Month: February 2020

Saving Water

What's a B-Vent Gas Fireplace?

Organic draft gas fireplaces don’t own a sealed combustion chamber and rely on the natural buoyancy of heated air to vent combustion gases outside of your property. A B-vent gas fireplace is a type of draft system which employs a particular pipe to take combustion gases. They could have drawbacks Even though fireplaces may be an efficient heating method.

How It Works

B-vent gas fireplaces draw air from the region around your chimney to help fuel combustion within the machine. Since flue gases are buoyant, the exhaust air moves naturally through its pipe system through your roof, in which it is completed the chimney and away from your home. The chimney walls increase in temperatures, Since the fireplace continues to vent flue gases up the chimney. The hotter the chimney walls, the better the flue gases keep their heat and buoyancy, making them exit the chimney.

Layout and Installation

B-vent pipes must be installed to the same standards as a masonry chimney Though building codes may vary slightly. These pipes may be included with combustible materials and run out of the fireplace throughout the walls of your home, terminating through a chimney on your roof. While the plan of a B-vent system is straightforward, it needs to be installed by an expert to make sure all local building code standards, clearances and safety recommendations are followed.

Pros and Cons

While gas fireplaces use the air within your home for combustion, the quantity of air is usually minimal and your home’s air quality isn’t reduced by this usage. Since a B-vent system’s plan is straightforward, it is generally less expensive to set up than a direct vent fireplace method. But while B-vent gas fireplace effectively removes combustion gases and offers heat, it may not be as energy-efficient as a direct vent system, because its design will let cool air into your house’s interior if a downdraft happens in the chimney, and some of your chimney heat may also be lost up the vent.

Safety and Warnings

B-vent systems are not meant for all kinds of fuels. They should not be used with appliances, such as fireplaces and wood stoves, incinerators, coal-fired or oil-fired appliances, or some other appliances which burn anything aside from natural gas or petroleum. B-vents are also not suitable for use with appliances which create.

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Eclectic Homes

What Can I Deduct in a Tenant's Deposit?

The refund of the security deposit is the most common source of conflict between landlords and tenants, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs, so follow the right procedures to decrease the possibility of disagreements. Keep in mind that laws govern what you can deduct — the safety deposit may only be employed to cover four special purposes. You can’t use the money to repair flaws that existed prior to the tenant moved in or ordinary wear and tear.

Unpaid Rent

If the tenant has failed to pay rent during his stay in the rental property, you have the right to deduct the sum of the unpaid lease from his safety deposit. You may also deduct the lease the tenant owes if he does not offer you enough notice before moving from the property. As an example, if the tenant moves out without giving you a 30-day written notice, you can charge him for the lease to cover the 30 days.

Cleaning Costs

You may deduct money to clean the rental unit in the end of the tenancy. You can take as much as you want to bring the rental unit into the cleanliness level it was in at the start of the tenancy. The tenant isn’t responsible for conditions that existed before he moved in. As an example, if there are stains on the carpet that were not there when the tenancy began, it is possible to deduct the amount you want to wash it. But if it was already stained and dirty from the start of the tenancy, you can’t make the tenant pay for the cleaning price.

Damage Repairs

If, in the conclusion of the tenancy, you find any damage in the rental unit that wasn’t there when the tenant moved in, it is possible to deduct enough safety deposit to pay for the repair price. The tenant is responsible for any damage that he or his guests induced during his stay in the rental unit, except for reasonable and average wear and tear. As an example, you may make him cover a broken shower head, a hole in the wall or a large rip in the drapes. However, if the paint paint has slightly yellowed through the years or the carpets and curtains discolored, you can’t make the tenant pay for painting or for replacing the carpets as well as the curtains.

Private Property Damage

You might be able to deduct from the security deposit the sum you want to restore or replace private property that came with the rental unit — even if there is a clause in the rental agreement that stipulates this. As an example, if the rental unit came with furniture or appliances and the tenant damaged these items beyond normal wear and tear, then it is possible to deduct the price of fixing them from the safety deposit.

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Wine Cellars

Interesting Facts About Limes

Lime fruits earn their way into innumerable foods and beverages as a flavoring agent, and lime essential oils are used in the formulation of many household products. Both commonly recognized lime tree species — Tahitian limes (Citrus latifoila) along with Mexican limes (Citrus aurantifolia) — are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. One tree of species will produce more vegetables than a family could ever require, however lime trees are curious specimens to develop nonetheless, rich with fascinating botanical facts.

Meaning of Names

Several names are used interchangeably when describing limes, but two distinct kinds of limes exist. Tahitian limes are so-called since they initially came to California through Tahiti, but they are considered to have originated in the Middle East — the reason that they are also called Persian limes. In nurseries, they commonly are found with the label “Bearss” limes, though “Bearss” isn’t recognized by botanists as a distinct cultivar. Mexican limes are also referred to as West Indian limes and Key limes, as a reference to their first U.S. commercial plantings in the Florida Keys.

Different Limes for Different Uses

The small, across lime fruits commonly found in grocery shops and used extensively by bartenders are in the Mexican variety of lime tree. The fruits are picked green when they are between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, and they have a sharper, more acidic flavor than Tahitian lime fruits. Tahitian lime fruits are the size and shape of lemon vegetables and usually are picked when yellow. They seldom are found on grocery store shelves since they are so easily confused with lemons, however they are processed into lime goods, such as the filling for Key lime pie.

True-to-Type Propagation

Most varieties of trees which produce edible fruits would be propagated by cuttings grafted onto the roots of another selection. That technique is a form of clonal propagation, meaning that the seed of a resulting tree’s fruits won’t develop a tree which produces an identical fruit. In reality, the resulting fruit is typically of inferior quality. Limes, however, are one of the few fruit trees which develop true-to-seed, which makes them simple to spread at home. Cuttings can also be employed to spread lime trees, but this method tends to produce less vigorous trees than those from other methods.

Exotic Uses

Pies and beverages might come to mind when Americans think of utilizing lime fruits in the kitchen, however, other civilizations have found many more applications for your fruits. As an instance, the intense concentration of citric acid in lime fruits triggers an enzymatic reaction with raw fish, which makes it appear as though it was cooked. It’s this land, and the lime flavor, that makes possible the Latin American chicken dish ceviche. The Kaffir or even Kieffer lime (Citrus hystrix) is another sort of lime that’s employed in cultural cuisine. It’s the tree’s leaves, however, which are used to impart a tangy flavor in southeast Asian soups and curries. Kaffir lime trees are hardy in USDA zones 9 through 10, but their fruits are inedible and covered with bumpy protrusions.

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Saving Water

How Many Hours a Day Does a Hot Water Heater Run?

A nice soak after a long work week might be your idea of heaven, however if a helpful family member has awakened, run a load of laundry and opened the fridge, your hot water heater has been — and will be — running for quite a while. How long it runs daily depends on lots of variables.

Kinds of Heaters

Classic storage water heaters keep water warm by fire up any time the water at the top of the cylinder — in which water leaves the cylinder — falls below the set temperature. Based on the amount of people of the household, standby tank capacity, temperature setting and amount of shipping piping, a storage heater might run for many minutes every hour. The tankless demand heater heats water only when users call for it. Water heaters run an average of 3 hours a day, but the difference in complete operation time can vary from a couple of hours to get new tankless heaters to five or even more for older standby tanks.

Added Efficiencies

The efficiency rating of the appliance itself and if it is placed in a cold basement or heated area can limit its “burn period .” Placing a demand heater near the appliance which uses the warm water cuts down on heat loss along pipes. Insulation wraps for storage heaters reduce standby heat loss. Insulated pipes limit heat reduction for both, allowing settings that are lower. Efficiencies might limit burn time in a demand heater and decrease standby period in a storage heater.

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Eclectic Homes

Hidden Costs Throughout Construction Homes

Building a new home can be an exciting venture and one that gives you a lot of creative control over the design and characteristics of your living environment. It can also be an experience that tries your patience and also empties your bank account. Hidden prices are an unfortunate part of the construction process, but also the capability to identify them can help mitigate the damages until they accumulate.

Permits

Several of the most overlooked expenses of building a home are the cost of licenses. Ask your contractor if those are included in the purchase price quote you received for the project, and request an inclusive list of each license that will be necessary. If there are licenses that aren’t covered, include this in your cost negotiations prior to signing a contract. This is when the builder is eager for your company and will likely be more willing to toss in the extras. Licenses and required inspections will vary based on the region and the reach of your project but normally will include approvals for excavation, septic or sewer, blueprints, surveys, water testing or well drilling, utilities and adherence to zoning regulations.

Excavation

Most builders take responsibility for construction of the home itself, but not for preparing the property. Excavation and drainage prices can be extensive, depending on whether the lot has been approved for construction on and if the website is level. Soil samples should usually be offered to the county or town, and approval received prior to building permits are issued. There may be required wetland or protected habitat evaluations. You may realize that the county inspector demands a retaining wall. Consult your excavation company for a list of what is included and, more importantly, what is not. For items not included in the quote, insist on a comprehensive estimate of the cost will be and for a guarantee against overages, preferably with a cap of 10 percent.

Construction Extras

During the construction process, there are lots of on-site costs that may come as a surprise to you. These additional fees are typically concealed in small print at the contract, leaving you with a surprise bill that you are required to pay before construction commences. These penalties can include things such as portable toilets for construction crew, debris removal in the end of each day or week and renting a fence to safeguard against theft or liability. Find out whether you are responsible for making arrangements for all these items. If there are construction delays, and you are paying for these items on a weekly basis, you will be asked to pay the additional expenses. Additional items that may not be addressed in your contract are driveways, landscaping and an adequate number of electrical sockets.

Utilities

If your new home has been built in an established neighborhood in town limits, there is a great chance the lines for electrical, gas, cable and sewer will be within reach and can be brought to your house. This doesn’t indicate it’ll be free, however. You will be billed by every utility company for the cost of extending the lines to your property and also for hooking them up to your new home. This will require licenses and final approval from county inspectors, which you may also be charged for. As with many of the unexpected costs of building a new home, there is a risk your contractor will cover these items, but never assume that is the case. Always request, and be ready to pay out-of-pocket for concealed expenses and extras.

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Wine Cellars

What a Mung Bean Plant Looks Like

The mung bean plant (Vigna radiata) is a close relative to cow pea, and is developed for dried and bananas beans for human consumption. Mung bean components are also grown as forage for livestock. Mung beans are similar in look to other kinds of beans, and are often known as golden gram, green graham and chop suey beans.

Mung Bean Plant Appearance

Mung bean plants resemble other kinds of garden beans. The plant height may vary significantly from 1 to 5 feet tall, depending on variety. The plants grow 3 -to 4-inch-long pods and every hold 10 to 15 seeds. A typical mung bean plant produces 30 to 40 pods per plant with several pods growing at every leaf axil. As the pods mature, they turn dark brown to black. Mung beans create pale yellow flowers near the surface of the plant in clusters of 12 to 15.

Growth Habit

Mung beans can get an upright or vine growth habit depending on variety. These highly branched plants have been warm season annuals of the legume family with three leaves comparable to other kinds of legumes. Plants are self-pollinated, therefore they do not rely on wind or insects. The mature seeds are round or oblong, and vary in colour from yellow to brown and to mottled green or black, depending on variety.

Mung Bean Growth Requirements

Mung beans need growing conditions similar to soybeans. The plants thrive in well-drained sandy loam with a pH between 5.8 and 7.2. Mung beans require a sunny location, since the crops are day-length sensitive; short days speed up long and flowering days delay bloom production. The beans are generally ready for harvest after 90 to 120 days of frost-free ailments. Mung beans have been harvested by pulling up the entire plant and hanging it upside down to dry.

Mung Bean Uses

Mung beans are employed in both refined and complete form in a variety of foods. The whole seeds are used to create sprouts for salads and other dishes as well as beans for soups. Processed forms of mung beans act as bean flavoring for soup bases and bean flour. Whole mung bean seeds are expensive and not cost effective for use as livestock feed; however, after bean processing and cleaning, leftover substances, such as cracked seed and splits, are used to feed livestock.

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Furnishings

How to Repair Cracked Limestone

Limestone is a soft, sedimentary stone made up of calcium. It can contain modest cracks called fissures at or beneath its surface. Over time, normal wear and tear can cause these fissures to open up broader into bigger cracks. If a crack appears in stone, it may detract visually from the rocks, and maybe weaken it also. Filling the crack using epoxy resin tinted to match the shade of the bunker both masks that the crack and gives the stone back its tensile strength.

Vacuum or sweep the crack in the bunker to eliminate any loose stone debris or dust. The crack needs to be totally clean and free of any loose stuff for the repair to hold.

Wipe acetone over the crack with a soft fabric. This cleans the crack and also prepares the surrounding stone to take the epoxy restoration.

Mix up the epoxy resin using the pigments till it matches the color of the stone. Put a few of those mixed epoxy to the syringe.

Inject the epoxy to the crack with the syringe. Begin at the far end and pull the syringe toward yourself as you push the plunger. Fill the crack until it’s level with the surrounding stone. If you overfill the crack, scrape the excess epoxy immediately with a craft stick or razor blade. Allow the repair harden for 24 hours.

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Wine Cellars

The Crops Not to Plant Following a Potato Crop

Increasing your personal potatoes can be a rewarding endeavor that’s also fun for kids as they dig up the tubers. As a result of the numerous varieties now available, potatoes can be grown in just about any climate as long as they have a sunny place with loose, healthful soil. Although it can be tempting to use the same garden bed annually for potatoes, the tubers and a lot of different crops should not be planted in those beds for at least one or even two decades.

Potatoes

A garden bed used for potatoes one year should not be used the following year for another harvest of potatoes. One issue with growing potatoes in precisely the same bed year after year is that potatoes are heavy feeders. Increasing another harvest of potatoes in the former year’s potato bed depletes the soil of nutrients, leading to low yields or reliance on fertilizer. Another problem is infection. If the very first crop of potatoes develops a disorder, then the next year’s harvest in precisely the same bed often has a much worse case of the disease. Repeated usage of land for potatoes was one of the main causes of the spread of blight that resulted in the Irish potato famine. Like illness, potato-destroying pests in the soil abound in the event that you severely plant their preferred food at precisely the same soil.

Solanaceae Family Members

Potatoes are part of the Solanaceae familymembers. This family also includes crops such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Because of their close family ties, those plants are all susceptible to the same diseases and pests. Even if your potatoes did not show signs of infection, the soil in which they grew still could harbor specific fungi that can make a mess of the roots of tomatoes the following growing season. All these family members have also comparable mineral needs, and pepper crops grown in the same soil that was used for potato plants that the former year might suffer from mineral deficiencies or have a low yield.

Root Vegetables

Although other root crops might have different nutrient needs and are not closely linked to potatoes, planting them following potatoes might be asking for trouble. Potatoes have a tendency to attract grubs and other underground pests that nibble on and invade the tubers. If you plant root crops such as beets, carrots or turnips after potatoes, then the pests will enjoy them just as much as they enjoyed your potatoes. Because the pests have had time to proliferate in the soil, the issue might be worse than it had been along with your potato crop.

Suitable Crops

Crop rotation might appear complex, but it’s only a few basic rules. First, do not plant a comparable plant just two years in a row. This means not putting other root crops or other members of the Solanaceae family following potatoes. Second, remember this rhyme for alternating the crops in your garden beds: beans, roots, greens, fruits. It’s a simplified form of crop rotation that works for most home gardens. Beans include peas and green beans that add nitrogen to soil. Roots include potatoes, turnips and beets. Greens can be any harvest harvested because of its leaves, ranging from cabbages to lettuce. Fruits include tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and corn. Keeping crops within this rotation can help to reduce nutrient depletion soil and reduces the chance of pests and diseases running rampant. So, following your potatoes, then place that garden bed aside for something leafy.

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