fancyAhouse

Archive for January, 2011

It seems that all the council’s in the country are pushing for a more greener environmentally friendly living, brown bins, recycling boxes, compost maker and food caddies are available from nearly all neighbourhood councils. Some are provided free of charge, such as brown bins, caddies and recycling boxes for cans, paper and some plastics. What is on offer and what services you need to pay for differ from place to place but the majority of councils try their best to encourage residents to recycle as much as possible, some have incentives such as cash back or money towards environmentally friendly products. There are many schemes for things such as re-usable nappies, free caddies and compost making heaps.

Making your own compost from food scraps, cardboard and garden waste is a good idea for those who have the room, waste and time to do some gardening but what many people fail to realise is that it smells and attracts pests such as rodents and bugs. Foxes are also attracted by the smell which can cause problems for those who have small pets such as rabbits and cats.

How does recycling cost householders money?

If you do not have a driveway, side access or room for a wheelie bin in front of your home then you will need to buy special garden waste sacks that will be collected by the council on their scheduled day. These sacks cost money usually £15 for two, seems like a lot of money for something that will only go on to get recycled. Other things such as food caddies to collect perishables need to be bought by some councils costing on average £7, then a liner such as a brown bag or recyclable plastic one needs to be bought to prevent it getting dirty costing another £10. If you have a compost bin then councils also sell a liquid that helps speed up composting time but this costs around £10, the compost bin itself starts from £20 including delivery.

On average you can spend £32 a month just buying caddie and brown bin liners and liquid to help speed up composting. I understand the importance of changing the way we live so we can have a more environmentally friendly earth but some of the costs just to start recycling are crazy, then add the cost of monthly maintenance it is too much, no wonder many give up recycling at the end, there are too many costs involved.

As blinds become a more popular way of shielding prying eyes through the window many people find them easier to manage and cheaper to fit than traditional curtains. Some people have blinds in certain rooms such as the conservatory, bathroom, kitchen and study. Blinds are better suited to rooms that need more light such as a small box room or a home office, you can adjust the slats so that you can control how much light you want. They are also very handy when you have a lounge that is always sunny, if there is glare on a television you can adjust the blinds so that you can watch television comfortably without being in the dark completely, this would be the case if you had curtains. To watch television without the sun ruining the image you would need to draw the curtains on a sunny day then switch on the light.

How to clean blinds

Over time dust will build up over the blinds so you will need to clean them, if you have them in the kitchen then you will find that there is a layer of grease that comes from cooking. Dust is easier to clean off blinds than grease so here are a few options to consider.

• Hosing blinds in the garden whilst draped over the washing line, you can also use a light cleaning solution to spray on then wash off without damaging them.
• Wear gloves and then cover with a cloth or sock that has been drenched in cleaning fluid or rubbing alcohol and wipe over blinds, the dirt should come off easily
• If there is bad weather or it is winter then soak them in the bathtub using dishwashing liquid, rinse the dry with a towel
• Most vacuum cleaners come with an attachment you can use on blinds and curtains; they have a soft bristle brush, which works well on dusty blinds

I would check the blinds well before soaking them in water as most blinds have some parts that are metal, so by soaking them or wetting them it may cause rust. The best solution I have found are blind dusters, they can be used without a solution, wet or dry and cleans three slats at a time. The cloth used is microfibre so the dust just clings on, you can re-use it over and over again as it is also machine washable. For less than £5 you can save yourself lots of time when cleaning blinds without the need to take them down and hose them. If you have greasy blinds or blinds that have stubborn stains die to kitchen use then you will need to use a cleaning fluid, find one that will not damage the blinds or cause parts to rust.

This winter has caused much of the country to suffer from disruptions such as road travel, air travel and problems with public transport. It has also been said that it’s not been this cold since the 1930’s so places that don’t really see much snow on the UK have been hardest hot as they simply never have this extreme weather. On top of all the things we have had to contend with a major problem has been flagged with many of the nation’s central heating system. If you haven’t heard of the latest uproar then prepare yourself.

It has been 5 years since Labour approved and encouraged home owners to upgrade their boiler systems to condensing boilers and since 2005 it has been illegal to install anything but this. To date there are around eight million condensing boilers that have been fitted to upgrade previous boilers and every year more than a million are scrapped and upgraded. Condensing boilers are said to reduce carbon emissions and reduce fuel bills so as this as an incentive homeowners have been swayed to upgrade.

During this recent spell of bad weather a major flaw has been found with them with energy suppliers reporting an increase of house holders calling up with problems regarding their boilers. British Gas reported 60,000 visits in one area alone. During the seasonal holidays calling out a plumber can be as much as £300 not including VAT.

So what is the problem with condensing boilers in winter?

Simply put the waste pipe that carries waste water from the back of the boiler out of the property is freezing solid because of the extreme cold weather. As a result of this the boiler cannot function and will not heat radiators or provide hot water. It can cause permanent damage and shut down the system altogether, what’s even worse is the older style boiler doesn’t have this waste pipe and lasts much longer than condensing boilers.

In 2008 a scrappage scheme for boilers was introduced, it offered people around £400 towards the cost of a new boiler if they had the old one replaced, meaning perfectly good older style boilers were ripped out. Millions of home owners jumped at the chance as the government and salesmen made it sound too good to be true, along with the promise of saving money on bills and recuperating the cost in just a few years.

In reality if you put aside the freezing waste water pipe problem it doesn’t make good economical sense because a top of the range boiler costing in excess of £2000 will take ten years to pay for itself and they do not last that long! Condensing boilers are supposed to last at least 10 years but you’d be lucky if it lasted you half that time, the older boilers were still going strong at 20 years. It has been said by plumbers that if a condensing boiler was to break down after 4 years it would be better to get a new one than try to fix it as the parts are too expensive and don’t really justify a repair.

As a result of this finding it makes sense to keep your existing older style boiler and have it serviced yearly and as long as it continues to do its job well then there is no need to fork out up to £2000 for a new one. Until your old boiler breaks down completely it makes sense to keep using it as the condensing boiler is more trouble than its worth.