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Take Your Home Off Grid The Smart Way

Michael Klements
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0
Take Your Home Off Grid The Smart Way

Over the last few years there has been a strong shift in thinking, more and more households are becoming aware of their impact on the environment and are taking steps to reduce their footprint. Going green or going off grid are now trendy terms and can significantly increase you homes value and save you on your electrical bill.

In this article, when we talk about going off grid, we are talking about becoming completely electrically independent, you do not need to rely on any electrical utility provider to power your home. If you are looking at taking your water supply off grid as well, watch this space, we will be covering this next month.

As with a number of things, there is a smart way to go off grid and and easy way to go off grid. We will briefly discuss the easy way however our focus will be on the smart way as this yields better savings in the long run and is the more environmentally friendly option.

The Easy Way To Go Off Grid

The easiest way to take your home off grid is to call up a solar installation company and have them replace your utility power supply with a solar array. They will order a number of panels for you, cover your sunny roof, fill your garage or basement with batteries and you’ll be ready to go, easy right? You could even embrace your inner DIY’er and select, buy and install you own solar installation.

The reason we don’t recommend this is because in the long run, this approach is actually extremely inefficient and can land up being very costly. Unless you live in a home which was designed in the last three to five years specifically to be energy efficient, it was never designed to be taken off grid. Power was cheap and always available so it didn’t really matter too much how much power your home used. With modern house designs this focus has shifted and designers are now constantly looking for ways to reduce household energy consumption.

There are a number of household appliances and necessities which are fundamentally different in a house which has been designed with energy efficiency in mind and this extends far beyond changing all of your incandescent globes to LEDs. Water heaters, ovens, stoves, fridges, air conditioners etc, all of these energy hungry appliances have more efficient versions or alternatives which lend themselves towards an off grid household. This brings us to the smart way to take your home off grid.

The Smart Way To Go Off Grid

electricity meter reduce power

Electricity Meter by Kai Hendry used under CC BY 2.0

The smart way involves a lot more work and planning but will save you a lot more money in the long run as you are changing your home to be more energy efficient rather than just powering your current home’s needs using more equipment.

Firstly you need to look at your big energy users and how you can change or remove them in order to reduce your energy demands, we’ll go into these in a bit more detail below.

The Water Heater / Geyser

Water heaters are an essential part of any household so you need to look at ways to make them more efficient rather than removing them altogether. Most older houses will have a water heater in a column outside, in the roof, basement or garage. It is essentially an insulated tank with a large element in it which keeps a large amount of water permanently hot.

We know that in order to keep something hot, we have to keep replacing the energy that is being lost into the environment. We also have to keep on heating the cold water that is added to replace any of the hot water we have used. In order to make this process as efficient as possible, there are three possible solutions.

The first is to make the current setup more efficient, add a blanket around your heater/geyser which insulates it further and prevents heat from escaping which means less energy is used to keep the water hot. You can also reduce the thermostat temperature as the higher the temperature difference between the water in the heater and the ambient air, the higher the losses. Reduce the temperature to the point where you do not need to mix cold water with it in order to have a hot shower, this is usually the hottest you require water to be in your home. Lastly, you can add a timer. Timers are quite largely debated as you have to follow a strict routine in order to see any savings and to avoid having the occasional cold shower. Basically, you want the timer to only switch the heater on once a day, an hour later the heater should be turned off and everyone should shower. The water should then remain cold until the next day when the timer turns on again. If you can’t follow this type of routine then a timer is probably not going to have much effect on your electrical bill.

The second option is to change your water heater or geyser to a solar one. This type of heater sits in a sunny spot on the roof and uses black vacuum tubes to harness the heat from the sun and use it to heat up your water and to keep it warm. These heaters often come with an element as well to boost the water temperature when there has not been enough sun throughout the day. These heaters however can only be used in warmer, sunny climates and are not suitable for snow or icy regions.

The last option is to replace the water heater with an inline gas or electric model. Why should we store large amounts of hot water and pay to keep the water hot when we can just heat water up as we need it? These devices are fitted near the tap or shower and switch on automatically when water starts flowing to instantly heat up the water. If you are considering going off grid then an inline gas heater is probably your best solution.

Air Conditioning and Heating

The next big user of electricity in your home is the air conditioner and the central heating.

Consider replacing your air conditioner with an evaporative cooler. These box like systems look similar to an AC and can be mounted on a wall or on the roof. They rely on the evaporation of water in order to cool the air which is blown through them.  In hot climates with a low humidity they are just as effective as air conditioning and use up to 80% less electricity. If an evaporative cooler won’t work in your environment due to a high humidity, then switch to ordinary household fans, a fan also uses up to 95% less electricity than the air conditioner.

For heating, you should again consider switching to gas or to a solid fuel based central heater. Gas heating systems are the most efficient, often the cheapest to buy and gas is one of the cheaper fuels you can buy. In some regions gas is piped directly to your home so you don’t need to worry about having cylinders stored around your property.

Stove & Oven

The stove and the oven are not going to make a huge difference to your energy savings in the long run, unless you cook a lot. Making changes to them will however significantly reduce your peak demand in the evening and this helps to reduce the inverter size and to some extent the battery bank capacity.

Gas stoves and gas ovens are the best solution to an off grid home and if you are changing your heating and water heating to gas solutions then it will be easy for you to install a single cylinder or pipe your gas line to multiple appliances and reap the rewards of reduced energy consumption.

Refrigerator

This one only really applies if you have a fridge which is older than about 10 years. Modern fridges offer significantly improved insulation and new digital inverter based refrigeration systems which together result in the fridge running for less time and with less power. These savings add up in the long term and will reduce the size of your solar installation.

Lighting

This is probably the best marketed energy saving tip for your home, changing your incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs can save you up to 90%. Now this is true as a 60 watt incandescent bulb is usually replaced by a 7 or 9 watt LED bulb however if you look at the contribution lighting makes to your monthly electricity bill, the savings are actually quite low in comparison to making changes to your water heating, stove or air conditioning.

That said, changing your household lighting to LEDs is a must if you are going off grid. The number of lights in your home quickly add up and if you do the maths on additional inverter size and additional batteries you require to run more power hungry CFL, fluorescent or incandescent lights, you will see that is is much cheaper to change all of your lights to LEDs before changing to a solar installation.

If you are going to be changing all of your lighting in order to go off grid then it is worth considering replacing your 110VAC or 220VAC lights with a 12V lighting circuit. You will need to get an electrician to give you advice and make a few changes to your distribution board but it is usually quite a cheap conversion as the wiring can be preserved and you get 12V bulbs which fit into the existing AC sockets. The benefit of changing to 12V lies with the non need for an inverter. Your lighting can now be powered directly from your 12V batteries. This saves you money by reducing the size of the inverter you need for the rest of your house, 12V LED lights are more efficient than AC lights as LEDs are inherently DC and 12V LED globes are cheaper than AC globes.

Now Change To Solar Panels

Once you have worked through these big energy users, you home will already be using significantly less electricity. I made these changes to my home and have seen savings of around 75% on the original electrical bill meaning my energy usage is currently a quarter of what it was originally. I only have to supply a quarter of what I originally had to supply with solar power which means my conversion will be almost a quarter of the price and  I will only need to replace a quarter of the original number of batteries every two years.

solar power design

Now you can work on switching your electrical supply to solar. This article on switching to solar details all of the components required and how to select them. There is nothing complicated with a solar installation and it is an easy project to do yourself over a few weekends. You will need to get an electrician in to do the final connections to your distribution board, to check your installation and make sure that everything conforms to your local regulations. He may also have to provide you with a compliance certificate so be sure to check your local regulations before you complete the installation or make any changes to your existing electrical supply.

If you would like to save further when switching to solar power, you could also try making your own solar panels. It is actually quite easy although it is time consuming and you should be fairly competent with a soldering iron before taking on this project. Solar panels are essentially just a string of solar cells which are mounted onto a piece or glass and a frame and by making one yourself you can eliminate around half of the cost of a commercial panel.

Once you have selected the main components for your solar power system, use this guide and spreadsheet to check that the components are compatible and adequately sized: Solar Power Design Check. Remember that if you are changing your lighting circuit to 12V then you can remove their power demand from the inverter calculation but you still need to take them into account for the battery calculation.

Do you have any more tips or tricks for saving power, going off grid or switching to a solar installation? Let us know in the comments sections below, we would love to hear your ideas and feedback.

Cover Image: SolarPanels by Chris Kantos used under CC BY 2.0

Fall Home Maintenance Checklist, Be Prepared For Winter

Michael Klements
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2
Fall Home Maintenance Checklist, Be Prepared For Winter

With fall on its way, here is an essential checklist to get your home ready for the winter months:

  • Take out the snow shovels and snow blower, make sure that they are all in good conditions and usable. Service your snow blower if necessary.
  • Stock up on ice melt. You’ll want to get some before the stores run out.
  • Clean out your chimney. During the year, leaves, birds nest and spider webs may have accumulated and clogged your chimney. Make sure that it is clear so that your first fire doesn’t start a fire in the chimney as well.
  • Check the perimeter of your home. Make sure that no low spots have formed where melting ice and snow may leak water into the basement.
  • Move you composting container into the shed or garage. You’ll need the extra compost in spring so make sure that its ready. Add the fall leaves to the top and in spring you’ll be able to give your garden an early boost.
  • Prepare your outdoor pipes and hoses. Frozen water does a lot of damage to pipes, hoses and irrigation systems. Make sure you have winter proofed these items and removed the water where possible.
  • Wrap up your plants. Cover any of your delicate plants so that they are not damaged by the snow or ice.
  • Weatherproof your windows. Weather strips and caulk prevent drafts and stop the cold air from entering your home which reduces your heating bill.
  • Check door seals. Check and replace your door seals and strips so that no air leaks through them.
  • Check your central heating or HVAC is still working. Don’t waste money on an expensive call out, have it serviced beforehand. Check the air filters while you’re at it.

Do you have any items which should be on this list? What are your fall preparation tips and tricks? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cover Image: Leaves by Joy Kirr used under CC BY 2.0

9 Things To Do Daily To Keep A Clean Home

Michael Klements
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0
9 Things To Do Daily To Keep A Clean Home

Cleaning shouldn’t be a single task reserved for the weekend or a day off. If you do a few small things daily and consistently you can avoid needing a whole day to clean your home.  Do these nine things regularly, this way you will always keep a clean home and it will significantly shorten your cleaning day.

Make The Bed

Starting the day by making the bed sets the tone for your day. Making the bed is a quick thing to do, it will put you in good mood and get you into an organisational mindset for the day. Your bedroom will also look much neater and cleaner with the bed made. Add some scatter cushions and a throw in your colour scheme to complete your bedroom’s look.

Open The Doors

It’s easy for a musty smell to creep into your home when it is all closed up at night. Start off with a daily airing your house out time slot. Open some of the main doors or windows for half an hour to allow fresh air to be blown through your home. This also helps to keep your family healthy and prevent home allergies as bad bacteria and dust is also blown out with the stale air.

Use The Dishwasher

use the dishwasher for a clean home

Dishwasher by Bart Everson

Do not get into a habit of using the dishwasher as additional storage. Put a load of dishes on every night or every second night and empty the dishwasher the following morning, packing everything back into the cupboards. This will also assist with not having dishes piled up at the sink. Rinse the dishes off straight after each meal and place them straight into the dishwasher. Also have a look at these other 7 things that you can also clean in the dishwasher.

Keep Things Off The Floor

Everything in your home should have a place, and this shouldn’t be on the floor As soon as it has been used, make sure that you and your family get in a habit of putting it back in its place. Get some storage boxes, label them and keep them in a passage cupboard or side board so that everyone knows where things need to go when they are packed away. The whole house is easier to clean when there isn’t stuff on the floor or counter tops. Organise your cleaning supplies and cloths neatly under the sink.

Wipe Up Spills & Crumbs

As soon as you’ve finished making a cup of coffee or breakfast, take a cloth out and give the counter tops a wipe. Have a cloth hanging near the sink which can easily be wet and used to clean up spills and crumbs immediately. Cleaning up spills immediately means  that they don’t have time to dry into nasty rings which are difficult to remove. Keeping crumbs off the counters keeps the floors clean as well and helps control pests.

Also try to clean up as you go along. If you’re cooking dinner, use the time between boiling, baking or frying to wash a dish, wipe a counter or clean up some of the items you’ve used in the preparation process. Cleaning cooking equipment is much easier when it is done immediately rather than trying to clean the food off once it has dried and stuck on.

Have A Laundry Day

regular laundry for a clean home

Laundry by Celeste Lindell

Set a specific day or two days of the week aside for doing laundry. Do whites on one day and colours on another. Don’t wait for the laundry baskets to be overflowing before putting a load in the wash. This way you’ll always have clothes to wear and won’t have to worry about an overflowing basket of clothing.

Fridge Clean Out

With a full fridge, there is always a chance of something hiding in the back and being forgotten about until it goes off. Once a week have a quick look through the items in your fridge, including the sauces and condiments, and check their expiration dates. Throw out any products, fruit or vegetables which are not good and give the shelves a wipe down. Keeping the fridge clean also keeps it from smelling funky.

Add A Welcome Mat

welcome mat

Welcome Mat by Macrofarm

You homes entrance is the most important place to control mud and dirt being brought in. Get a good quality welcome mat which can be used to brush off any excess dirt, mud or grass stuck on shoes. Provide a rack for the family and guest to leave any boots or muddy shoes during wet or snowy weather.

Go To Bed Daily With A Clean Home

Before going to bed, get your family into the habit of doing a quick five to ten minute tidy up. This is the time when everyone runs through the house and picks up their shoes, school work, books, glasses, cups and plates etc and puts them away. Throw your used clothing in the laundry, place all of the dishes in the dishwasher and tidy up anything that has been used during the day.

Do you have any other tips and tricks for keeping a clean home? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cover Image: Clean Bedroom by Jinx McCombs. All images in this post are used under CC BY 2.0.

 

 

5 Gardening Tips & Tricks That Everone Should Know

Michael Klements
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0

A home is not complete without its garden. Gardening should be something you look forward to, it should be fun and enjoyable and these 5 tips and tricks help to do just that.

Regrow Veggies From Kitchen Scraps

regrow veggies from scraps

Do you do a lot of cooking with fresh produce? You should be, and now its even easier to make sure that you always have a fresh supply. Instead of throwing away your kitchen scraps, there are a number of vegetables which can be easily regrown, some just with water! Its that easy. Here is a full guide to regrowing veggies from kitchen scraps.

Use Old Coffee Grounds For Gardening

use coffee grounds in the garden

Instead of throwing out your used coffee grounds, recycle them by using them in the garden. There are a number of things you can used your old coffee grounds for including fertilizer, pest repellent and compost. Have a look at this article for ideas on using coffee grounds in the garden.

Grow Tomato Seedlings From Tomato Slices

This has to be the easiest way to grow tomato seedlings. Simply cut a tomato into slices, lay them out in a pot or bucket filled with potting soil or compost and then lightly cover them. Have a look at the video above for the full instructions.

Make A Watering Jug Out Of A Milk Bottle

milk-jug-watering-jug

This is another easy way to recycle and reuse some waste from around the home. Simply poke some holes into the lid of a milk carton to make a watering jug. The best part is that you can make a fine spray with smaller holes made with a needle or a stronger spray using larger holes made with a small screw driver. Follow this link for the full instructions.

Pest Control With Egg Shells

Lastly, if you are not an avid coffee drinker and do not have the used coffee grounds mentioned above, you can sprinkle crushed egg shells around the base of your plants and veggies to prevent pests from reaching them. Simply sprinkle a continuous ring of crushed egg shells around the base of the plant to protect it.

Do you have any gardening tips you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments section below.

Pin these tips:

gardening-tips-and-tricks

Cover Image: Garden by Nick Kenrick used under CC BY 2.0

How to Repair Dips and Bumps in Paving Yourself

Michael Klements
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0
How to Repair Dips and Bumps in Paving Yourself

Dips and dumps in paving form for a number of reasons, sometimes the ground underneath the paving is not properly compacted when it is installed, organic matter such as roots or stumps may decay and collapse or water may erode the soil away over time. Repairing your paving is not difficult and although it may take a while, it is actually quite a cheap fix.

What You’ll Need

  • Course River Sand
  • Screw Driver
  • Rubber Mallet
  • Wire Brush

How to Fix Your Paving

Firstly you need to remove the paving over the dip or bump. To do this, wedge the screw driver between two of the bricks and and lever out one of the bricks. You may have to do a few smaller movements rather than levering the whole brick out in one go. Now remove all of the paving on top of and a little way around the dip of bump. Brush each brick off with the wire brush as you remove it to remove any excess sand and dirt and stack them neatly to one side.

You now need to level out the area. Either remove or add soil to the area in order to raise or lower it to the same level as the surrounding bricks. A flat pole or piece of wood may help you to read which areas need soil added or removed.

Once the area is level, it needs to be compacted. Compacting can be done by hand with a stamper or with a mechanical tamper. If you have a large area or the area is part of your driveway and sees vehicles driving over it then you should always use a mechanical tamper, these can usually be hired from hardware or tool hire stores.

After compacting the area, you need to lay down a 20mm (1″) bed of river sand to provide good drainage and bedding for the bricks. River sand is also available at your local hardware or building supplies store.

Now begin re-bedding the paving. Use a rubber mallet to lightly tap each brick into place and ensure that it is level with the surrounding bricks. It is important that you have brushed the old sand off of the bricks before re-bedding them otherwise they probably won’t all fit back together.

Once all of the bricks have been laid, brush or sweep a mixture of fine sand and cement over the bricks and into the joints. This will act as a grout and prevent the paving from moving around. When you are done, lightly wet the area so that the cement in the grout is activated. Try to avoid traffic over the area for a day or so to allow the sand to settle and the grout to cure.

Remember for next time, professional pavers will ensure that the ground under your paving is properly level and free from voids. You should also avoid paving over area where trees have been planted as their roots and stumps will eventually erode away and the ground will collapse around them.

While repairing your paving, you may have noticed one or two tiles which have cracked? Here’s how to replace a cracked or damaged tile without damaging the tiles around it.

Have you tried repaving an area in your home? Share your tips and tricks with us in the comments section below.

Cover Image: Pave by Alex & le temps qui passe used under CC BY 2.0

How to Place your WiFi Router for the Best Signal

Michael Klements
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0
How to Place your WiFi Router for the Best Signal

These days, almost everyone has a WiFi router in their house and yet the majority of us suffer from poor WiFi signal strength. Where you have your router placed and how it is placed may be causing you a lot of problems with the speed and strength your devices receive. It’s worth noting that you need to have a good provider and a good quality router as well, however, improving on what you already have can go a long way towards improving your internet experience.

Location For Best Signal Strength

Firstly and possibly the most obvious is the location. You need to place your router in the most open and most central part of your house so that the waves are able to reach each side of your home. If you have a home with all of the bedrooms on one side and the living spaces on the other side then you want to install your router in the closest living space to the bedrooms so that the signal is able to reach all of the rooms and living spaces.

Most people place their router near the kitchen or entrance to their home and unless this is near the centre of your home, it has a negative effect on your WiFi signal.

Bad Router Placement:

wifi map bad router placement

Good Router Placement:

wifi map good router placement

You will also get the best results from your router if it is placed out in the open and not in a cupboard or on a cramped up shelf. An ideal location is mounted high up on a wall in an area where there is not a lot of furniture or decor. If you can’t mount it on a wall then an open counter near the centre of the house is the next best option. A router can broadcast through walls but at the cost of signal strength so always consider placing your router such that there are the least number of walls between your router and where you usually connect to your WiFi.

Distance From Devices

WiFi uses radio waves to transmit information, they do this at a fairly short wavelength of around 12cm (4 1/2″). In general, you shouldn’t expect a single router to broadcast more than 45m (150ft) and that should be further reduced if you live in a concrete building or a house with many walls and rooms.

If you need your router to transmit further than about 30m (100ft) then you should consider connecting a range extender to your network in a location midway between your router and the location you need signal.

Router Antenna Direction

Your router has two antennas for a reason. The antennas transmit stronger in a certain direction therefore two are provided and are meant to be pointed in different directions in order to maximise coverage. Point one of the antennas vertically and the other horizontally for the best signal coverage.

Use an App To Improve Your Wifi Signal Strength

Finally, there are a number of apps available to measure your WiFi signal and help you find sweet spots, position antennas and position the router for the optimal signal strength. WiFi SweetSpots is a great free app to do this, here is the iPhone link and the Android link.

Connect to your WiFi network, open the app and then use it to map out your WiFi signal. Play around with different antenna directions and different router locations until you find the optimal solution for your home.

Do you have any other tips and tricks to get the most out of your WiFi router? Let us know in the comment section below.

Cover Image: Unwired by delta_avi_delta used under CC BY 2.0

 

How to Calculate the Slope of your Drain Pipe, Prevent Clogging

Michael Klements
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2
How to Calculate the Slope of your Drain Pipe, Prevent Clogging

The slope of your drain pipe is an important part of any new plumbing installation. If the slope is too gradual then your drain will be prone to clogging, if it is too steep then the water drains away from the solids and again becomes prone to clogging. Typically, this range is from 1.5° to 18° which equates to 20mm to 250mm drop in a meter or ¼” to 3” drop in a foot.

Measure the Drain Length

The first thing to do is measure the drain length. This is the distance from where the drain connects to the basin/sink/tub/shower etc to the point where it connects to the main drain or existing plumbing. Make sure you measure the total length if it needs to go around walls, corners or pillars. If you have difficult areas to measure then try run a pieces of string along the line you wish to run the drain and then measure the length of the string. Take the measurements horizontally along the same height.

It sometimes helps to map out your drain route on a pieces of paper. Mark each small distance on the paper and then add them all up to get the total drain length. This drawing will also assist you when you go through to the hardware or home store to buy plumbing fittings and piping.

Calculate The Drain Slope

There are two methods to calculate the drop that you need to get to the correct slope, one involves trigonometry and one straight multiplication.

Trigonometry

You know that you want your drain to be in the range of 1.5° to 18° so choose a value around the middle, say 10°. Multiply the length by tan of the angle and that will give you the required drop.

For example, if your length is 5m (5000mm) or 200″ and you want an angle of 10°:

5000 x tan (10) = 882mm

200 x tan (10) = 35″

So the drop you need is 0.88m (882mm) or 35″.

Multiplication

The multiplication method also uses the length of the drain along with the ranges we gave you in the beginning.

Say your drain length is 5m (5000mm) or 16′. In the introduction, we said that the drop of the drain needs to be 20mm to 250mm drop in a meter or ¼” to 3” drop in a foot.

5 x 20 = 100mm and 5 x 250 = 1250mm

16 x 1/4 = 4″ and 16 x 3 = 48″

So your drain needs to drop between 100mm and 1250mm or 4″ to 48″. Choosing a value in the middle of these gives you 675mm or 26″.

When installing your drain pipe, you can either use a digital level in order to measure that each section of pipe you fit is at the same angle (10° or so in these examples) or you can measure the drop out and make sure that between the beginning and end of your drain, you reach the required drop.

Cover image: Sink Drain by Mark Lea used under CC BY 2.0.

 

6 Things You Should Buy At A Thrift Store

Michael Klements
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0
6 Things You Should Buy At A Thrift Store

Have you ever given the thrift store a chance when shopping for these items? Thrift stores often have great deals on products which are in almost new condition so save money by buying these items, they are often less than half of their new price. Here are six of the best items to buy from your local thrift store.

Here’s What You Should Buy At A Thrift Store

DVD’s

thrift store dvds

DVDs by Kim Bach

While you’re not going to find the latest movies, thrift stores usually have a huge collection of older DVDs. These include kids movies and some of the good old classics. Always have a quick look through the DVD section, you may be surprised by what you find.

Games

Does your family love to play games? These are also sold in abundance at the thrift store. Stock up next holiday season or keep some new ones at home for a rainy day. Just make sure to go through any games briefly to check that all of the cards or pieces are there before you buy it.

Books

thrift store books

Books by Kirrus

Why pay retail prices for something you are going to read once and put on a shelf for the rest of its life? Books are often one of the cheapest things you can find in a thrift store and they don’t really age. Next time you are going on vacation or a weekend away, take a turn past the thrift store for your next read.

Designer Clothes

Especially for children. Designer clothes are well below half of their retail price at thrift stores and are usually quite new in the case of children’s clothes. These items usually sell out quite quickly but if you regularly go past, you’ll probably find a good deal here and there.

Furniture

thrift store old furniture

Old French Furniture by French Finds

If you’ve read our article on flipping old furniture, you’ll know that its easier than it looks. There are some tips to consider when buying old furniture but you can usually turn a piece into a feature for a fraction of the price of a new one. It doesn’t always require a lot of hard work either, often a coat of paint is all that is needed.

Picture Frames

While we’re on the topic of home decorating, picture frames are another bargain to find at thrift stores. Picture frames are usually in good condition, after all they are only hung on the wall. Older ones are also ideal for a distressed or farmhouse theme.

What are some of then other items you like to buy from thrift stores? Have you ever found a real bargain? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cover Image: ThriftStore by Steve Snodgrass. All images in this post are used under CC BY 2.0.

 

5 Secret iPhone Codes You Didn’t Know About

Michael Klements
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8
5 Secret iPhone Codes You Didn’t Know About

Try out these secret codes for additional functionality on your iPhone! All you have to do is go to the phone screen, type in the numbers and press call.

Hide Your Caller ID

Type #31# and then the number you are trying to call. This code temporarily hides your caller ID so that the person you are calling will not be able to see that it is you calling them.

Get Your IMEI Number

Type *#06#. Your phone has a unique serial number which is programmed into it as an identifier. The number is especially useful if your phone is stolen and you wish to block it from being used.

Get Your Signal Strength As A Number

Type *3001#12345#*. This will bring up a list of options. Don’t select any of the options but rather push and hold the power button. When the slide to power off option appears, push the home button. Your signal strength indicator will now be replaced with a number in decibels. The number is negative so the lower the number, the higher the signal strength. Around -40 is full strength while anything below -120 is very low strength, You can toggle between the number and the circles by tapping on the signal strength.

Call Forwarding

Type *#21#. This will allow you to check to see if you are forwarding calls and to the number they are  being forwarded to.

Call Waiting

Type *#43#. This will show you if you have the call waiting service turned on or off. To turn it on, type *43# and to turn it off again type #43#. You will probably have to pay for this service so check with your carrier first.

Do you know how you should be charging your iPhone? Extend your phones battery life by following these iPhone charging tips.

Have we left out any codes that you know about? Let us know in the comments section below.

Share These Codes With Your Network

5 iPhone Codes You Probably Don't Know About

Effortlessly Clean a Blocked Shower Head

Michael Klements
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0
Effortlessly Clean a Blocked Shower Head

Has your shower head started spraying in different directions or have some holes become blocked. This is due to mineral deposits which have built up and stopped the water from being able to flow freely. Fortunately, there is an easy way to get rid of these mineral deposits which doesn’t require the head to be removed or scrubbing and brushing.

What You Will Need To Dissolve The Mineral Deposits

  • White Spirit Vinegar
  • Plastic Sandwich Bag
  • Rubber Band or Zip Tie

How To Remove The Mineral Deposits From Your Shower Head

If you are using a rubber band then slip this over the shower head first. You may need to loop it around the stem of the shower head a few times so that it is snug. Next fill the sandwich bag halfway with the vinegar. Slip the bag over the shower head so that the head and especially the holes are completely submerged in the vinegar. Slide the rubber band down around the bag to hold it in place. If you are using a zip tie then zip it around the neck of the back onto the stem. Leave the bag around it for a few hours or overnight. Remove the bag and wipe the head down with a soft cloth.

If That Doesn’t Work

If it is still not spraying correctly then there may be dirt trapped inside the head. You’ll have to remove the shower head with a plumbing wrench by unscrewing the nut on the arm. Place a cloth between the wrench and the nut so that you do not scratch the chrome finish. Now spray water backwards through the shower head nozzle. Hold it under a faucet and try to rinse any debris out of each hole. You want the water pressure to be as high as possible. Once this has been done and the head is rinsed out, screw it back onto the stem.

Follow this guide if your  shower head is leaking from the stem, it is usually a quick fix. You can also easily fix a loose stem.

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cleaning a blocked shower head

Your shower head should now be clean and working as well as when it was new.

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