PRSky » Home & Garden

Green Building

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:10:00 +0000

These days it is hard to sell a new house if it is not green and energy efficient. This means straying from the traditional building styles in a lot of ways, but it also means producing a higher quality product. While there are a lot of energy saving tips that many people already know about that must be incorporated into green building , there are quite a few that people don’t know about. One of these hidden secrets is the right set of blinds.

One of the first steps you should take is deciding on the right type of blinds for your green building. It sounds silly, but the right shades can save you hundreds in energy bills. You will need to have shades that can keep the heat out of the room on a very sunny day. You will want to make sure that they are thick enough to do the task in your area on the hottest of days. The other requirement in deciding on shades to line the house with is that they have to have an electric timer. The way you make these a green element of the houses is by setting the timer in the summer to lower during the hottest parts of the day to keep the heat out of the house, saving on air conditioning bills, and to raise at the hottest points of the day in the winter to save on heating. The best ones can be set once for raise and lower times throughout the year, and left. Others will have to be reset as the seasons change.

There are a few great suppliers of blinds, and many of them can supply what you need as a builder for a house like this. In order to provide the greatest service to your customers and the best value to the house, consider looking into what sort of programs these blinds companies offer. With something that is complicated like this, you will want there to be someone the residents can call if anything breaks.

Green Building is a post from: PRSky

Next Day Blinds For All Your Window Treatment Needs

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:23:16 +0000

As little girls there are two things that we dream about as we grow up; the first one is the wedding and the second is our first home. Since I already had the wedding of my dreams, I was anxiously anticipating buying our first home. Even though it took a little time, we were finally able to take advantage of the slumping housing market. In August we were able to move into our very own home . With no one to answer to or ask permission, the real fun could begin. Because my grandpa is an artist, deciding on paint colors and painting each room was the easy part. We used as much of our old furniture as we could, partially because it was still in good condition and also because it cut down on costs. The one area that I really deliberated on was the windows. When we bought the house it had plain white vertical blinds . Although they were in good condition, they weren’t very exciting. So I decided to go online and look for some new ideas. That was where I found Next Day Blinds . Their website is full of ideas and suggestions. You can even request a free sample online if you find a style that you really like. They offer a variety of blinds, shades, and shutters. What really won me over was the page entitled Next Day Blinds Awards . They have won numerous customer service awards with Angie’s List as well as the Better Business Bureau. Having decided on a style that I liked, I made an appointment for them to come out to the house. Their workers were not only knowledgeable about the product but also extremely professional. We placed our order and in no time at all we received a call saying our new blinds were ready and when did we want them to come and install them. I have never been more pleased. Not only do our windows look great, but our experience with Next Day Blinds definitely makes me want to come back.

Next Day Blinds For All Your Window Treatment Needs is a post from: PRSky

Portable Hot Tubs and Consumer Popularity

admin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:27:29 +0000

Portable hot tubs and home spa systems are becoming more popular and common in today’s market. They are extremely diverse in styles and features and are a great choice for many consumers who are currently considering a purchase. There are many reasons for this popular attraction to the portable models and some of them have to do with temporary housing arrangements such as rental properties and others relate to potential changes in backyard designs and a need for mobility on the part of the tub. Whatever the individual reason the portable spas on today’s market are popular with consumers.

When some consumers first learn about the portable options they are concerned that these hot tubs may not be as solid in construction or offer the same amount of features and or accessories. This is extremely misleading and the same consumer is frequently surprised to find the durable nature of these tubs and the lifelong expectation of service. They are also pleased to find out that some of their favorite features are also available for these models. It is not surprising when one considers that fact the most of the accessories are not model dependent but can be used in any of the spas or hot tubs.

The most popular features and accessories for any model or style of home spa or hot tub are dynamic lighting fixtures and quality sound systems. Drink and snack trays or caddies are also popular and so are safety rails and staircases. These are all features and accessories that are easily used in the portable hot tubs as well as are most of the others. When a portable model seems like it may be in the best interest of the individual or family who is considering the purchase the potential benefits involved and the fact that they loose nothing in quality or options makes the decision all the more easier.

Portable Hot Tubs and Consumer Popularity is a post from: PRSky

Warm in the Winter with a Wood Burning Fireplace

admin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:25:32 +0000

With winter just around the corner in some cities, and coming on strong in others, it is time to consider the ways in which to keep warm. For some people this means an update in their wardrobe. Chunky snow boots and great scarves become the fashion. Another way to stay warm, is to heat up the body, by doing even simple tasks such as cleaning the house, vacuuming is a menial task that will raise the body temperature.

Hot tea and coffee, hot soup…all of these add to the further increase in your internal temperature. But say you would like to relax with a great book or an old black and white Christmas movie? This is when the ever popular–throughout history–wood fireplace comes into play. Curling up on the fireplace with blankets and big slippers will only get you so far. Not only will the warm glow of the heat the room, but especially during the holidays, a warm fire will heat the heart and the spirit.

And during the winter months, gas heaters and electricity bills can sky rocket, and a wood burning stove will help ease that pain. Not only is the heat provided much more consistent and evenly dispersed, firewood is not expensive and will burn long into the night. Some choose to add cast iron inserts, which will increase the heat as it is stored in the iron long after the embers have ceased to glow. So put on the thermals, grab the blanket and fix some hot tea. Once the fire is raging, and the stockings are hanging from the mantle, and…Jimmy Stewart is doing his thing in “It’s a Wonderful Life“, the snow outside will become beautiful, not treacherous. And the warmth inside will become the holiday preface or backdrop, for the holidays that are about to come about.

Warm in the Winter with a Wood Burning Fireplace is a post from: PRSky

Colder Climes and Hotter Wood Inserts

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:08:07 +0000

When we moved to the Northeast and its colder climes, my wife decided we needed a wood burning insert for our new home and new fireplace, so I took the plunge and purchased one, unsure of how it might change the efficiency with which we heated the home. I’m writing this now because, after a year of burning wood in the insert, I want to tell people exactly how well these things work! I have a three story house, with about 2000 square feet. This little insert works wonders, keeping the ground floor in the mid-seventies, and the second floor, where we sleep, at about seventy degrees. It’s a little cooler on the third floor, but we use that generally for crafts work. For the most part, even when the temperature outside dove down to the low twenties, the house was quite warm, and our other source of heat, the oil boiler, didn’t come on at all.

There’s a number of fireplace inserts, wood, gas or pellet, but I preferred the wood, but I understand most of them work equally well. They’re not only efficient, but they lower the pollutants in the air. When I’m outside, I can see the black smoke from my next-door neighbor’s chimney, while my chimney barely has any smoke at all. At least, it’s hard to notice. During the day, I keep the insert firebox at about 350 to 400 degrees, controlling the temperature in the house with the speed of the fan. At night, I use larger pieces of wood, and keep the insert at 400 degrees, damped down the whole way. In the morning, the downstairs might be sixty-four or sixty-eight degrees, with enough coals left to start up the fire pretty quick.

I find the fan quiet and remarkably efficient. Everyone who comes over comments on how warm the place is, astonished at the lasting time for a few sticks of wood. We’ve been completely happy with this new addition to our fireplace. I’m not sure why we waited so long!

Colder Climes and Hotter Wood Inserts is a post from: PRSky

Harnessing Fire and the Wood Fireplaces

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:11:57 +0000

Harnessing the power of fire is one of humankind’s oldest achievements, as early humans discovered it could cook animals and plants, could help clear forests in order to plant fields, even to treat stones to make tools and to heat clay to make ceramics, allowing for bowls and utensils, and so on. The use of fire first developed in the Early Stone Age, also known as the Lower Paleolithic. The earliest use we know of to date is that fire began in Israel, at a site known as Gesher Benot Ya’aqov — seven hundred and ninety thousand years ago. Of course, there’s controversy of the exact date, and there are other sites as well, including the Zhoukoudian, which is also from the Lower oPaleolithic age, in China, and it dates to around four hundred thousand years ago, while another site in Israel, Qesem Cave, contains examples of the controlled use of fire somewhere between two hundred and four hundred thousand years ago.

While these examples are of the use of fire, they weren’t examples of a fireplace. And the first wood fireplaces were made by simply taking a collection of stones and using them to contain the the fire. If the fire-users built the fire in the same place again and again, the ashes themselves made a kind of hearth. Examples of these sites are from the Middle Paleolithic period (some two hundred thousand to forty thousand years ago) in caves in South Africa and Israel (the Klasies River Caves in South Africa were in use around one hundred and twenty-five years ago, for instance).

Evidence of these hearths are found as well in the Upper Paleolithic age (forty thousand to twenty thousand years). During this time, kilns for making pottery also came into being, found in the Klisoura Cave in Greece, some thirty-two thousand to thirty-four thousand years ago.

Harnessing Fire and the Wood Fireplaces is a post from: PRSky

Interior Design and Hot Tubs

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:14:41 +0000

Creating a peaceful and harmonious environment to live in is what interior design is all about. Functional adaptations and exciting effects take place when colors and patterns are considered, when home additions are an option, many people are choosing to do so in what is often times the most neglected room in the house, the bathroom. Luxurious items people are installing into their bathrooms these days include whirlpools, hot tubs, spas and massage showers…these are in fact, additions the most modern of bathrooms today. Many, many years ago hot tubs were made of wood. Today some are still made of wood in the resorts and hotels, for their historical reminder of days long past. Wooden tubs are very difficult to maintain however, and the new designs offer stress free maintenance, which allows you more time in the tub, than cleaning the tub. Modern hot tubs offer a variety of jet angles which provide optimum massage benefits, which lower stress levels and relieve the tension of sore and aching muscles.

How incredible would that be to have that as convenient and close at hand as in your very own bathroom. Hot tubs are much more affordable these days, they are functional and easy to care for. Having one in your bathroom is just like having the bath tub, but so much better. Bathrooms are small rooms, but interior design is an art form which allows the perfect placement, the perfect way to transform that small room into a spa. Many manufacturers and hot tub designers have models now that are specifically designed for those tiny apartments in big cities, and who more needs a place to relax than a person living in a big city, and a small place? Some hot tubs are even designed in the narrow manner that most tubs are, so the transformation from plain bath tub to marvelous hot tub is painless and easy. The new fits where the old once was. So if you are hesitating the addition due to space limitations, hesitate no more.

Interior Design and Hot Tubs is a post from: PRSky

Relaxation and Healing in 2 Person Hot Tubs

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:21:28 +0000

Throughout history, people have been soaking in mineral springs and 2 person hot tubs, Roman baths and spas. This has become one of the few sanctuaries of the modern world, with a rich history steeped in health benefits and spiritual healing. From all of the corners of the world, various cultures have discovered and taken advantage of the healing and therapeutic benefits, of the relaxing and the soothing. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Asia and all across Europe cultures have gone regularly to the bath houses.

The Roman bath houses are perhaps the most well known, and were the focal point of the daily life of everyone during this time in history. The bath houses where then what happy hours are today. A place not only to relax and let go of the stresses of daily life, but also a time to converse, to hang out with friends. Discussions ensued on topics that varied from religion to politics, from social gossip to family life. Today the hot tubs bring people together in the exact same way.

In the modern world, this form of entertainment, of relaxing began to gain popularity in the 1960’s. But, the people did not want to go to bath houses, they wanted these benefits to be found in their own backyards, in their own homes. At first, a hot tub was nothing more than a wooden barrel filled with hot water. They were usually not sanitary, nor water tight, but they did the job.

The modifications and advancements over the years however bring us to the hot tubs of today, those with the jets and the bubbles, the sanitizers and the cleaning agents. Now it is easy for people to enjoy these benefits from the comfort of their own homes. This is a healthy environment which allows people what has been experienced by people throughout thousands of years, relaxation, better health and an opportunity to sit with those they care for and simply have a chat.

Relaxation and Healing in 2 Person Hot Tubs is a post from: PRSky

The Portable Spa and the End of Innovation

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:24:47 +0000

Relaxing is easy when you have your own hot tub. It becomes a secondary habit, where when you know you’re feeling out of sorts, had a particularly long day, or even just a sore leg muscle, to get into the hot tub and let the heat and the bubbles work out the troubles. There’s a wide range of choices for your own portable spa, from sizes as large as swimming pools to small intimate affairs, choices of decor and style, and many extra amenities, like media systems, lighting, and other innovative features. The technology has come a long way.

This means that it’s easier for you to jump in and enjoy this pleasure and luxury, which is not a recent innovation at all, but has a very long and fascinating history. It’s not difficult to imagine that they must have been around for awhile, when natural hot springs are found all over the world, and rise up in popularity from time to time. It’s only a few more steps before it’s a formalized ritual, and becomes like the Finnish bath ceremonies, where it becomes a part of the annual ritual calendar, bathing at the end of the year to make a clean beginning. Contrary to some opinions, even in the Middle Ages, bathing was not an occasional thing for these Northern Europeans, but part of the regular routine.

Bathing was never just about getting dirt off the body. It had spiritual connotations since the beginning of recorded history, and was seen as a way of getting spirits off or out. It still does have spiritual connotations in nearly every part of the world, and every world religion has a bathing ritual in it somewhere, in both history as well as practice. It was also a very social thing from early times, at least since the Romans started to construct their famous bath houses. Part of the regimen in the Roman system was to add a massage in between baths of hot and cold water. This is precisely what the jets are designed to do. Spiritual and physical cleanliness were part of the thought behind these from very early times, then, and they also understood that massage would add another level of luxury to the experience, and move it from maintenance of health toward actual healing practices. It’s an old idea, with remarkable modern applications.

The Portable Spa and the End of Innovation is a post from: PRSky

Hot Tubs Central to Backyard Landscape

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:54:24 +0000

Choosing a hot tub today is not as simple as picking out and installing the exact model you want. Of course, it can be narrowed down to this one decision, however, backyard landscaping and entertainment features are so diverse and technologically advanced that generally choosing a hot tub is one element in planning the overall design of a private backyard. Choose hot tubs direct is well aware of this and offers great advice on various options and features as well as offering the best products on today’s market.

In designing a backyard environment, it is helpful to choose a central feature or theme. A hot tub home spa is the perfect option for this as it frequently becomes the family’s focal point. After this is decided personal taste and individual needs can come into play in developing the rest of the yard. Some of the popular features offered today include decks, which can be as elaborate or simple in design as budget, space and preference dictates. Decks and hot tubs do form the perfect partnership and together create excellent entertainment areas and options. Barbecues, patio sets, outdoor sound systems and televisions with dvd players are some of the basic and common features.

In the surrounding area, fire pits and outdoor fireplaces can provide the perfect ambiance enhancement to the hot tub experience. In addition, backyard features like personal miniature golf courses and sports like badminton and croquet are excellent entertainment features. Large families also tend to be busy and being able to bring the entire family together for an evening of fun is an important event in today’s world. However, regardless of the overall landscape design of your backyard and all of the various features you wish to include, there is nothing like the comfort of a personal hot tub to relieve the pressure and stress of a long day at work.

Hot Tubs Central to Backyard Landscape is a post from: PRSky