Bathing Time!

Annyeonghaseyo~bangbeob ida

Looks like the weather is changing drastically, especially in the Equator Line. We have a week of sudden torrential rain and suddenly it's a hot sunny day on the following week. Anyway, whenever we are soaked wet in the rain water or sweating under the dry hot sun, we'll surely look to our bathroom for a nice relaxing shower. So when it comes to using the bathroom, sometimes does it cross your mind that the water heater that you used is using a lot of electricity? So let's discuss on this issue on how to save this energy.

Design

People remodel more than 5 million bathrooms every year in the world. Sometimes this just means replacing lighting and plumbing fixtures. More extensive remodels involve building an addition or gutting and redesigning an existing bathroom. Regardless of the scale of the project, it is usually a good opportunity to save energy and water, improve comfort, and control moisture. Unfortunately an unwary remodeler may do the opposite. A poorly insulated bathroom can mean higher heating and cooling expenses, miserable bathers, or both. Moisture buildup can create a moldy room and damage the structure of the whole house. As remodelers work to make the space aesthetically pleasing, they should also make it a priority to create a comfortable, efficient, and dry room.

Ventilating the bathroom is absolutely vital in order to avoid a build up of moisture that can possibly damage the structural components of the home.  Ventilation also helps to prevent the formation of mould and mildew which can cause problems with allergies, as well as being unsightly.  The best way to ventilate the bathroom efficiently is to ensure that the bathroom has a window that is capable of good cross-ventilation.  There is no point in installing a small window, as it will not be able to handle the volumes of air required to keep the bathroom dry.  If installing a different window is not an option, then you can install an exhaust fan that vents to the outside of the home.  To prevent the fan being left on accidentally, it is possible to connect it to the light switch so that the fan turns on and off as the light does.

You may be surprised to learn that approximately 40% of all the water used in the home is used in the bathroom and the toilet.  So, if you wish to save water, the toilet, taps and shower are the main areas to look at in the bathroom. A dual flush toilet is much more efficient than a standard toilet as some are capable of using as little as 4.5 litres of water for full flush and 3 litres for a half flush.  If you don’t want to replace your toilet with a new one, there are gadgets available that you can fit to the toilet to reduce the amount of water being used.  These work by only allowing the toilet to flush when the button is physically held down.  Also consider using a rainwater tank for flushing the toilet or grey water from other areas of the home (such as the laundry). This water is perfectly adequate for toilet flushing and will save you from using precious mains water supplies.

Bathroom taps and shower heads are also two ways of saving water in the bathroom.  Water efficient taps should have a rating of 3-stars or more, or ideally 4-stars or higher.  If you are not replacing your taps, a water aerator will reduce the volume of water that comes from the tap significantly.  Standard shower heads can use as much as 20 litres of water per minute.  Simply by switching your shower head to one rated 3-stars or higher, you can reduce that amount to just 9 litres of water per minute without suffering a loss of water pressure.

It is also important to check your plumbing in the bathroom regularly, to ensure that there are no leaks anywhere – whether it is from the taps, the toilet or the pipes themselves.  Leaks are often so minor that they go undetected while wasting litres of water over what can be a very long period of time.

Hot water is the number one necessity in the bathroom, and the use of a solar hot water system will drastically reduce the amount of electricity or gas that you use.  Ensure that the system is placed as closely as possible to the three main hot water usage areas – the bathroom, kitchen and laundry.  If solar hot water is impractical in your residence for whatever reason, consider using a continuous flow hot water heater.  Continuous flow heaters only heat the water as it is being used, ensuring that the hot water never runs out, as well as ensuring that hot water is not sitting in a storage tank being constantly heated until it is used.  Whatever hot water system you use, make sure that the hot water pipes are insulated.

Heating is often a necessity in the bathroom, especially in the colder areas of Australia.  There are several heating options available such as underfloor heating, heating lights, and heating systems that run on gas or electricity.  While heating is a major user of energy, it is possible to minimize the amount used by using your heating appliances correctly.  Choose a heater that is the right size for your bathroom so that it does not have to overwork or underwork, and also only operate your heater as necessary.  Do not leave it on for hours just so that the bathroom is toasty warm when you enter. Only turn it on long enough to banish the chills and make the bathroom comfortable to use.  If you have a large family, it may be worth scheduling bathing times so that it is within the same block of time – meaning that the heater only has to be turned on once instead of multiple times throughout the day.

Gadgets

Of all the rooms in your house, the bathroom probably isn't top of the priority list for splashing cash on gadgets, seeing as most of your time is probably spent elsewhere unless you are an avid bubble bath fan.

But that's not to say the bathroom doesn't have its fair share of exciting gadgets and in fact, it has just as much potential to be as smart as the rest of your home. There are plenty of devices available now that can turn your bathroom into a clever one.

Showerhead - The Kohler Moxie Showerhead aims to make singing in the shower even more tempting with its built-in wireless speaker that connects to your devices using Bluetooth. There are a number of options to get this in your life, including either buying the Moxie with or without a wall arm, with a large showerhead or just the wireless speaker on its own. The speaker will work with your Bluetooth-connected device up to 32 feet away and it will pop out of the showerhead. There is a built-in rechargeable battery that will give you around seven hours playing time and the speaker itself comes in five colour options so you can even add a bit of style to the bathroom while you're at it.

Smart Body Analyzer Scale - The Withings Smart Body Analyser Wi-Fi Scales do exactly what their name suggests and more. They will give you an accurate weight recording, along with body fat measurements, Body Mass Index (BMI), heart rate readings and information on air quality and the day's weather. The scales feature automatic user recognition for up to eight users so they know who they are weighing and they will also help you position yourself properly for the most accurate weigh in with the Position Control function. The Health Mate app will let you set weight goals and it will break them down into achievable targets, plus there are also a number of partners, such as MyFitnessPal so you'll find the scales are compatible with some of your favourite fitness apps too, allowing for easy integration.

Crosswater Digital Duo - The Crosswater Digital Duo is a two-way control system that allows you to switch between your shower or your bath easily. Apart from looking good, the Duo offers control of the temperature and flow for the perfect shower, or temperature and depth of your perfect bath at the touch of a button.There is built-in memory that will store individual settings for up to three people and the Duo is compatible with an iOS app that will allow you control your bath and shower from anywhere in the home on a wireless network. It means you can get the shower warmed up from the comfort of your bed before you step in, or you can turn it on as you come home from a run for example. There is also a wired remote control available that operates your bath or shower up to six metres away so you can put it on the bedroom wall by the light switch for your ensuite bathroom for example.

Cyber Mirror - The Tech2O Cyber Mirror doesn't come cheap, but isn't just a mirror. It's a mirror, TV and internet portal in one with an IP63 rating meaning it is safe to use in the bathroom. It has a 32-inch Full HD 1080p LED touchscreen display, Windows 8 software, an Intel Core i3 processor and there is Wi-Fi functionality so this mirror isn't your average piece of glass that shows you how bad you look in the morning. Freeview is also built-in, as are two 10-watt speakers so bubble bath time can become catching up on your favourite soap time. You can also use it to flick through emails or apps such as Facebook, as well as do your hair, check your make-up (wearing dependant) and listen to music. In terms of specifications, there are a number of inputs including three HDMI and three USB ports so if you want to use Chromecast with it to watch a film or series from Netflix, this shouldn't be a problem and you can even mount it as portrait or landscape. The Tech2O Cyber Mirror measures 1300 x 700 x 98.5mm and weighs 76kg so make sure your wall is strong enough to hold it or you might end up with seven years bad luck coming your way. 

Smart Toilet - The Kohler Numi toilet proves that almost anything can be gadgetry when you have some spare cash, even toilets. First and foremost the Numi is of course a product that allows you to pee into it but don't make the mistake of thinking that's its sole purpose. It does everything for you, except the physically peeing part. This toilet will automatically raise and close the seat, warm your bum up and even warm your toes. There is a self-cleaning bidet that has adjustable water temperature and pressure controls, plus there is also ambient lighting in seven colours. A built-in speaker system that connects to a remote docking station, a touchscreen and a touch panel remote so you can pick your preferences are also onboard. The Numi also has a Bluetooth receiver so you can stream music from your mobile, an SD card slot for personalised welcome messages or custom playlists and a USB port for software updates.

Waterpebble - The Waterpebble is for those of you who want to become more eco-conscious or simply save some money on your water bill. It has been designed to take the effort out of saving water and the pebble-shaped device will monitor water going down the plug hole, memorise your first shower and use it as a benchmark. Each following shower you have, the Waterpebble will indicate when to finish showering by using a series of three lights - red, orange and green - with green meaning start, orange telling you the half way point and red letting you know it is time to stop.The idea is that your water usage is reduced a little each time you shower, helping you save water without having to think about it too much. It can also be reset at any time if you decide the first shower you took was too short for example.

Return Of Investment

Home owners need to ask themselves a few fundamental questions before deciding if remodeling the bathroom is a good idea. The most important question is whether you are going to get your money back if you decide to sell the home in the future. When remodeling a bathroom, it's important for homeowners to have a good idea of what your improvements are worth. This helps you invest your money wisely.

Most home owners can't afford to waste money on pet projects that put a strain on your finances, so home owners must choose carefully when deciding on a remodeling project. Most professionals in the real estate field recommend choosing a project that yields a hefty return. Bathrooms are a great remodeling choice. When home buyers look at a home, they always ask about the bathrooms. For home owners, a bathroom remodel is pricey, but it's a safe bet that is very likely to be profitable. On average, bathroom remodeling projects yield a 60% return on investment. If the home owner is smart about their remodeling project, they increase the profitability of the remodel even more. A home owner might consider the following upgrades for their bathroom:

• Multiple sinks
• Glass showers
• Good lighting
• Shower seating
• Extra storage
• Floating vanities

An upgraded bathroom is welcoming and warm, which is appealing to home buyers who look for comfort and style when searching for a new home. It's important for home owners to pick upgrades that make use of neutral colours and finishes without following ultra-trendy designs. This ensures that the bathroom doesn't look old and used in a couple of years. Home owners should always consider increasing the size of the bathroom if possible; most home buyers prefer a home that has big bathrooms. It's easy to expand the size of a bathroom during a remodel or change certain features to make the bathroom feel bigger. For example, you might replace an over-sized, rarely used tub with a sleek glass shower to create more space in the room.

Many home owners make the mistake of choosing bathroom styles that aren't appealing to the public. When they do, they don't add much value to their home. It's always important to consider what a buyer is looking for in a bathroom to be sure of coming up with functional and stylish remodeling ideas. When remodeling a bathroom, home owners need to keep the design in harmony with the rest of the home. If a bathroom sticks out like a sore thumb, it spoils the appearance of the home, especially for potential buyers who may only take a quick tour of the house before deciding whether or not to make an offer. When a home owner is considering an upgrade that's going to be hard to sell in the future, you need to realize that home buyers won't be willing to pay for their eccentric designs. If they plan on staying in the home for a very long time, however, then it's acceptable to design according to your own preferences.

The great thing about bathroom remodeling jobs is that they don't need to be extensive. New paint, upgraded toilets and nice shower heads give homeowners the best bang for their buck. When a bathroom has floors and walls that are in good condition, simple strategic add-ons can skyrocket its value. When it comes to remodeling a home, popular trends change every five years. It's important for homeowners to choose timeless styles that don't lower their home's resale value in the future. Fortunately, bathrooms don't change that much; that's why they are one of the most profitable remodeling options out there.

Smart Kitchen

Ohayoo minasan, Ogenki desu ka~

How is everyone doing? Is everyone having the right meal at the right time? Expert says that the morning breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it gives us energy to start the day. So I am just curious as all of you, how many people out there still cook at home these days?  I mean, let's face it, with all the techs and delivery service, not to mention fast food, we hardly cook at home because we are so caught up with our work and social life. But still I believe that some of you out there still cook the loving tender meal for the family. Well, for this reason I am going to share with you how to cook smartly.

Smart Kitchen

Over the past year, much of the new product innovation in smart home has been around some well understood areas:  security, comfort, and convenience. While this focus on straightforward use-cases from smart home entrepreneurs makes sense since all can be vastly improved through the application of smart technology, what doesn’t make as much sense is the comparatively little focus from smart home innovators on the kitchen.

I don't know about you, but the kitchen has always been the central gathering place in any home in which I’ve lived, and while some may think it’s a fad, I think we're all fairly invested in this thing we call eating.

But it’s more than how central the kitchen is to all of our lives. There are a number of trends that support the fusion of technology and the kitchen, including growing interest in cooking by consumers, the emergence of automated food delivery, and the simple fact that mobile technology has already become indispensable to many of us in the kitchen.

In fact, according to NextMarket Insights in October 2014, 24% of those who cook for themselves or others use a tablet or smartphone “all the time” in the kitchen to help them find information about food or to help with cooking itself. Another 34% use this technology on a semi-frequent basis.

So with all the apps that are available in the market to help home cookers to prepare their desired meal, they still need some nice hardware that can not only do the job but also doing it in an efficient way.

Home Smart Grill

This is not your average household grill and The Palate Smart Grill from Palate Home is one of them. It can cook almost any food perfectly based on weight, composition, and desired done-ness, all controlled through an iPad app. This high quality cooking appliances are precise and powerful. It can reach 250°C quickly and hold it with the resilience of a cast iron skillet, yet is accurate to one degree increments at lower temperatures. And even though it can pull 1800W when needed, on average the energy usage is more like a 60W light bulb, thus saving on the energy bills.

Smart Frying Pan

Temperature control and perfect timing in a pan. This gadget lets you check the exact temperature inside your salmon, steak or whatever else you've got sizzling and let’s you know when it’s ready without having to stick a fork in it. One of them is the Pantelligent app for iPhone that monitors the cooking and lets you know the ideal time when the food is done.

Drop Connected Kitchen Scale

This one aims to be an easy-to-use kitchen baking scale that guides you through select recipes connected to an iPad app. You pick out which recipe you want on the app and then place a bowl on the bluetooth connected scale, drop in each ingredient until the app says you have added enough into the bowl and follow along with the instructions to make the perfect cake, cookies or whatever else you desire. Talk about convenience!

Smart Preparation Pad

Some smart preparation pad such as Prep Pad tallies up nutritional info from the foods added to any bowl on its connected food scale. The information is then transferred to an iPad app so you know exactly how many carb, fat and protein calories are in your food. It then gives you an overview of every ingredient you put on Prep Pad throughout your week and logs that with your connected Jawbone Up to help you meet your health goals.

Utensils

There are some utensils in the market that not only work as just a normal fork and spoon but it also share information on the user. For example, the HAPIfork is an electronic fork that helps you monitor and track your eating habits for weight loss. It measures how long it took you to eat, the amount of fork servings and the time in between servings. It then uploads that info to an app via USB or Bluetooth to show you what you are doing.

Coffee Maker

Who could miss out the ever important gadgets of our life: the coffee maker. Since this coffee maker has been used in majority of homes in the world, many brands have tried to research and develop the most efficient coffee maker for the global users and one of them is Siemens. Siemens is not in the business of making kitchen gadgets. It’s creating the makeup of the actual kitchen infrastructure itself. It has a slew of appliances that are connected to a single app. This coffee maker is a part of that. Push a button on your phone beside your bed and you've got your morning espresso ready to go.

Smart Oven

This connected kitchen appliance allows you to control cooking remotely from your smartphone. Such a technology has already been out in the market and you may find one of this in LG. Click on the LG Smart Access Range app to set it and forget it. It also lets you send recipes to your range.

Worthy Or Not?

So as I have share some of the product that can help to make your life more convenient and healthier, is it worthy to spend the money for a kitchen? We are already in the technology era and many apps or software are being developed to meet our life's expectancy. We should start looking at which item that can give the best quality of life, not to mention helping us to utilise the energy efficiently. So if you ask is it worthy to upgrade your kitchen, it depends on how you want it to be. 

Hope that this information may help you to decide what's the next best action.

Sayonara~~jaa mata

Landscaping Efficiently

What's up people? How is your day? It had been a rainy days for these few weeks. Such a cold weather to steamboat, or having a cup of warm chocolate, sitting by the river and enjoying the landscape view. Some of the areas have nice landscape view such as the Malacca River, KLCC Tower, etc but all these require maintenance and some few lightings to bring it to life. Of course, this only happens for public areas, but what if we want to set up the same landscape design in our own backyard? Surely there is something can be done at the minimum cost. So for today's topic, we'll be talking about energy efficient landscape.

What is Energy Efficient Landscape?

Landscaping  refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including living elements such as flora or fauna, natural elements such as landforms, terrain shape or elevation, or bodies of water and abstract elements such as the weather and lighting conditions. Energy-efficient landscaping is a type of landscaping designed for the purpose of conserving energy. There is a distinction between the embedded energy of materials and constructing the landscape, and the energy consumed by the maintenance and operations of a landscape.

How Does It Conserve Energy?

A well-designed landscape can reduce your hot and cold energy costs dramatically. It can also protect your home from cool wind  and warmer sun such as El Nino & La Nina. The landscape usually is designed to reduce consumption of water, pesticides, and fuel for landscaping and lawn maintenance. It's also used to help control noise and air pollution. 

Do you know that a well-positioned tree can save up to 25 percent of your home's energy for heating and cooling. A tree-shaded yard can be up to 6 degrees cooler than a sunny yard. A shaded lawn can be up to 25 degrees cooler than sunny pavement. Shading your home's roof can increase your air conditioner's energy efficiency by more than 10 percent. A single shade tree equals the cooling power of 15 air conditioners -- and it runs for free! Three house-shading trees can cut your cooling bill by as much as half.

Design

So how can we design our landscape for our home or office building to be energy efficient. There are a few ways to do it:

• Planting trees for the purpose of providing shade, which reduces cooling costs.
• Planting or building windbreaks to slow winds near buildings, which reduces heat loss.
• Wall sheltering, where shrubbery or vines are used to create a windbreak directly against a wall.
• Earth sheltering and positioning buildings to take advantage of natural landforms as windbreaks.
• Green roofs that cool buildings with extra thermal mass and evapotranspiration.
• Reducing the heat island effect with pervious paving, high albedo paving, shade, and minimizing paved areas.
• Site lighting with full cut-off fixtures, light level sensors, and high efficiency fixtures

Financial Cost

Landscape professionals can help you choose and locate new trees, shrubs, or groundcover. You may want to share your drawings and tentative ideas with your local nursery or landscape contractor. As long as you have defined intended uses and spaces in which planting is actually possible, a competent nursery or landscape specialist will be able to help you make decisions. When planting trees, shrubs, hedges, or bushes, find out how large the mature specimen will grow. 

In all cases, determine spacing by the mature sizes. For those plants close to your house, plan for at least 1 foot (30 centimeters) of extra clearance between the full-grown shrub and the wall of the home. This will prevent heavy pruning or damage to home siding in the future. 

After considering the placement of your trees and consulting landscaping and nursery professionals, go back to your drawings or plans and add the new information on species, shape, and mature-size spacing. This provides a final, pre-purchase review to make sure that all elements will work well together—in the short and long term. 

When you are ready to purchase your trees and shrubs, avoid buying damaged specimens. Thoroughly inspect the bark, limbs, and roots to make sure the plant was handled carefully during growing, digging, and shipping. Reject plant stock with signs of insects or disease (cocoons, egg masses, cankers, or lesions). After you purchase the plants, be sure to keep tiny root hairs damp and shaded at all times. The plants will not survive if these root hairs are allowed to dry before planting.

Some Small Tips

Take time to study the movement of sun and wind around your house and property through the seasons. You'll then be better able to control them with plantings and structures. 

Control the sun through just a window or two by planting annual vines. Create a trellis of galvanized wire or build one of wood to surround or even cover the window. Plant with a deciduous vine, such as a sweet autumn clematis, morning glories, or scarlet runner bean. The vine's leaves will create filtered shade during the hot days.

Concentrate more on depth than height when planting a windbreak. One row of trees is good but two is better, and three is best. Start with a row of low-growing flowering trees and shrubs closest to the house, a row of taller deciduous trees in the next row, and a row of tall evergreens farthest out.

Energy Efficient Roofing

Hello everyone and welcome to the "Towards a greener world" blog where we share all the knowledge on how to improve our house energy usage and protecting the environment. What a great day to start. The weather is just nice and the ambient temperature will just make anyone feels sleepy. But whenever you want to go for a nap, sometimes your home or your room makes it a little bit not so comfortable in a way that it's humid or the air is dirty.



So normally we would go for an air-conditioning or an air purifier to be installed in the house. But did you know all these consumes electricity? With just some modification of the roof, these items may not be required and you can save on the energy bills.

Energy Efficient Roof

Not everyone can have a living roof, but most people can have a “green” roof fairly easily. And the great news is that improving the energy efficiency of your roof doesn’t have to be costly. Small improvements can deliver a big difference, not only to your home’s energy usage, but also to the size of your energy bill. Do you know that in United States of America, people spent roughly around US$40billion a year in air-conditioning? Now that's a large amount of money.
An Energy Efficient Roof reflects more of the sun's rays. This can lower roof surface temperature by up to 10 degrees Celsius, decreasing the amount of heat transferred into a building. Thus it can help to reduce the amount of air conditioning needed in buildings, and can reduce peak cooling demand by 10-15 percent. Nevertheless, you will still need to consider the facility design, insulation used, climatic conditions, building location, and building envelope efficiency to fully utilize the benefit of the energy efficient roof.

Design

When it comes to design, there are many types that are available in the market but I'll just name a few in here:

Cool Roofs :- "Cool roofs" is an umbrella term for several different roofing systems. In short, a cool roof is a roof designed to reflect sunlight and heat. Conventional roofing materials reflect only 5 to 15 percent, which means they absorb 85 to 95 percent of the energy and heat from the sun. The coolest roofing materials reflect more than 65 percent, absorbing 35 percent or less of the energy from the sun. Thermal emittance determines how readily a surface gives up heat. Ideally, a roof will have a high percentage of reflectance and a high percentage of emittance.

Low-Sloped Roofs :- Low-sloped roofs are normally found on commercial buildings, industrial buildings and multifamily homes. They can be made more efficient through the application of cool coating or single-ply membrane. Cool coating is the consistency of thick paint and can be applied to existing surfaces, such as asphalt, gravel, metal and various single-ply materials. Cool coatings have additional benefits, including improved adhesion, durability, suppression of algae growth and an ability to self-wash under normal rainfall. Single-ply membranes come in prefabricated sheets and are generally glued or mechanically fastened in place over the entire surface of the roof.


Steep-Sloped Roofs :- Steep-sloped roofs are generally found on residential homes. The most common types of cool roofing systems for steep-sloped roofs include tiles and painted metal. Typical tiles, made of clay or concrete, reflect only 10 to 30 percent. "Cool-colored" tiles contain pigments that reflect 25 to 70 percent of solar energy, depending upon the color. Cool-colored metal roofing also contains pigments that reflect 20 to 90 percent. Metal roofing is more common than tile, as it is highly durable.


Heat Islands :- Heat islands are urban areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. A city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8 to 5.4 degree Celsius warmer than its surroundings. Heat islands affect community-wide energy demands, air-conditioning costs, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and water quality. Cool roofs play a vital role in reducing the environmental and economic impact of large cities.


Green Roofs :- Although green roofs fall into their own category, they provide similar benefits as cool roofs. Green roofs are gardens or mini-ecosystems that cover an existing roof with the aid of special planters. The greenery essentially shades the roof, reducing heat transfer and thereby keeping the building cool. Green roofs also act as insulators in cold weather and have a host of other benefits, such as absorbing rainfall for better stormwater management, reducing air pollution and providing garden space in densely populated areas where parkland is rare.

Cost

Make your decision based on your budget and your planned tenure in the home. There are so many options such as metal roofing but the costs vary wildly. I actually saw in a forum of a local manufacturer that specialized in commercial roof and his costs were 40% lower than the franchise metal roofing contractor. Even so it was 300% higher than an asphalt shingle roof.  You'll have to look at your variables and make a decision that works for you. I wouldn't recommend a solar reflective roof unless the added cost is minimal (3 – 5%).