An Infographic on Saving Your Energy Bills

It’s never fun to pay astronomically high bills especially when you’re in the middle of planning your yearly family vacation. Sometimes we get too busy with work that we forget to track down our electricity usage at home and then wonder why we are paying so much. We all try our best but sometimes our best is just not saving us enough money as much as we’d like.

Believe it or not, really simple things like turning off the lights when they’re not in use or keeping the curtains closed at night to keep the heat from escaping already goes a long way towards lowering your energy consumption and eventually lowering your energy bills. If you work at home and tend to keep your computers and TV on standby to save time, you may want to consider turning them off when not in use because it’s not like it will take you hours to turn them back on again.

And last but not the least, you may want to make sure your insulation is thick enough to keep the cool air in especially during the warm months. You may want to have an energy audit done on your home as well to pinpoint the problem areas to further lower your bills.

How a Home Energy Audit is Done

Photo credit: Green Energy Futures - David Dodge (flickr.com)

Having a home energy audit done on your home helps you save on your energy bills because an expert will go around and pinpoint areas around your house that may be costing you too much energy and also tell you how you can keep it from doing that.

Among the many things they will point out will be air leakage, which is can not only cause you to pay high bills but also cause your home to be uncomfortable and unhealthy to live in. Energy audits will identify where the leakages are taking place if any, and offer effective solutions to the problem.

Having an energy audit done will also increase your home’s resale value and marketability because it gives potential buyers insurance that they are buying a home that is energy efficient and won’t cost them an arm and a leg to maintain. It will also uncover hidden problems that can otherwise turn into health risks like mold and mildew growth.

Believe it or not, energy audits will also tell you how much greenhouse gas your home is emitting so you’ll be able to do your bit for the environment as well. And lastly, energy audits are really a good investment because you will be able not just to have an energy efficient home for as long as you live there, you will also enjoy a healthy tax return of about 16% each year after taking into account the money you spent on home improvements.

What You Should Know Before Choosing Gas Suppliers

Photo credit: Michael Tapp (flickr.com)

When we first moved to our new place, it wasn’t just packing up the life we knew and starting over somewhere where we didn’t know a soul that bothered us but also the fact that we had to find new utility providers as our current one didn’t provide service in the area we were moving to. My wife and I already had too much stress going on so really, we didn’t need more grief to be honest.

But grief we did experience because who knew how difficult and challenging it could be to find new gas connection service? About a month before we were scheduled to move, we were already taking turns calling up a few companies we came across online and some that were recommended by friends.

Too many high rates and a few rude customer service representatives later, we came across a moving home company that offered to not only provide us with a list of reputable providers in the area we were moving to but also take care of the connection and needless to say, by the time the last box was deposited into our new home by the movers, we already had electricity, water, phone, internet and gas service going on.

While not many moving home stories end up happily like ours, it doesn’t mean you will be doomed to a dark fate when it’s your turn to experience moving day. Planning ahead and some exceptional organizational skills can ensure that moving day isn’t as stressful and drama-filled as you imagine it to be. That and hiring moving home companies who offer free services on the side like connecting your utilities and you’re well on your way to starting your new life.

However, I have to admit that choosing our utility providers was tough. I was concerned about high energy bills and while we did our best to conserve our energy consumption and had the house specifically built to allow for excellent heating and cooling conditions, there was the matter of making sure everything else was peachy.

Photo credit: Phoenix Energy (flickr.com)

If anything there are tons and tons of utility providers you can choose from, all claiming to give you the best rates and the best service but that makes it all the more confusing doesn’t it? Shopping around for the best rates is the first thing you need to do after you’ve determined how much you can afford to pay. Determine how much you are paying with your current provider and compare that with the rates your potential suppliers are offering. Figure into the costs the discounts you can get and cancellation fees if you decide to end your contract early. Getting the best utility services for your home means being able to pay for everything within your budget so you can manage your household expenses well. Make sure you read the fine print on your contracts and understand the terms and conditions clearly before signing on the dotted line.  

One thing that you should do a lot of when shopping around for the best utility providers is to ask questions. Remember that if something is not part of your contract, then it is not part of the plan you signed up for so you need to make sure that everything you agreed to is written in your contract. You can always ask for an offer summary from your utility companies  and remember that you are entitled to a cooling-off period before finally deciding on the company you want to sign up with.

You might also like:

What You Should Know About Getting Utility Services (consumer.ftc.gov)

Choosing Utility Providers (neighborhoodlink.com)

How to Shop for Portable Garages for Your Home

Photo Credit: Nigel Parker

Often when people buy homes, one of the things they put the least consideration for would be their garages. They will think of adding rooms for guests or maybe a garden shed as extra storage space for their garden tools or maybe even as a work space but they will never think of adding a portable garage for any additional vehicles they might add to the one they already have.

These days, however, more and more people are adding to their vehicles as a kind of investment. Second, people develop hobbies and as such, they buy motor boats, motor cycles, mountain bikes and RVs to be able to indulge in those hobbies and these are things you cannot fit in your built-in garages. For these reasons, the popularity of portable garages has grown so much but people who buy them can actually find themselves confused about what style is best for them and their needs. Here then is our handy guide on how to choose the best portable garages:

1.   Find the one that’s just right

Size matters and it especially matters when you have to fit three cars in one small space. Finding the right size for your portable garage isn’t as intimidating as you think, as long as you know these rules you need to follow in order to select the perfect garage size:

• The number of vehicles you need to protect
• The size of the vehicles you need to protect
• How much space you have for it

It is important to realize that each vehicle type will need its own kind of space and that while your measurements of the dimensions of each vehicle don’t need to be exact, you will need to leave just enough room for maneuvering especially for RVs and boat trailers which can be a bit unwieldy.

2.   Find one that’s made from the best materials

When you search online for garages for sale, a big part of your consideration will be coming from the materials it is made of particularly with the frames and covers since this affects the weight, strength and price. A popular choice for garage frame material is steel because it assures superior durability. When looking for steel frame garages, the rule of thumb is the larger the diameter of the steel tubing, the stronger your garage will be.

As far as covers go, the best material is polyethylene because it does a better job of filtering out harmful UV rays that can make your car’s paint fade. However, it can be quite expensive if you’re on a tight budget so you’ll need to decide on what’s more important: economy or durability. You will also need to make sure you are aware of construction limitations for your portable garages  like the height of the eves which is usually 2.5 meters and the extent of space covered by the construction.

3.   To Set Up or Not to Set Up My Own Garage, That is the Question

Most people prefer to just browse for easy-to-install portable garage kits online that they can set up themselves rather than hire professionals to do the job for them obviously to save on labor and construction costs. Also, buying portable kits means you don’t have to get any kind of permits but you will still need to check for local zoning laws concerning garages in your area to avoid getting into trouble as there are rules that apply to such outbuildings.

In order to fully protect your vehicles from harsh weather conditions, you may also want to consider investing in some important accessories with your portable garages like sidewall or enclosure kits which fully enclose your garage space like a storage garage would. Inclusions vary so you need to thoroughly check what’s included in your kit before making the purchase. If you’re planning to use your garage as an entertainment area, then sidewalls are a great accessory to invest in especially if you do a lot of entertaining and don’t want to hold your parties inside your house. They are often a regular inclusion in garage kits but you will still need to check to make sure.

You might also like:

7 Weekend DIY Projects That'll Whip Your Garage Into Shape (huffingtonpost.com)

Garages (fema.gov)

Tips on Building a Metal Garage Building Kit for the Do-It-Yourselfer (technorati.com)

How to Build a Farm Shed

Photo Credit: Simply Sheds

Space is something everybody needs, be it personal or otherwise. Homeowners in particular, who have the tendency to accumulate more stuff than they could possibly need, always seem to need storage space and when they run out of rooms to stash their memorabilia in, the next thing they turn to are sheds.

Sheds as you know, are that single-storey structures you can buy as prefabricated kits or can build with your own two hands, provided you have enough construction know-how. Sheds used to be built just for that purpose but these days, sheds can also double as home offices, art studios, play rooms, cabanas, etc. One thing that hasn’t changed is why we need sheds and why they are still the perfect solution to any space dilemma.

In addition to memorabilia, garden tools and equipment also take up a lot of room and this is why people often consider building garden or want to learn about farm sheds mainly because it suits their needs. With the option of buying these sheds pre-made, it has become even easier to decide on getting one primarily because it also suits their budget and there is no need to apply for any building permits as long as you are sure it adheres to local building codes.

To start building your farm shed, you need to decide whether you really need the additional space or if you can make do with what you have at present. Make sure you also adhere to your local construction laws or codes concerning large sheds as there are farm building and structures specifications in place so that you can make the most out of your farm sheds. Next, measure the space you want to erect your farm shed in for length, width and height and decide whether you want it connected to the main home or as a stand-alone structure. Most people find it easier to have their sheds connected to the main home for easy access.

Plan your floors based on what you will be housing inside the shed – if you are planning to park your riding lawnmowers, huge leaf blowers and other heavy-duty equipment, then a framed floor with joists and ¾ inch plywood is a safe bet. The last thing you need to decide on is foundation – you can use cement foundation which is the cheapest option or a dug-post foundation.

The next step is to build your foundation. You can start either by using short posts to connect to your joists and concrete blocks that will raise your shed from the ground or you can dig post holes into the ground and attach the joists to the outside of the post frame, bearing in mind that your joists should be at least 16 inches apart. Once they are laid, you can either lay a plywood floor or decking material over the floor and while both are suitable, plywood is recommended due to its strength.

Building a skeleton of the structure will make the body of your shed more stable. A 2x4 or a 2x6 inch construction is suitable for a farm shed project and you can start by laying two boards horizontally parallel to each other and then connecting them by laying two boards across them perpendicularly with measurements based on how tall you want your shed to be. These boards serve as your studs and should be at least 16 inches or 24 inches apart.

If you are adding doors or windows to the structure, you need to create a header on top of the doorway or window frame to prevent them from sagging. If you are creating an entryway, leave the bottom support board attached until the walls are up. When installing the walls make sure you have bracing boards or someone to hold the walls in place until you finish connecting them to each other and to the floor.

And now it’s time to add the roof. Roofs for farm sheds can either mimic a peaked house roof or a slanted roof by making one wall taller than the rest. You should remember to construct your roof in such a way that water will run down on it but will not run into the shed. This is done by laying it from the bottom up and attaching roof felt inside to keep the inside dry.

Now for the shed skin. A 4x8 foot exterior siding that is ½ to ¾ inch thick is the cheapest option any builder can go for. You either screw or nail it onto the exterior of your structure, covering everything except the holes for the windows and doors. Wood ribbing usually seals the seams.

And last but not the least, you now need to paint or stain your farm shed according to your personal preferences and install any studs, hangers or shelving units to put your stuff and tools on.

You might also like:

Yarra Ranges Planning Notes  (yarraranges.vic.gov.au)

Budget Barn Design (thehorse.com)
Estimating Farm Building Costs (teagasc.ie)

Prerequisites to Keeping Pets for Show, Breed, Companionship

If you love animals, wouldn’t you do anything to make sure the stray and the orphaned are accommodated in the best way possible, preferably in the comfort of your home? You’re short on luck, though, unless you live in the great outdoors or you have acres of land to convert into a preserve. You can take in and domesticate as many animals as you please, but you have to ensure local laws allow you to keep the specie you’ve adopted and nursed. This wouldn’t be a problem if you’re after the usual fare of pets, like cats, dogs, or rabbits, but what if you want to assume responsibility for exotic species, those not indigenous to your location? There are rules you have to comply with and these differ by the locale. The basic principles remain between these, though.

Registration, Tagging, Neutering

Photo credit: Eric Sonstroem (flickr.com)

Cats and dogs must be registered with local authorities. The requirements vary by state, but some require you to register the animal, tag it with microchip, and then have it tattooed once desexed or neutered. Microchipping a pet is the best way to tag it. A veterinarian will insert a chip as small as a grain of rice into the animal’s flesh; this chip contains information of ownership, your name, address, and contact, as well as the pet’s breed and specie. The data on the microchip is synched with the local registry so the animal is easily verified if it gets lost and found. Neutering or desexing is recommended but not required, but the animal is marked with a tattoo on the inner ear to indicate such.

Permits for Multiple Pets

You’ll need permits for keeping multiple pets in your home, and this applies to birds as well. You can only keep several animals in a kennel or cattery, all of these must be duly registered as well. Your purpose for keeping cats and dogs determine the requirements and your responsibilities. In Brisbane, for example, you can keep up to ten cats or two dogs as pets, if the species are not kept for breeding or show purposes. Fees and documentation are required otherwise. The rules on keeping poultry and fowl species also concern the available space in your property. You can keep up to twenty fowl animals if you can cover for the 800-meter free space, as much as six fowl animals in smaller properties. Your local council has the final say on whether or not certain species are allowed to keep, depending on the circumstances.

Proper, Comfortable Accommodations

It’s important that your pets are kept in comfort and convenience. This shouldn’t be a problem if you have a sizable back yard to begin with; you can set up the kennel and cattery as temporary shelters. You’re allowed to let your pets roam your property so long as it’s fenced. Some animals always need to be confined, though, particularly birds of flight. You’ll have to build a decent aviary to accommodate the species. You can find aviaries if you’re planning to keep and tend to species of birds on your backyard. In the long run, you can’t really convert your property into a preserve for animals, but you can ensure all that are under your care are accounted for.

Related Resources:

How to Build an Aviary (videos.huffingtonpost.com)

7 surprising ways to save on pet care (edition.cnn.com)