Monday, December 12, 2011

Proper Care of Your Camera - Caring For the Lenses and Keeping Humidity in Check!

Ok, you have completed the process of going to the store or ordering your new camera on line. Now it's time to learn how to care for your expensive piece of equipment. Cameras are very delicate and require dedicated attention while outside of its carrying case.

Keeping Your Camera Dry!
The first thing you want to keep in mind is that you do not want to expose your camera to water, sand, dirt, or other corrosive substances. These can work their way into the microchips inside your camera's mother board and destroy sensitive connections and wiring. If you have to use your camera in dusty, dirty conditions, take a dry cloth and gently wipe the outer casing before returning your camera to its case.

Humidity Control

Caring For The Camera Lenses
The next thing you must remember about caring for your camera is keeping the display screen clean and free of oil build up. Your fingers accumulate grease and oil throughout the day, and it can accumulate on your camera's LCD display, creating a black film that makes viewing your pictures quite difficult. Spray a little Windex on a rag and gently wipe the screen only.

You must also turn your camera off before connecting and disconnecting power sources and transfer cords. It is also a good idea to switch off the power before removing batteries or memory cards so you don't lose what pictures you have saved.

Humidity Control for Your Camera Storage
When using your camera in high humidity, keep it protected from condensation as much as possible. Water will cause your camera's electronic systems to short and will make your camera no longer usable. Condensation can also form on the inside of your lens. If this happens, take your camera to the nearest repair shop and have it cleaned. If you decide to store your camera for an extended period of time, place it in a dry closet and place silica gel packets in the case to prevent moisture build up. Once you take your camera out of the case again, check for any sign of damage or condensation.

You also do not want to leave your camera in a vehicle for extended periods of time. Heat and direct sunlight can damage delicate parts and can actually cause your LCD display to distort. You also do not want to place anything magnetic next to your camera. The force of the magnetic pull can rip connections and ruin batteries.

Proper Care of Your Camera - Caring For the Lenses and Keeping Humidity in Check!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Benefits Of Home Automation In Climate Control

When we talk about climate control, different acronyms strike our mind, example: HVAC. It refers to the technology of automotive or indoor environmental comfort. HVAC includes heating, ventilation and air conditioning. These three functions are interrelated. They provide thermal comfort, acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC is based on discoveries and inventions by Sadi Carnot, Reuben Trane and many others. Climate control does not only mean adjusting the temperature. It also involves the processes for managing the humidity levels and tweaking the environment to ensure a calm and comfortable home regardless of what is happening outside.

Thermostats can be used to replace the current along with the temperature. With programmable thermostats, the days and times can be set to change the temperatures.

Humidity Control

Thermostats can also be used to turn off the HVAC system if any door or window is open. This will save a lot of energy. In other words, programmable thermostats can be used to maximize comfort and energy savings by allowing your home to automatically adjust the temperature in the different zones of your home. If you want to keep your home at an energy efficient temperature, then light sensors can be used. These can also be programmed to automatically adjust to comfortable temperature levels. Automatically actuated drapery controls can be used to reduce the heat from the sun and save your home furnishings from fading.

Apart from schedule, the systems can also be based on occupancy and activity. So the temperature will automatically be set back on leaving the house or a particular room. There are several devices for climate control. But climate control through home automation is uncomplicated. Existing thermostats can be replaced by new and smarter ones, leaving the ducts, furnace and air conditioning units intact. Internet controlled thermostats helps to control your house temperature from afar.

To make your house energy efficient, you require to know how your house works. This can be done by applying some of the basic principles to analyze the natural tendencies of the house. Some practical solutions can also be implemented. Basic principles of physics can be adopted to maintain an energy efficient house. The principles that can be adopted are air pressure, heat flow and dew-point temperature. All this can be done by simply appointing a home automation company to do the wiring of the house and set up the climate control system. Thus to conclude, we can say that home automation is all about comfort and energy savings.

Benefits Of Home Automation In Climate Control

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Santa Fe Dehumidifier Review

Does the airflow throughout your house feel way more humid than it should? If it does, you are one of many people who probably have a difficult time regulating the humidity level throughout your house. One way to get your humidity under control and reduce it throughout your entire household is to start up a dehumidifier. There are many great dehumidifiers on the market, but most of them cannot compare to the power of the Santa Fe dehumidifier.

The Santa Fe dehumidifiers company has been around for a long time. They are a well-established company that has been manufacturing trustworthy dehumidifiers for years. They offer different types of dehumidifiers that help keep your air drier at your home, work, and at other indoor places of recreation.

Humidity Control

The only downfall that comes with Santa Fe dehumidifiers is the fact that they are fairly expensive. Most people do not want to spend as much money as the Santa Fe company charges; upwards of one-thousand dollars. The cheapest model of Santa Fe dehumidifier that is offered costs roughly ,000 dollars while a higher-priced model costs closer to ,000 dollars.

The reason that the Santa Fe product line is high priced is because each of these dehumidifiers is able to remove the moisture-content from a very large area. If you have a big house, these will be a great investment. For smaller houses, you may want to look into a different brand of dehumidifier. Santa Fe's "Max Dry Dual" dehumidifier is able to hold up to 300 pounds of water-content, which is significantly more than most dehumidifiers on the market.

If you can afford to buy a good dehumidifier in order to lower the humidity in your house, it will be well worth the investment. You will likely be able to sleep better at night and have a much easier time breathing than you normally would with a bunch of humidity bogging down your air. In addition to getting respiratory benefit, these appliances are able to prevent humidity from causing damage to your house. In order to keep your air clearer and healthier to inhale, it is recommended that you think about purchasing at least one dehumidifier to reduce the humidity level in your home.

Santa Fe Dehumidifier Review

Friday, December 9, 2011

How Do I Get Rid Of Sinus Headache?

During sinus a person suffers from sever headache in most cases. Even if the pain is not severe its irritating. Hence it becomes difficult for a patient to concentrate and do normal activities. In irritation some patients shout out, 'How do I get rid of sinus headache?' Now instead of going panic and yelling, its wise if they find the ways to get rid of headaches.

Sinus headache is caused when there is an infection in the sinus cavities either due to some microbes like virus or bacteria or because of an allergic attack. How to get rid of sinus headache is all about making the symptoms of the sinusitis to subside!

Humidity Chamber

If you ask some one,'How do I get rid of sinus headache?' You will get many answers like applying vaporizers or balms on the fore head, taking painkillers etc. But before you try them its important to know the main cause of your sinusitis. How is it that while sometimes sinus leads to headache but not always is also very important to know. It depends upon the sinuses affected and the kind and the extent of infection and the severity with which the body has responded to it.

So to find the answer to this question 'How do I get rid of sinus headache?' one has to think sensibly and cool. To get rid of sinus headache one should think how to clear the nasal passage and sinus exits which get blocked by the mucus. Inhaling steam not only soothes the pain in the nasal passages but also provides humidity that is very much essential to clear the excess mucus from your nasal cavity to sinus chambers. Lets find out more on it.

Here are few more answers to your question, 'How do I get rid of sinus headache?' Try to rest and be calm. Take some medications (analgesics) prescribed by the doctor for the headache. Don't read or write anything exerting pressure to your eyes. If possible take some hot beverages like tea or coffee. If you feel disturbed by bright light take rest in a semi dark room. Avoid noisy environment in case of sinusitis headaches and don't shout. In case the pain is severe and unbearable don't fright and call for a doctor for immediate relief.

You can browse the web to find many other therapeutic and holistic approaches to your question,'How do I get rid of sinus headache?'. The web is a rich source to know the different effective home practices around the world to get rid of sinus pain.

How Do I Get Rid Of Sinus Headache?

Thursday, December 8, 2011

What You Need to Know About Heating System Fuel Consumption - Part 1

Do you want to learn exactly why your heating system burns more fuel than it should? Of course you do, or you wouldn't have found this article. Following are answers to the questions you have, or ones you didn't know you had. I will explain (in defined technical terms) how your heating system is likely to be costing more to heat your home or commercial building than it should and what you can do to reduce those costs.

Anyone who drives an automobile knows that certain cars use less gas than others. The same is true for heating equipment and like gas-guzzling SUVs, some heating systems consume enormous amounts of fuel. The difference between cars and heating systems is cars offer many benefits beyond the primary one of transportation. Cars have performance, comfort and visual appeal, as well as can be a status symbol. Heating systems are tucked away in a basement, attic or closet and their operation and performance are a mystery to most not in the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) trade, and still a mystery to many in the trade - so-called, "professionals" (a term I use loosely throughout this article).

Humidity Chamber

To clarify, I may interchange the acronym HVAC for heating, and vice versa, but this article is about heating systems, how they work and how they often burn excessive amounts of "fuel" - gas or oil.

Most building owners know how to set the thermostat, change air filters and check the fuel level on their heating fuel tank gauge, but that is about the extent of their heating system knowledge. Typically, building owners do not want to know how their heating system works; it seems too complicated and futile. They prefer to leave the technical aspects to the service personnel they have come to trust. Did I say "trust"? There are many reasons to examine your trust for your heating service company, fuel supplier and General Contractor if you are having a new building constructed - residential or commercial.

For starters, do not assume that the professional you hire to design, install, service or maintain your heating system is qualified to make all the right decisions in those respective aspects of the HVAC trade. Just as in most professions, heating professionals are often types who could care less about the quantity of fuel a heating system ends up consuming and costing its owner; their paycheck at the end of the week is more important to them. The majority of HVAC tradesmen have never been to school to learn the innumerable facets of the interrelated technologies. Moreover, many have never finished high school! But let's not get personal. Mostly, tradesmen have gathered their knowledge through hands-on experience. Experience comes in two flavors: good and bad. If the on-the-job-training has been with lousy 'teachers', then the student will be a lousy apprentice and graduate to becoming a hopelessly old dog incapable of learning new tricks.

It's not only ignorance and bad attitude that have a hand in your fuel-hungry heating appliance's performance, though I wish it were. Deliberate sales of terribly inefficient heating equipment plays a huge role. Sadly to say, American made boilers and furnaces are among the least efficient in the world and continued sales of them guarantee that fuel companies will find you to be a better customer - you will buy more fuel! Greed will often lead to corruption, with most of the corrupt getting away with it. This is a significant reason for my writing this expose.

I have no specific desire to be confrontational with specific companies, though I know them well, but I can't close my eyes any longer, knowing that we are all heading toward a dead-end with our consumption of natural resources. Fossil fuels are limited, they say the planet is heating up and polar bears' extinction in 50 years is all but inevitable. But the more we consume the more we strip forever from the planet its resources and the little is left to meet the needs of its inhabitants in the future. Must we consume until we've proved that the human species is the most insidious parasite the planet has ever known? Do we only take and put nothing back? At least we can take less of the fuel we use to heat our homes, businesses and industries and save money as we do it.

As a precursor to understanding how your heating system works, it is essential to understand the basic terms used in the industry, so let's start with the industry players, then we'll move on to dispelling the mystery surrounding the more technical aspects.

Fuel Companies - "Fuel" is a general term I use to cover any fossil fuel type such as, fuel oil, kerosene, natural and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), methane, butane and any other petroleum-based gas types that I may not have listed here. Distributors of these fuels have one goal: to sell ("market") as much fuel as they can, to whoever will buy it and for the highest price. Period! They do not have your best economic interests in mind. They are the well-known petroleum giants, names emblazoned on tractor trailer tanks barreling down highways; large publicly traded utilities and your local fuel company with warm 'friendly' ads in the media. Fuel companies have the most to gain by inefficiently designing, installing and servicing your heating equipment. They want to deliver as much fuel at each delivery stop as possible. I know, I used to deliver fuel when I worked for fuel companies in the early 1980s.

HVAC Contractors - "HVAC" is a general term that is often misused and misapplied. Businesses that go under this heading tend to get involved with the installation and service of many areas of the indoor climate control realm, and it is a broad one! Not only does HVAC mean heating, ventilation and air conditioning, but also humidity control, indoor air quality and refrigeration. This player in the trade is likely to be more incompetent than fraudulent when it comes to accurately designing, installing and servicing heating equipment.

Plumbing & Heating (P&H) Companies - Many heating consumers are groomed through the ages to believe that plumbers are the same as heating technicians - they are not. The only thing plumbing and heating have in common is in the way pipes are connected - threaded, soldered (sweated), welded, glued (cemented), and more recently, compressed together with company specific connection means. P & H types rarely have mastered heating technology. I can spot a plumber-installed heating system instantly. It's one thing to be a master at piping, which many plumbers are, it's another issue altogether to know how the piped heating system works.

Handyman - Knows a little bit more than a homeowner about heating systems.

Heating Technicians - This is who you want to work on your heating system, but not necessarily one from a fuel company. Heating technicians work for fuel companies and gas utilities/suppliers. "Buyer beware!" Only half of these guys are qualified to do a good job on your system. Still, only 10% are really good, master-types who are rarely stumped and who see the big picture - the original system design is clear to them, the service history pops out like forensic science and they can make your system work with little or nothing to work with.

The aforementioned list is comprised of the standard players in the trade, but only fuel companies sell fuel, design, install and service heating equipment, which is not to suggest that all fuel companies participate in all aspects of the heating trade, nor am I saying that all fuel companies defraud their customers, most do not.

The case for burning less fuel can be easily made if everyone went out on the ocean in a boat and saw the sickening depth of pollution in our atmosphere stretching across the water as far as the eye can see. I live on the Atlantic side of the States and the prevailing winds blow off the land, bringing with it the smog generated across the country. Otherwise, watch a sunset and marvel at the orange and red hues, for they are the result of pollutants and particulates in the atmosphere that taint the natural color of sunlight.

Let us examine what goes into our atmosphere and our lungs when we breathe, when fossil fuels are burned. The byproducts of combustion of gas types and fuel oil include, but are not limited to:

1. Flue Gas

2. Carbon Dioxide

3. Nitrogen Oxide

4. Nitrogen Dioxide

5. Sulphur Dioxide

6. Soot

7. Carbon Monoxide

The exhausting of these compounds into the earth's atmosphere occurs constantly across the globe and proportionately to the amount of fuel burned by heating equipment, internal combustion engines and industrial processes. The more fuel we burn, the more we contribute to the aggregate pollution of our home - Earth. Why, then, burn more fuel than necessary?

The following terms and definitions deal directly with heating system apparatus and components.
British Thermal Unit (BTU) - The amount of energy required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. British Thermal Units are expressed as a ratio to time -BTUs per hour (written btus/hr., or MBH, where M=the Roman numeral for 1,000; B=BTUs; H=Hour, so expressed as 1000s of btus/hr. All heating equipment is rated in BTU heating capacity. A typical residential furnace has a heating capacity of 100,000 BTUs and can heat a 3,000 square foot modern house. These are approximate numbers, of course. For an accurate BTU requirement to heat a building a Heat Loss Calculation must be conducted (see definition for Heat Loss Calculation). Flue - The passageways that direct the byproducts of combustion out of a heating appliance. Burner - These come in many types, but we will restrict our discussion to Gun-Type, Sealed Combustion and Atmospheric, as these are most likely the kind that are in residential and commercial buildings. Burners mix #2 fuel oil, kerosene, LPG or Natural gas with atmosphere (air), then ignite and control the combustion of their respective fuel types. Gun type burners can be seen protruding from the fronts of boilers and furnaces and burn gas and oil. Atmospheric gas burners are like the gas burner under a water pot on a kitchen stove - they are open to the atmosphere. Water heaters, Furnaces and Boilers utilize atmospheric and gun-type burners. Sealed Combustion burners are as their title implies, the combustion process is sealed tightly from the atmosphere in which they are installed, like a basement, attic or closet. Sealed combustion burners take their combustion air from the outdoors through a plastic pipe and vent their products of combustion to the outdoors through a second pipe, usually made of PVC (polyvinylchloride) or stainless steel. Gun-type and atmospheric burners generally vent to the outdoors through a chimney or mechanical venting means, called a "power-venter". While Atmospheric burners are simple and inexpensive, Sealed Combustion burners are much more complex and expensive. Atmospheric burners are mid efficiency types, whereas Sealed Combustion burners are high efficiency types. Combustion Chamber - A combustion chamber or, simply, a chamber is almost always part and parcel of heating appliances that utilize a gun-type burner, and is internal to a furnace or boiler. Inside the chamber is where the actual fire during combustion of fuels takes place. An observation door or window allows a technician partial view of the combustion process inside the chamber. Boiler - A cast iron or steel heat-generating vessel that utilizes water as a heat transfer medium to warm a space to a desired temperature. Boilers incorporate a burner which facilitates the combustion of fuels. Boilers can include a chamber, but don't always. Furnace - A Furnace includes a burner, most likely a combustion chamber, a heat exchanger, a blower or fan and has ducts connected to it. The blower pulls "return air" from the conditioned space through a "return duct" and pushes it across the non-flue gas side of the heat exchanger. Once the relatively cold return air comes into contact with the very hot heat exchanger, the moving air picks up heat and is propelled toward the occupied space through the supply duct and out diffusers and registers placed in the rooms to be heated. For sake of reference, furnaces have replaceable air filters, boilers do not. Heat Exchanger - A device that transfers heat from one medium (fire and flue gas) to that of another. Flue gas contains heat which is transferred through a steel, cast iron, aluminum or stainless steel barrier (prior to exiting the appliance and up the flue) into a heat transfer medium separated by the heat exchanger barrier. For sake of our discussion, air, water and steam are the heat transfer mediums relevant to this article that transfer the heat from combustion to space in the building to be heated. Conditioned Space - The space within a building - residential or commercial - that is to be heated or air conditioned. We will deal with heating a conditioned space in this article. Hydronics - Hot water or steam heating technology. Forced Hot Water (FHW) - FHW heating systems include boilers (or sometimes water heaters) connected by pipes to heating "terminal units" like radiators, baseboard convectors, hot water coils in an airstream and radiant floor heating tubes embedded in floors. Forced hot water systems succeed gravity hot water (GHW) systems that were coal fired back in the day of their popular use. Water is heated in a boiler and is then circulated, or forced with a 'pump' through pipes connecting the boiler to the terminal units where heat is rejected to the space to be conditioned. The hot water temperature is lessened by the cooler room air that surrounds the terminal units and the water is returned to the boiler to be reheated and re-circulated in a continuous cycle that only stops when the room thermostat is satisfied by the increasingly heated air. Forced Hot Air (FHA) - As in FHW, a heat exchanger inside a furnace takes the heat generated by the combustion of fuel and transfers it to the occupied space of a building, but through the passage of heated air inside supply and return ducts. Forced Hot Air implies the utilization of a furnace, whereas Forced Hot Water uses a boiler. Steam - This system is the "Hydronic" cousin of forced hot water. Both transfer heat through water or water vapor - steam. Both include boilers that transfer heat from the fuel combustion process to the heat transfer medium - water or steam. Both include pipes and terminal units. Steam is created when water in the boiler boils and converts to steam if it is continually heated. Imagine a pot of water on a burner. The stove burner (gas or electric) heats the pot of water above it. Left long enough above the heat, the water boils and vaporizes upward. In the boiler the vapor rises up in voluminous pipes onward to cast iron radiators or baseboard. Steam seeks equilibrium with the atmosphere. Hot vapor has greater pressure than cooler air, so rushes for the nearest exit in a steam system into the lower pressure atmosphere in the conditioned space. Press the "Schrader" valve stem on your car tire and high pressure air rushes out into the lower pressure atmosphere - it's the same with steam in a heating system. Strategically placed air vents on radiators and condensate return lines allow the air above the water line in a steam system to be forced out of the system through them, but stop as the steam comes into contact with their internal mechanisms. Steam is the least efficient heating type, as the water temperature must be raised above 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Whereas, hot water systems water temperature can be modulated based on the outdoor ambient air temperature. The warmer it is outside, the less temperature is needed in forced hot water system water. Heat pumps, electrically heated boilers and baseboard element, wood and coal-fired boilers and furnaces, solar and any other system types not fired by petroleum products, are not included in this article. Limit Control - This control is also referred to as an "aquastat" in FHW systems and a "Fan & Limit Control in FHA systems. Hybrid hydronic systems - a steam boiler with a FHW loop (zone) also incorporate Limit Controls. Limit controls can maintain low temperature and high temperature thresholds in a heating system. Limit Controls come in many different types and have a myriad of applications that require a specific type of Limit Control. Limit Controls are often the device that cause excessive fuel consumption and are selected for this reason by unethical fuel companies so your system burns the maximum amount of fuel your heating system can possibly burn. You will want to check the type of Limit Control on your heating system! Read on to find out why. Nozzle - The device in an oil burner that meters a specific amount of fuel through it and converts the liquid fuel into a vapor that can be readily mixed with air and ignited. Nozzles have 3 means of categorization: the amount of fuel that passes through it in gallons per hour (GPH) @ 100 pounds per square inch (PSI) of fuel pump pressure; the angle of oil vapor spray that comes out of its orifice; and the spray pattern - solid, hollow, or somewhere in between. Those specifications are written as an example like 1.00-80-B. This means 1 gallon of oil will pass through the nozzle at 100 PSI, 80 degrees is the vapor spray angle and "B" is code for solid. Too high a GPH and your oil burner will over-fire your furnace or boiler and start and stop too often - "short-cycle". Burner Orifice - Like in oil burners, gas burners have metering devices and these are called burner orifices or burner "spud". The wrong burner orifice in a gas system can be deadly, as gas is explosive and when it is not burned properly and in the correct proportion to air the outcome can be inefficient and downright dangerous. Gas burners have at least one orifice but can have many, sometime too many, as you will see later in this article. Heat Loss Calculation - Software programs exist to accept data input relative to a building's design characteristics like window and door types, sizes and U-values, structure insulation R-values, room sizes and internal heat gain like people and appliances. Once this information is entered into the program the software calculates how many BTUs are needed on the coldest day of the year to heat the building to a design temperature say, 68 degrees. There are no accurate short cuts to a heat loss calculation. Anytime a new heating system is designed it must first be preceded by an accurate heat loss calculation. For everything related to proper equipment and component sizing and selection is based on BTU generating and/or carrying capacity. Pipe diameters are limited in how many BTUs of energy they can transport with water as its heat transfer medium, just as duct sizes are limited in how many BTUs they can transport with air as the medium.Let's apply these technical terms. For starters, let's create a scenario - you want to build a new house. The first thing you do is interview several building contractors who call themselves a General Contractor (GC). A competent GC will give you a package price for construction of all aspects and systems in the new house. He will hire and manage all subcontractors from the electrician, to the plumber to the roofer, and the HVAC contractor. These tradesmen are subcontractors to the GC. The residential building trade is an extremely competitive one and the profit margins are slim. The GC knows this, so hires the people he thinks will furnish acceptable quality at the lowest price. Unfortunately, most GCs are extremely unaware of the importance of proper heating system design and the information that needs to be considered to produce the most efficient design for the money. He is also unaware of the requisite steps involved with cranking out a professional design. It is the design that determines the cost. GCs often look at the cost only. As long as the heating system "works", then the GC is happy, even though he will never know that the system will consume a lot more fuel than if it was competently designed in the first place. In fact, nobody will ever know that is, until a true competent professional figures it out, but then it is usually too late. Most would rather spend more money on fuel than replace the incorrectly designed system.

What You Need to Know About Heating System Fuel Consumption - Part 1

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Garden Insect Control - An Incredible and Amazing Guideline

Garden insect control will be a truly severe issue in the world these days. For a few people who like plants and have gardening hobbies, having a garden and lawn could be really wonderful and fantastic things. Lawn isn't only provide lots of fun and enjoyable activities, however it's in occasion also produce fruits and vegetables which you could eat. By reason of those benefits of having garden, keeping the lawn becomes beautiful and interesting with it is very essential.

Having a lawn at house means that you have got to be well educated on the issue of garden control. The topic about garden insect control has been frequently discussed by many people all around the world, including the topic about vegetable garden pest control. Coming up with insects and diseases in the lawn truly doesn't have to be difficult, however there are a few things which you're going to need to be conscious of.

Humidity Control

As soon as you start your lawn, you're going to want to incorporate the right and the proper garden insect control methods to keep away from getting a pest trouble in the beginning and in the future. In order to eliminate problems with insects and diseases, you ought to always start with healthy soil which will offer the plants anything they need to thrive and growth.

Check out your plants on a regular basis if there are several signals of insects and diseases. The earlier you understand about the diseases and insects, the lengthier the age of your plants. The last insect control that you can do is to mist the plants frequently as some insect pets dislike the humidity.

In fact, there are numerous things from it that you can do to prevent and save your plant population from several diseases and insects as well as lawn pets. Though prevention is the concrete measure of the garden insect control [http://pestcontrolbuzz.com/garden-insect-control/garden-insect-control-a-popular-and-sensitive-issue/], there are still certain situations where pest problems take over and you're just going to have got to deal with it.

Garden Insect Control - An Incredible and Amazing Guideline

Monday, December 5, 2011

Measure Humidity Levels In Your Home in Fall and Winter, With a Hygrometer

It can be said that while humidity is essential to our health and our homes that Winnipeg in the winter is drier than in humidity than the Sahara Desert. True we all need some moisture as well as humidity in our homes and offices to maintain both comfort and health levels. However either too much or too little humidity can result in any number of problems ranging from condensation on window panes, moldy bathrooms, and musty basements to the full gamut of serious problems and concerns such as permanent damage to building and structures or respiratory concerns and allergies.

The most reliable way to measure the overall humidity in any dwelling is with a standard hygrometer - a fairly small, inexpensive as well as easy to use measurement tool which can be had at most big box or smaller hardware or building construction or heating / air conditioning supply stores and outlets.

Humidity Control

Is there an overall relative humidity (R.H.) rate or measurement that is held in the heating and air conditioning trades as a fair and acceptable health and comfort standard? Yes, overall and in general furnace and air conditioning cooling trades recommend in the range and ranges of 30 %. Remember as well that the term is not simply the one word "Humidity" but rather "Relative Humidity". What this entails is that the measured humid levels and measurements - that is moisture in the air - is relative to the temperature. Moisture is released by air as the temperature decreases, and picked up by the air as the ambient temperatures increase. Thus air that has a low rate when warm or hot, can and will rank a high number as it cools. Acceptable comfortable air when warm - say 75 or 80 degrees Fahrenheit can when chilled to 20 degrees begin to give up its moisture, become humid and "sweat" when cooled or chilled to the lower temperature ranges. Thus in the wintertime and cold weather the humid rh index should be no more than 30 % - thus giving lots of leeway should temperatures decrease yet more. However during the warmer times of year - say during summer - the R.H. relative humidity levels can increase to 60 % maximal range with no concerns what so ever to health or comfort.

What can be done to reduce excessive or high moisture levels in your home or abode? Plenty and most of it is fairly easy, standard and relatively inexpensive. Remember though that the issues may be seasonal so that problems do not creep up in the summertime but will over the cooler winter, fall and even springtime seasons.

Here are some simple steps to consider. First of all reduce moisture loss. Close the bathroom shower and washing machine drier utility rooms during use. Open the windows or better yet install an outdoors leading exhaust fan or fans. If rooms are draughty or chilly then caulk up and seal up air draft leaks, and as well insulate walls and doors if possible.

Improve heat to areas that need it. It may be a simple matter of a heating professional adjusting the heating duct flow balance in your home and / or simply cleaning ducts of dust and wintertime debris to increase and speed up warm air flow from your furnace.

Perhaps your furnace needs to be cleaned and tuned up this fall as well. Lastly do not forget to replace or clean your furnace's air filters. Clogged furnace filters restrict and reduce warm air flow. Throw away disposable filters are inexpensive to replace and can be swapped in a snap. More expensive yet effective electronic air filters need to be cleaned as well. You can simply wash the electrostatic air filters in a sink with warm clean non soapy water or in many cases even placed in a clean water cycle in your dishwasher.

In the end with a little bit of work, effort and rearrangement you should be able to normalize humidity levels in your home so that they are not an issue to health or comfort. That is high enough in the summer yet not to great during the colder and damper winter and fall times.

Measure Humidity Levels In Your Home in Fall and Winter, With a Hygrometer