Dec 30
Winter maintenance for your home is vital. We have a project identifying several jobs to be done at this time of year. These include:
- clearing you gutters - we know, no-one likes doing this, but it is worth it if it avoids blockages which could cause water to freeze and cause damage to pipes and buildings
adding drain tidys to keep leaves etc from blocking your drains- cleaning paths and patios to avoid them getting slippery and dangerous
- ensuring you have adequate outside lighting, ideally fitting PIR’s which will turn themselves on when they detect movement
- check your roof for missing tiles or damage
- go round the house filling any gaps you find round doors and windows as well as between floorboards
If you need to get a professional tradesperson in to do any home improvement jobs, you can get free quotes via our Find a Tradesman service, which finds appropriate, insured tradespeople in your local area .
Dec 14
Saw this great idea for using up old CD’s or those free ones you get sent sometimes and don’t know what to do with.
This example has full instructions here, but the guy making it did have to drill the holes in the CD’s to make them large enough for the bulb. You may well be able to find a bulb slim enough not to bother. There is another design for a second CD lamp here.
Dec 08
Following on from yesterday’s blog post on outdoor christmas lighting, we couldn’t resist this photo of a house (yes, there is a house in there somewhere!) which has been ‘decorated’ with lights. Dread to think what their electricity bill is…….
Please send us any photos of your outdoor christmas decorations, or maybe your neighbour’s. You can either post them on the blog or email them to office@diydoctor.org.uk and we will put them on for you.
Dec 07
As everyone is preparing for Christmas and many are putting up their outdoor lights, DIY Doctor would like to give some helpful tips on installing your outside christmas lights safely.
- Ideally have somebody else to help you – holding ladder etc.
- Make sure the lights are manufactured for use outside.
- Read all manufacturers instructions thoroughly.
- If you are using old lights – check them over for any damage, and if you find any are damaged or fraying – bin them!
- Remember ladder safety – don’t take risks and over-stretch yourself, you really don’t want to end up in hospital over Christmas.
- Use cable ties to attach lights to guttering supports or other bits of house that you can get to, and if possible put hooks up that can be left all year so it easier to do every year.
- Use a Residual Current Device (RCD). You can buy portable units for outdoor use, or you can have them permanently installed by an electrician.
- Switch your lights off overnight and when you leave the house.
- Contact an electrician if you want to fit an outdoor weatherproof socket - use our Find a Tradesman service to get free quotes from electricians in your area.
Hopefully you will end up with something a bit more like this …….
…….and less like this!
Sep 19
The buzz on forums, Twitter and Facebook may be around Solar PV Panels at the moment but it should not be overlooked that the effective use of daylight and installing lighting controls in conjunction with lamp selection can make a big difference to making energy consumption more efficient. In fact Chris Tranter, product manager – lamps and lighting for Newey & Eyre suggests that potential savings of up to 75 per cent are possible in some situations.
Facebook, the dominant force in social media and now a leader in business showing the way for energy efficiency in workplace environments, has established some simple goals for its lighting system by making efficient use of daylight, lighting controls, and efficient fixtures to save energy and keep employees comfortable, while preserving the company’s unfinished, garage-like office aesthetic.
And it’s not just about reducing the energy consumption but raising the efficiency of the workforce. If any clients are questioning the costs of energy efficient lighting and incorporating new control devices such as Daylight harvesters, dimmer switches, occupancy controls and time delay switches for example, then again point to the finding of the internet giant.
An EDF Climate Corps fellow at Facebook stated “research shows a positive relationship between workplace comfort and productivity. Numerous studies indicate that effective use of daylight, in particular, improves productivity. Conversely, incorrect lighting design choices can lead to work environments that are overlit or underlit, have excessive glare, or are otherwise uncomfortable for workers.” Referenced from Naveen Lakshmipathy at www.greenbiz.com/
How many employees complain of eyestrain and headaches requiring more breaks, sick days and ‘fresh air’ breaks. Propose that if the improvement of lighting design could increase productivity for even 15 minutes per day, large companies like Facebook can recap the costs of installation in more ways than just their utility bills.
So as a resource to help you explain the options some of your clients have apart from freeing up some roof space …the guys at NeweysOnline.co.uk have several knowledge articles such as Energy Efficient Lighting and Should Companies Give the Green Light to Energy Efficiency.
