Selection
Thermal Mass for Heating
If you read up about energy efficiency you will come across the expression ‘Thermal Mass’ . . . . . . but what is it? . . . . . and how does it work? Materials with Thermal Mass The…
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The Risk Of Too Much Security
As I visit lots of houses I often wonder if some houses have too much security. I see lots of houses with roller shutters or even steel gratings over the windows like these. Quite often when I ring the bell…
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Smart Wiring and Wireless
Well ‘Smart Wiring’ is really a generic term that covers anything from control of home automation, to high speed data services. Probably the best descriptions is to talk about ‘Hard Wired’ and ‘Wireless’ components with a well set up new…
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Brick ‘Bulldust’
I hear a lot of people agonise over the choice of bricks for their new house. That’s probably because they are: Looking Too Closely. At the builders display centre you may be handed individual bricks or see a board with…
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Bathroom Fashion 2
There are a lot of expensive bathroom fittings on the home shows and showrooms, but are they really practical? I saw this wash basin the other day. . . . . .But how do you clean under and behind it?…
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Plumbing Acronyms
There are a lot of acronyms used on plumbing drawings so here are a few definitions: AG – Agricultural (Drains) B – Basin Bth – Bath BT – Boundary Trap DP – Down Pipe FW – Floor Waste HWS –…
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Cooling Options – Add On Refrigerated Cooling
Don’t like the builder’s standard Evaporative Cooling System? A cost effective option I have found to work well is adding a centralised refrigerated unit to the standard ducted heating. This means both systems share the same controls, fans, ducts and outlets…
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Where Is The Other House?
I saw this curious looking house one rainy day. It looks like it’s one house short of a semi-detached pair. I can only assume the owner saw an example of the house and liked the layout so much they thought…
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Noise Insulation – Plasterboard Options
There are a few plasterboard options when looking to improve the noise insulation. These options in increasing order of cost are: Differing Thickness On Each Face By using different and thicker plasterboards on each wall face, say 13mm and 16mm,…
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Understanding Builders
“The Builder is ripping me off!” and ‘The Builder is overcharging for upgrades!” are two comments I hear regularly. Some of these cries may be justified, but a lot are because the customer doesn’t understand the Builder. Why A Builder…
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