure you look out for appliances that have the Energy rating star grade. This will ensure you are investing in the right products.

Use your appliances wisely

Many of us stick our televisions on standby and think that’s good, but your TV is still being supplied energy that you aren’t using. The same goes for keeping appliances plugged in with the switch set to on. We need to reassess how we use our appliances. This means switching things off properly, and even unplugging them completely when you go on holiday.

Consider solar panels

Solar energy is much cheaper to use than electricity in your home, so why not consider adding them to your home. They can not only supply energy for you to use your kettle and washing machine, but they can also be used to heat your water. They may cost initially to be installed, but in the long term, they can offer big financial savings.

Sourced

Save your rainwater

Why not consider adding a rainwater tank to your garden and home. This then collects any rainfall that would initially just be wasted. Rain water can then be used to water the plants and lawns, which can save on your water bill.

I hope these tips help make your home more energy efficient.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog UK http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/07/how-to-make-your-home-more-energy.html

Time Tips: How to Stop Feeling Too Busy