Monthly Archive: April 2015
Sensor Switches
Fed up with lights being left on! Why not plan some internal sensor switches for your new home. Unlike the sensor lights commonly used for outdoors its common to have a sensor switch wired into the lighting circuit rather than a…
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Solar Electricity To Heat Water
Do you need a separate solar hot water system? Could you just heat the water by electricity generated by your Photo Voltaic (PV) solar cells? I have carried out a desktop exercise to help you review the options. Solar Water…
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Optus + NBN – FAIL
Since the National Broadband Network (NBN) became available in our area our story of customer service with Optus has been appalling! Stage 1 At the end of March we tried to use the Optus on line system to book an installation. After…
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Pallet Furniture – Win or Fail?
So the house cost a lot more than your original budget . . . . and now you can’t afford furniture! No worries all you need is a few 2nd hand pallets! It’s an interesting idea so it…
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What are Green Walls? and Why are they so Spectacular?
Guest post by Hubert Dwight Green walls, known by a variety of names, including living walls, eco walls, vertical gardens or bio walls, are one of the biggest design trends of our era. Originally developed in 1938, green walls were then…
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Reinforcement In Slabs
I regularly hear the question “Where should the reinforcement mesh go in slabs?” Well here is some advice. . . . Understanding The Materials Concrete – Strong in Compression, but weak in Tension. Steel Reinforcement– Strong in Tension, and strong in…
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Don’t Cut The Hedge!
It Might Bite Back! I saw this impressive shark hedge during a recent holiday. It is in Railton, the Topiary Town, of Northern Tasmania. I didn’t count them but there are 150 living sculptures around the town with some very…
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Tripsafe Cable Covers
Have you ever tripped over electrical cable snaking across the floor? I know I have . . . . more than once! It’s a common problem if you want to use an electrical device well away from a wall, such…
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Update on Solar Power, and Tariffs
To get the best benefit from Grid Connected Solar Power you need to be up to date with the latest tariffs that apply to your installation. These days the Feed In Tariff (FIT) is much less than a few years ago. Power…
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Electrical Abbrevations
Looking at an electrical plan, or reading an electrical specification, and wondering what all the abbreviations are? Well here are some of the more common ones you may encounter, many with links to other posts: 3ph – Three Phase Power…
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