Selection
Cooling Options – Evaporative Cooling
A common standard builder’s cooling option is evaporative cooling. This is probably because they are relatively cheap to install. They also have fairly low power consumption as you are basically only running a fan. So whats the down side? Evaporative…
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Garage – Planning a Workshop
I was walking home the other day and saw this amazingly equipped workshop which made me feel quite jealous! We can’t all have separate workshops so here are some thoughts about planning a workshop in your new house garage. Solid…
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Construction Locks
Have you ever thought about who has keys for the locks on the doors of your new house? After all there are lot’s of tradies working on the house after ‘Lock Up’ stage. Well these days most builders use Construction…
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Electrical Planning – Outside
A lot of people forget all about outside electrical work. . . but it can make a big difference to how much easier it makes things. I have listed some of the electrical things you might like to think about….
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Choosing Basins
We are currently planning to remodel the bathroom in our retirement unit. While looking at basins and vanity tops you can see me demonstrating what I see as a major Issue with most basins. Centrally mounted mixers that are in…
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Rendered Foam Walls
This addendum was added to an original Post from 2014 as there has been a lot of publicity recently (late February 2019) about foam panels and certification has been removed from certain types of panels. A particular issue for apartment…
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Conventional or Rimless Toilet
Since Thomas Crapper* refined toilet design over 130 years ago toilets have had a turned over “box’ rim at the top like the one in this photo. * Yes Thomas Crapper was a real person . . . .check the link…
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Lighting Levels
There are two elements when considering Lighting levels for your new house. Electrical Power (Watts) Amount of Light (Lumens) Watts In the old days with incandescent bulbs it used to be simple, bulbs came in 40, 60 and 100watts and…
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The Hole In Your Ceiling
I was in a DIY store the other day and they had a display of extraction fans in front of a window. It’s quite revealing how much of a hole is in your ceiling they make when you see it…
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Ground Sourced Heat Pumps
Did you know you can you use your garden to heat your home? Many of us use reverse cycle air conditioners to heat and cool their homes. These unit are are ‘Air Sourced’ heat pump that: Extracts heat from the…
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