Tips For Handing Your Radiant Heat Tubing

by: Larry B Lang

A radiant heat system is a series of radiant heat tubes that are laid within a floor, which carry hot water into specific rooms or “zones”.

During the preparation and installation of a radiant heat system you should take precautionary measures to protect the radiant heat tubing.

Radiant heat tubing is also known as PEX and is an excellent material for hot water applications. It’s a cross-linked Polyethylene which means that is has been processed to create a more durable molecule that resists creep deformation and chemical attach under extreme temperatures.

Damaged tubing in a radiant heat system will come back to haunt you and could cause unnecessary delays and costly repairs.

Here are some important tips that you should follow in order to protect your radiant heat tubing. It covers storage, unrolling and installation of your radiant heat tubing.

PEX tubing is not for outdoor applications and must be stored in a covered environment not exposed to direct sunlight. It’s best to leave your radiant heat tubing away from your windows; this also means never leaving it outside, without properly covering or protecting it from the sunlight. Sixty days is the maximum UV exposure time for PEX. And if a supplier has stored their radiant heat tubing outside – don’t buy it.

You should also protect your radiant heat tubing from debris. By keeping the ends taped up, you will stop dust, pet hair or other things from entering the radiant heat tubing. Keeping your radiant heat tubing debris free is always best.

When removing your radiant heat tubing from its coil, it’s best to roll it off the roll. When unrolling your radiant heat tubing, if you notice a piece of tape, leave it alone. Often manufactures will mark areas that have kinks or holes. You will need to splice that particular section so make note of the marking.

As far as installation goes, if you are doing a staple-up installation you shouldn’t allow your radiant heat tubing to sag. To protect the radiant heat tubing it’s always best to support it every 16 inches and if your tubing runs close to any lights, especially recessed lighting you should insulate that portion of tubing to protect it from damage. Ultraviolet light will cause accelerated aging of your radiant heat tubes.

Do not install radiant heat tubing to close to your toilets. The heat could melt the wax ring. Also avoid running radiant heat under your refrigerator, stove, freezer, and kitchen cabinets. If you do put tubing in these areas insulate the tubing with a foam pipe insulation, and put a piece of radiant barrier between the sub-floor and the tubing under the appliance or cabinets.

Lastly, when installing your radiant heat tubing, never let it rub on any electrical wires. This may damage the radiant heat tubing and create future problems. If your electrician is working around your radiant heat system, make sure your electrician understands the importance of not damaging the radiant heat tubing when he/she pulls wires.

By taking a little extra care with your radiant heat tubing you will help ensure a trouble free radiant heat system.

About The Author Larry Lang is the founder of Radiant Heating Disasters which specializes in consulting of hydronic in-floor radiant heating systems. Larry is also author of Radiant Heat - What You NEED to Know BEFORE You Sign That Contract. This article may be distributed freely on your website, as long as this entire article, including working links and this resource box are unchanged. Copyright 2006 Larry Lang All rights Reservered Lang Enterprises Inc. http://www.radiantheatingdisasters.com.

Nyheter från Offecct

Nytt från Offecct i år är lilla bordet 'Amazonas', formgiven av Eero Koivisto. Ett bidrag går till att bevara regnskogen för varje bord som säljs. En annan nyhet är fåtöljen 'Palma' och Monica Försters fåtölj 'Spoon' har kommit i en lägre version. De små pallarna 'Flower' finns nu i en 'Flower Mini'.

Offect have come with some news for this season. The small table 'Amazonas' by Eero Koivisto, part of the profits support the rainforest in Central America. Also new for this year are the armchair 'Palma' and a lower version of 'Spoon' plus the 'Flower' poufs have got a mini version.

Solar Rebates For Home Improvement

by: Rick Chapo

American’s love rebates. Whether rebates are offered on computers, software, cars or whatever, we snatch them up. If your considering going solar, you’ll be happy to hear rebates are available.

Solar Rebates

As most people know, a rebate is a give back by a company in exchange for the purchase of their product. Rebates usually come in the form of money if you send in a coupon, but can also come in the form of upgrades and add-ons.

The solar technology industry is so thick with rebate programs it is hard to see the forest for the trees. You can expect to find rebates being issued by the manufacturer of a product, the federal government, your state government and possibly even your country and town or city. In many locations, the local utility company may also give you a rebate on your bill for going solar. No other source or product line has as many rebates as the solar industry. Why? Because solar represents one of the cleanest and cheapest energy sources in our country. The powers that be want to promote it for monetary and environmental reasons, not to mention providing some relief to our overtaxed national electric grid system.

Buy down rebates are the most voluminous in the solar industry. With a buy down, a government agency will pay for a percentage of the solar platform you purchase. The specific amount of the buy down depends on factors such as what the platform is used for and the amount of electricity it produces. Trust me, your local solar vendor will be able to tell you in detail about the rebate since it is a good sales technique.

When investigating rebates for your solar purchase, it is important that you don’t stop at the first program. If a state has one rebate program, it will often have as many as eight others. You can often qualify for three of four, which can cut your initial costs by as much as fifty percent.

Balans mellan lek och allvar

Det här känns som en annorlunda lösning med en ganska mörk allvarlig grå färg som bas och starka lite lekfulla röda accenter. Fototapeten av böcker i en bokhylla är lite kul. Bilderna kommer från Polly Eltes.

This feels like a different approach with this dark serious grey walls and fun red furniture. The wallpaper with books in a shelf is a little fun too. Images from Polly Eltes.

Do Your Home Improvement Right With A Good Attic Ladder

by: Adam Hook

This weekend you need to head up into your attic to get some work done. You need to pull some wire for the final touches on your sound system. You know you need to get it done. It's the last part of your dream home theater system that needs work. Most of your speaker setup is on the money, but the weak point of your system is the center channel speaker and your two rear channel speakers. Well, my friend, this is the weekend to get those issues sorted out. Home theater bliss is on its way.

You know how to pull wire – how to get the measurements and all that. And the setup of the system is not a problem. That's what 15-year-olds are for. But the actually pulling the wire in from your receiver to the actual speakers could pose a problem. Not that you don't have the skills to do it. You're completely confident with that – you're a man's man. But you need to have the right tools to do the job. But up until now, you haven't found the tool that will let you do your work in such a small space. You need a multi-use attic ladder that will prevent you from stepping through your ceiling into your dining room. You don't need a Clark Griswold situation to tarnish your near flawless home improvement track record. And it is near flawless. Near. Who could have known that that chandelier you installed was way too heavy for your ceiling? And furthermore, who could have predicted that the ceiling would choose not to support the chandelier right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner? That is neither here nor there.

All these troubles are certainly worth it. You just got the collector's edition of “Dawn of the Dead” last Tuesday. You know, the edition with 20 hours of director's commentary, deleted scenes, making and storyboards. The sooner the speakers are done, the sooner you can watch a zombie movie the way it was intended to be seen, sorry, experienced.

Then you're watching the toob, sipping a frosty beverage and you see an infomercial talking about a ladder. Not just some crummy normal ladder, but a man's ladder. The Little Giant ladder is the means to an end. A classic zombie movie. So you go and pick one up from your local hardware giant. You're instantly able to get into the attic and get that speaker wire pulled. The ladder helped get you into the attic, and it helped you get your stuff done in a minimal time. See you'd love to spend your Saturday crab crawling around in your spiderhole of an attic, but you've got some extra-butter popcorn waiting for you. That and a La-Z-Boy. That said, you got your home theater dialed in. Speakers and all. If you weren't such a man's man, you'd probably shed a tear or two at the sheer beauty of the whole thing. But you're a MAN, and you've got some zombie films to watch. And you've got nothing to thank than your sheer genius and a Little Giant Ladder to thank. Happy DVD-extra watching.

About The Author Adam Hook is a client account specialist for Innuity – Small is the New Big. For more information about attic ladder solutions, visit LittleGiantSales.com.

The Truth About Interior Design

by: Robert Thatcher

Have you ever wondered how you can make your home look like the place of the affluent people? Or would you just like to create an impression of classic beauty with an air of sophistication?

All of these things can be made through the use of interior designs.

Basically, interior design refers to the art of manipulating and forming the inner space of a house, an office, or a room, through the management of surface healing and “spatial volume.”

Interior designs are generally used to bring in the features of architecture, furniture designs, environmental psychology, and product design. All of these are combined to create an artistic projection of the area in project.

The Style

The interior designer should know and take into consideration the different parts of “design styles.” These are the proportion, function of design, concept, and balance. All of these parts are important in creating the total “look and feel” of the room.

For instance, in creating the “look and feel” of the room, the interior design could enhance the “graphical user interface” of the design buy using the right combination of colors, layout, shapes, etc.

Included in the aspect of styles are the seven elements of design that an interior designer must always take into account. These are the shape, form, line, texture, color, pattern, and mass. All of these things, when incorporated in a project will bring out the best results.

However, good interior designers must also take into account the aspects of beauty in terms of its function and aesthetics. A good balance between the two will instigate proper coordination of all the elements of design.

The reason behind this argument is based on the fact that the concept of beauty is always comparative and qualified. As the old adage goes, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”

Hence, there are instances that one design might be beautiful for one person but may look unsightly with others. That is why when the function of interior design serves its purpose as far as enhancing the total outlook of the space is considered as universal, the comparativeness of its beauty will vary from one person to another.

For this reason, the design used by the interior designer may be relative to his or her own aspect of beauty but may be taken differently by his or her viewers. Nevertheless, it is still the interior designer who will know the appropriate use of the different elements of design associated with the utilization of the various kinds of materials that he or she will use.

Consequently, the interior designer must still consider the insights and taste of the user or the customer. After all, the interior designer is being paid to enhance the space according to the taste of the one who will use that space.

At this point, it is now based on the “sales talks” or the persuasive power of the designer to convince his or her client the best style, patterned to his or her style. In this way, the designer will not be in trouble of deviating from the interests of the client. Otherwise, the designer may no longer find future works from this particular client.

Indeed, interior designing is not just a matter of good taste and spatial enhancement. It is also a conglomeration of the application of the different elements of design along with the personal interest of the client.

It is a work of art with the value of ethical standards constituted in one art form.

Dekorera med rosa

Ibland kan man bli lite tokig i en färg. Den här mörkrosa färgen har jag tyckt om länge. Den blir bäst om den används lite sparsamt. Bilder från fotograf Jake Fitzjones.

Sometimes you can get hooked on a colour, this dark pink I've liked for ages. Images from photographer Jake Fitzjones.