Category: Settling in

Light ‘Colour’

When you are buying a light bulb you may have noticed the box says things like “Warm White” or “Daylight White” but what does it mean? . . . . . . and which should you buy?

Colour Temperature

Light colour  is measured using the ‘Colour Temperature’ and is quoted in Kelvins (K).

A higher Kelvin temperature means the colour is cool. while lower K temperatures are warmer colours. (No wonder it can be confusing!)

For domestic lighting you should be looking for lights in the range from 2700K to 5000K.

Light Colour Options

Within the range 2700K to 5000K there are three options of colour temperature to choose from:

  • Warm White – 2700K to 3500K  Has a slight yellowish tint which gives a relaxing and calming light. Good for bedrooms, living rooms, and dining rooms.
  • Natural White – 3500K to 4500K Closest to sunlight, which makes it good compromise for any location, but particularly; walk in robes, pantries, garages and other areas that don’t have a lot of natural light.
  • Daylight White Light – 5000K to 6000K A slight blueish tint provides a crisp and bright white light that helps you feel more alert. Good for the home office or workshop.

En Suite / Bathroom Light

I know there are a lot of ladies out there who want to be sure their appearance is just right. To help with this the light on the make up mirror should be appropriate for the lighting you will encounter over your day.

If you mainly work in an office or brightly lit factory Daylight White may be the best choice. . . . Otherwise Natural White is a good option.

 

If you are worried about Brightness see Lighting Levels

For more posts see Electrical or Light Fittings

 

 

Chinese Lucky, and Unlucky, Numbers

I see from the papers that a significant number of properties are bought by Chinese Investors.

Also I have noticed many visits to my web site are referred from Australian based Chinese language website oursteps.com.au

So for all my fellow Gweilos’ (Ghost men) here is a quick guide to checking if the street number of the new house block you are buying is, or isn’t, auspicious.

 

Best Number is 8  八, which signifies Money

Could add thousands to your house price!

 

Worst number is 4 四,  when spoken sounds like Death

Get in some lifts in china and you will find no fourth floor, or 14th floor!

 

Auspicious Numbers

3 三 – The Mandarin word sounds like “life”.
9 九 – Sounds like the phrase longlasting, also associated with the emperor.

 

Unlucky Numbers

5 (五 Associated with the word “Not”
13 – Although a Western Superstition this has been adopted by some Chinese

 

Combination Numbers

A repeated auspicious number like 88 is extremely auspicious

The first number can multiply the effect of an auspicious number – 28 means “Double Money” and 38 means ‘Triple Money’.

5 can negate the effect of an inauspicious number so 54 can become ‘Not Death”

 

Also check out some Aussie Feng Shui

 

Post Boxes & Security

Do you think the people at this house are away?

Is this overflowing post box telling a thief that they are unlikely to be disturbed?

It used to be easier when I was young as we knew our neighbours and we could ask someone to check the mailbox.

Otherwise we could get a family member to call round every 2-3 days.

These day people seem more mobile and may not live in the same state, or in my case, the same country as relatives.

Working long hours and driving everywhere many people don’t really know their next door neighbour!

Rather than get the cheapest and smallest post box when you move in perhaps you should think about a box Big Enough for several days post (and Junk Mail)

 

See Letter Boxes and Numbers for more posts

 

Do You Want A Safe?

Most home burglaries are carried out by opportunistic thieves.

They want to be in and out as fast as possible.

A safe that takes that takes time and effort is going to deter them, and help keep you valuables safe.

Yes you can always keep things in a bank deposit box, but it may not be very convenient.

What Sort of Safe?

Well you can get a basic small home safe for less than $80, or pay well over $1,000, so here are some thoughts on choice:

What do You Want to Keep Secure?

In my case it’s passports, wills, portable hard drives, and small amounts of foreign currency, so a small safe would be fine for me.

If you have got lots of expensive jewelry, want to secure your lap top, or other large items you will need something bigger.

It’s probably best to get all your valuables together before you make a decision on size.

Combination or Key?

I would agree with a recent survey I saw that came out with the result that twice as many people prefer keys. We all have too many PIN numbers to remember.

If you do go for a combination lock make sure you change it from the manufacturers standard settings. . . I have heard locksmiths say that their standard opening technique for a combination safe is to enter the standard setting which works for well over half the safes.

Fire Protection

A basic safe is just a heavy steel box with a steel door and doesn’t offer any protection against fire or even smoke damage.

I would recommend that you you look for something with insulation that offers at least one hours fire protection

Location?

A common site is in the WIR of the master bedroom which in convenient . . . but obvious for a burglar.  A better site might be the larder/pantry or in the wardrobe of a second bedroom.

For a typical Australian house a safe bolted down to the floor is the best option rather than a wall safe. It should be bolted into a concrete slab, or a floor joist. (You don’t want to make it too easy for thieves to break it out and take it with them)

For more posts see Security

Are You Prepared for a Bushfire?


It will soon be Summer . . . . and Bushfires will be in the News!

Live close to the Bush? . . . . Are you and your new home ready in case a fire is heading your way?

Its not just making your new house Fire Resistant.

Questions You Need To Answer

  • Have you cleaned up your garden
  • Will you leave based on a Fire Danger Rating?
  • Where will you stay?
  • Which routes will you take? (don’t just have one route in case a fire is already in the area)
  • What will you take with you?
  • What about your pets or livestock?
  • How will you stay informed about warnings and updates?
  • What will you do if there is a fire in the area and you cannot leave?
  • How can you defend the house?

When thinking about questions like these remember that a fire can start at any time . . . . so think about what to do if only one person is at home.

Check With Your Fire Authority

This isn’t a comprehensive guide just a reminder to start you thinking.

Check with your State Fire Authority for more detail about how to make a fire plan.

 

See Bushfire for more posts

 

Light Bulb Comparison

In a previous post on Lighting Levels I talked about using lumens to plan lighting. . . . . but which type of bulb should you use?

There are now 3 types of bulbs in common use

  • Halogen (A more efficient version of the old incandescent light bulbs)
  • Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)
  • Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Light Output

Typical values of light output are:

  • Halogen – 15 Lumens/watt of power
  • CFL – 54 Lumens/watt of power
  • LED – 90 lumens/watt of power

Actual values will vary from manufacturer and also depending on the  colour temperature of the light.

From the above figure it can be seen that a LED provides a significant power saving, even compared with a CFL.

Initial Cost

For an output of around 450 lumens enough for something like a desk lamp you can expect to pay:

  • Halogen – $3
  • CFL – $6
  • LED – $20

Bulb Life

  • Halogen – 2,500 hours
  • CFL – 10,000 hours
  • LED – 50,000 hours

The long life of LEDs meant that though the initial cost of $20 seems expensive over the life of the bulb you would have needed 5 CFL bulbs ($30) or 20 Halogen bulbs ($60)

Other Issues

CFL lamps do contain a small amount of the toxic element mercury, and do take several seconds to Warm up to full brightness.

Both halogen and CFL lamps tend to have limited durability if subject to vibration or rough handling.

A dimmable LED is around 40% more expensive than a basic LED.

 

For more posts see Electrical or Light Fittings

 

Moving In – Bad Weather

photo by: imgarcade.com/

Have you thought about bad weather when planning your move?

New house sites are not the cleanest and you don’t want to be treading mud and dirt into your new house.

Even just wet boots can make a mess of your brand new carpets.

So here are some things to think about before you move:

Outside

Are all the paths and driveways finished?

If not it might be a good idea to organise to get some gravel, delivered, spread, and compacted before the day. (If you don’t compact it will still easily get picked up on peoples boots)

Even if all the driveways are finished it might be worth giving them a pressure clean the night before, and making sure you have a stiff brush with you for the day of the move.

Inside

Getting one of those large floor mats to put at the front door could be a good investment. (Alternatively  for around $50 you could make a mat out of a couple of square metres of outdoor carpet)

After the move you could put the mat in the laundry to intercept mud from the garden.

An extra precaution could be to put cardboard on the floor, in at least the hallway.

With sheets of cardboard tape them together to avoid your removalists catching their feet and tripping.

One good source of large flat sheets of cardboard is flat pack furniture, so it might be worth getting any flat pack furniture delivered in advance of the move.

See Moving House for more removal advice.

 

Danger of Under Insuring

In a New House Insurance post I explained how easy it is to under insure a property so here is an explanation of what can happen with an under insured property.

Let’s you insure your new house for what you paid the builder, say $200,000.

Total Loss

In the case of a total loss, yes, you get $200,000, but you will need to meet demolition costs and all the other issues mentioned in New House Insurance say $300,000.

Partial Loss

But what about if  part of your home is damaged?

Say it would cost $100,000 to repair the damage, but the insurer isn’t going to pay $100,000 to repair the house, – they’ll calculate that you were only 66% insured, and only pay out $66,000. Leaving you to find $34,000.

What can make this worse is that insurers aren’t obliged to pay out the cash! . . .  they may embargo the $66,000 until you’ve come up with the rest of the money.

Major Under Insurance

If you are really under insured there is a risk that the insurer will argue that you’ve deliberately under-insured and your policy is void.

 

Vertical Garden – Fail


I was walking along a Melbourne street the other day and saw this sad ‘Green Wall’ on the front of a building.

Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to set up this vertical garden. . . . . . its a pity they didn’t do a proper job and install a watering system!

Lot’s of little pots, and people wanting lots of foliage, that’s a recipe for very high water use

Unless each pot gets water every day any plant is going to die, so going round once or twice a week with a watering can isn’t going to do the job


That’s the problem with a lot of ‘trendy’ ideas’, look good initially . . . . but not thought through!

For more Unusual House Photos, Wins, and Fails, have a look at: What the………………….?

 

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