What Did Thomas Edison Invent in 1879?

Thomas Edison in 1879 invented the incandescent light bulb to replace the candle. This light bulb is the one that we normally see but in 2012 we will have to use a new type of light bulb. This new light bulb that some of us may have seen or use is called the compact fluorescent or CFL. It has the same type of base but a spiral bulb on top. On Wednesday December 19, 2007, the U.S. Congress in Washington D.C. approved a new energy law to stop the manufacturing of the old fashion light bulb to a new less energy using light bulb.

Question: Why are they taking the old fashion light bulb away?
Answer: It is a low cost way to reduce electricity use and greenhouse gases from power plants.

Question: CFL's cost more, about six times as much, why buy them?
Answer: CFL's use about 75% less energy, so you save money on your energy bill.

Question: How long do they last?
Answer: CFL's last for five years instead of for a few months just don't turn them on and off all the time.

Question: Are the CFL's bad for the environment?
Answer: There is some mercury in them, 100 times less than a thermometer, but they should be recycled without any problems.

Question: Is this it for any new lighting for another 100 years?
Answer: Manufactures are working on better CFL's and LED lighting, which are used in some holiday lighting.

In conclusion, President Bush should sign this new energy law. Our Congress is doing a good job of protecting our environment and trying to save us money. Almost anyone can afford to change to these new bulbs. It is less money than installing a new home heating system or new windows throughout a home. My home already has CFL lighting in almost all of our fixtures and lamps. I think this is an enlightening idea!

Countertop Water Filters Can Replace Your Plastic Water Bottle Addiction

Buying bottled water is more expensive than gas for your car! So many of us don't realize just how expensive this is until one day we realize that this is crazy! With the current economic times we need to start looking at ways to save money and still get high standards of water.

Counter top water filters fits the bill. They are a snap to use,connecting them is just as easy, and at the same time comes great tasting water. Looking at a glass of unfiltered water is all the evidence that you need for not wanting to drink it. There are literally hundreds of harmful elements within the water. These elements include chemicals, bacteria, and metals, who really wants to drink it?

We drink water to be able to enjoy the benefits provided by magnesium, potassium and calcium but in the case of tap water all this goodness is rendered useless due to its harmful contents. This is, after all, the reason why so many people made the switch from tap to bottled water in the first place. Nonetheless, using counter top water filters not only provides you with healthy water but saves you money at the same time.

There is nothing difficult about using a counter top water filter. Just hook up the value to your faucet and you're done. The valve of the water filter fits directly onto the standard faucet fitted with the usual aerator.

It is important to understand the faucet type because if you do not have a standard faucet with a standard aerator, the counter top model will not work for you, as the valve will not fit. You will then have to look into an alternative method of filtering your tap water.

Using a counter top water filters not only will your drinking water taste terrific but you will also be able to save an incredible amount of money. Let's face it; if you buy bottled water on a regular basis or have larger quantities delivered to your door, the amount of money you spend on water soon mounts up.

It's a well know fact that bottled water tastes good but what normally costs you between 25 and 35 dollars can be dramatically reduced to just a few pennies when you use counter top water filters to clean your tap water supply.

Finally, when it comes to counter top water filters, you can use the filtered water for most anything. This includes drinking, cooking, and cleaning. You get bacteria, metal, chemical, and odor free water that looks and tastes great. Getting great tasting and good for you water that your body needs every day.

Hydrogen As Clean Fuel - Advantages and Disadvantages

Several scientists believe that hydrogen is the best form of alternative energy resource and has unlimited potential. It is considered as a clean energy resource and also one of the most acceptable forms of fuel available today.

Using hydrogen has numerous advantages. One is that it burns in the air and leaves water vapor as residue. Water vapor has no environmental disadvantages as of now. Also, several experts think that hydrogen will very soon replace all types of fuels, including gasoline, diesel, oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear power. So there will be a cleaner form of energy in the future if this concept develops.

Hydrogen is available in the entire universe and in abundant quantities. Also, it is a renewable source of energy and does not get depleted with time. Hydrogen is found in water, and the three parts of our planet is made up of water. So there is no question of depletion when it comes to hydrogen. Also, another interesting fact is hydrogen is being used to power space shuttles and to provide electricity on their voyage. Therefore, it is already an established resource for power.

Today, there are hydrogen powered vehicles in the market. Several manufacturers are exploring the options for future use. However, in order to produce hydrogen, a great deal of energy is used. This is the biggest disadvantage of producing hydrogen as a clean fuel. One of the most common methods is to break down compounds that contain hydrogen in huge quantities. These compounds include methane. When methane is broken down, it leaves behind just hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Where to Find Deals on Hanging Light Fixtures

A hanging light creates a warm feeling and a focal point in any area. There are so many different styles and models have been created that there is sure to be something to suit your room. The price range is equally diverse and therefore everyone should be able to find something without having to over spend. However it all depends on looking in the right direction.

Hanging lights are very popular and can easily be found in any of the relevant stores or retail outlets. Searching online is also a good option as you not only come across many different styles and varieties of hanging lights but you can also view their prices by sitting in your home and save a lot of time and energy.

The price range for these lights is anywhere from as low as $30 to as much as $300. Their price depends on their style and material used. For instance chandeliers are a type of hanging lights which are pretty expensive owing to the intricacy of design as well as their artistic style and durability. These can be purchased for a couple of hundreds of dollars and look very elegant and beautiful. They are mostly preferred for more formal areas.

After that the crystal and iron lights are comparatively affordable and are available for anywhere around a hundred dollars. They are little less fancy however they are perfect for a contemporary and more simplistic look. Scone shaped casings, lanterns and globes are the most affordable of all of these kinds of lights. Some of these are as cheaply priced a merely $30. These look funky and mostly admired by younger people.

To enhance the effect created by one of these fixtures you can use wall sconces and different colored bulbs to go with it. A lot of refurbished or modern designs of homes have hanging lights in some part of the residence or the other. Amongst outdoor lights, solar ones are preferred by people for areas which have great exposure to the sun. These lights cut the cost of electricity and work as well as the battery or power operated lights.

Owing to the varieties and styles of these lights available in the market it is no longer difficult to find an ideal one which not only suits the area but also your budget. All it takes is a little patience and a bit of research on your part.

Why Ethanol is a Great Alternative and Renewable Energy Resource

Ethanol, a biomass fuel that can be used to power cars and even generate electricity, is the very same ethyl alcohol that's used to make alcoholic drinks. It is considered a sustainable energy resource because it can be extracted from agricultural stocks and crops. Brazil is the leading country that uses biofuel or bioethanol to run their cars and it's only second to the US in ethanol production. Using ethanol is gaining popularity in countries around the world as an alternative fuel to gasoline and diesel fuel. It isn't hard to see why.

Crops such as switchgrass, sugar cane, and corn that are mainly used as feed for stock are the crops that hold the most promise for conversion into ethanol. The production of ethanol starts in photosynthesis, which makes feedstocks and crops grow. These plants are then collected, fermented, distilled or dehydrated to remove the water and burned.

The only problem associated with producing ethanol is the amount of land that would be required to grow enough of these crops to fuel the world. But currently, an alternative process of making ethanol from algae without harvesting it is being studied. If this becomes successful, a growing algae can continuously provide ethanol without having to kill the plant. Research is underway. Scientists are finding new and better ways to turn plants into fuel.

The world will eventually run out of fossil fuels. There's no more being made. Fossil fuel is not a renewable energy source. When what we have is gone - well, it's just gone, and there won't be any more. On the other hand, ethanol, which is made from plants, is a renewable energy source. Corn or grass or whatever that's used to make fuel this year will be available again next year, and the year after that, and so on into infinity. Ethanol is made from a renewable source unlike gasoline and diesel.

And we can use ethanol now. Most all of the cars on the roads in America can run on a mixture of 90% gasoline and 10% anhydrous ethanol (contains less than 1% water) just fine. That would mean a 10% DECREASE in gasoline consumption. Researchers are also arguing that using ethanol to replace petroleum in generating electricity might be more efficient that using it as a liquid fuel.

Advice on Electromagnetic Radiation in Your Home

The advice below is based on many years of experience within the field of electromagnetic radiation.

Microwave Ovens
Microwave Ovens emit electromagnetic radiation whilst they are connected to the power grid, and so therefore you should unplug the oven after use, or install a timer that disconnects the power line after a determined time.

Clock Radio
Clock Radios emit electromagnetic radiation whilst they are connected to the power, and therefore we advise against anyone using them on the bedside table or in the vicinity of the bed, but particularly EMF sensitive people.

Compact fluorescent lamps
Electricity saving light bulbs can cause health disorders and problems, as the electronic device, metals and mercury gas inside the bulb cause electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, we do not advise using electricity saving lamps in living rooms, particularly for EMF sensitive people.

Wireless routers
The router antennas for a wireless network can cause health disorders for EMF sensitive people. If you have a router with an adjustable antenna and by positioning the antenna to point in horizontal position or less than 45° upwards, these problems may be greatly reduced.

Ring on the left hand
If you are very EMF sensitive, please also be careful to put rings on your left hand. Primarily it concerns the ring finger, although symptoms have been observed on other fingers. No logical explanation has been found for this phenomenon which is possibly related to the body energy fields, similar to those for acupuncture treatment spots. If you believe this may apply to you, try removing any rings for a few weeks, and observe any differences.

Building Robots For First Time - 2 Advices You Really Need

Today we will talk about building robots for the beginners. There are common pitfalls for the first timers. I know, because I had spent and wasted countless hours due to these mistakes. And so you should discover and learn from my mistakes in this article. It is really helpful once you know what to do and not to do.

1. Plan

Plan every single little thing. No matter how minute, do it. This is the backbone of any robotic project. Yes, it is that important. Why? Try constructing something without planning. And it is almost guaranteed that the particular construction will fail. Personally, in the past, I had wasted hundreds of man hours and money when I did not plan things properly. For example, getting a list of hardware and electronics components. What happens when building the circuit halfway, you find out that a few or even one component is missing? Then you have scramble off to get the component. Once is understandable, but repeat this mistake, and you will waste both time and money. Not to mention effort or double work.

2. Execute

Once you know what to do and buy, the next most important step is to execute those plans. Unless you would want to be like the thinking man statue in Italy, take action now. In this phase, doing the actual work based on all the careful planning is more beneficial than say, stopping halfway and rethink the plan. Complete a single task intended as outlined in the plan earlier.

In conclusion, these are the two things that should be emphasized every day. In other words, plan with all your heart and execute them mercilessly. Maximum effort should be put into these two points.

How to Make Your Bathroom Eco-Friendly

The conversion to going green could be as simple as fixing a leaky faucet or shower head or could be as large as refitting your old toilet with a dual-flush handle. Do something great for your family, your wallet and the environment. Make your home a little greener by making a few simple changes in your bathroom. This not only helps the environment but helps save money on reduced water and heating bills and can reduce the frequency of replacing items in your bathroom.

If your like me and enjoy those long showers or an afternoon or relaxing in the tub, these tips can help you save money and have a more energy efficient home.

Lighting

Going Green with Light Bulbs, Did you know...

Replacing your incandescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR qualified compact florescent light bulbs (CFL's) you can save over $100.00 a year on lighting costs. Not only will this reduce the cost you pay the electric company it will also reduce how often you have to buy light bulbs.

The CFL's cost an average of $2.00 to $15.00 (for specialty bulbs) but they save you about $30.00 per year per bulb in lighting costs over their lifetime. As the first step in going green you can replace the bulbs that you use most often... Your Bathroom Lights! The bathroom lights are the second most used lights in the house, with your living room taking first place.

What's the Difference between an incandescent light bulb and a CFL?

Incandescent light bulbs work by heating a tungsten filament, or wire, until it glows. This is what produces the light you see. Unfortunately, 90% of the energy used to generate that light is wasted as heat, making incandescent bulbs a very inefficient way to light your home. CFL's, on the other hand, create a chemical reaction among gasses located inside the glass tube, causing phosphors to illuminate. ENERGY STAR qualified CFL's provide bright, warm light and use 75% less energy, produce 75% less heat, and lasts up to 10 times longer. Sited from ~Energy Star

Going Green with Light Fixtures, Did you know...

The energy savings would be the same if you use a regular light fixture or an Energy Star® qualified light fixture provided you are using the Energy Star® CFL's. However, the Energy Star fixtures come with pin-based CFL's that are required to last no less than 10,000 hours (or approximately 9 years at 3 hours per day), the screw in CFL's are only required to last 6,000 hours.

Water Use

Dripping Water, Did you know...

If you don't repair your shower heads and faucet drips, lets say they dripped an average of 1 drip per second, that will cost you an additional $1.00 per month. That may not seem like much, but after time that cost adds up.

Going Green with Eco Friendly Faucets, Did you know...

Eco friendly faucets can save you money from water consumption or even in heating costs. When you are redecorating your bathroom consider installing a new faucet with either an aerator or a sensor that detects when to start and stop the water flow. These are already in most public washrooms as a means to save that company money. This is achieved when you either install a "Touch-Free Sensor" faucet adapter or replace the old faucet with one that has a sensor built in.

Going Green with Low-Flow Shower heads, Did you know...

There are two basic types of low-flow shower heads. The first is the aerating shower head, they mix air with water forming a misty spray. The second is a laminar-flow shower head these form individual streams of water. Most homes built before 1992 had a shower head flow rate of 5.5gpm, if you know that your fixture is that old or even older you may want to consider replacing it with a new one. Doing this will save you money in water consumption and in heating costs. Here is an easy test to help you determine the approximate gpm of your shower head. First place a bucket that is marked in 1 gallon increments under your shower head. Next turn on the shower at the normal pressure you would use when you take a shower. Finally time how many seconds it takes to fill that bucket to the 1 gallon mark. If it takes less than 20 seconds to reach the first 1 gallon mark then you would benefit from a low-flow shower head.

Going Green with High Efficiency Toilets, Did you know...

Toilet flushing is one of your homes major water consumption's. If your home was built before 1992 and you haven't replaced your old toilet you could probably benefit from installing a high efficiency toilet that only uses 1.6 gallons of water per flush. A family of four can save up to 25,000 gallons of water per year by making this replacement. Toilets older than 1980 can use up to 7 gallons of water per flush but by installing a high efficiency toilet you can reduce your water bill by about a fifth of the cost.

If you are not wanting to replace the toilet just yet with a new high efficiency one think about using the dual-flush handle (dual flush water conservation kit). These retrofit your toilet with the dual flush system like the low flow toilets and in some cases can save even more water than the high efficiency toilets. Even better yet dual flush toilets were found to save an average of 26 per cent more water than the single-flush 6-liter (1.5 Gallon) toilets when used to replace non-efficient toilets.

Painting

Going Green with Low Or No-VOC paints, Did you know...

When we redecorate our bathroom walls using the typical paint and finishes the volatile organic compound level can be about 1,000 times the healthy normal levels. However, if you make sure to paint with low or no-VOC paint and finishes you can reduce that level tremendously.

When you are at the paint store, have a look at the shelves of paint. The cans go on and on, what should you be looking for when you are wanting to paint eco-friendly? Some paints come with a "Green Seal", these products ensure to contain only the lowest amount of VOC's. Or try the list of low-VOC paints put together by Eartheasy. It lists companies that produce low-VOC paints and directs you to Web sites that you can purchase the paints.

Living on a Sailboat - When You Sell Your Boat, Do You Miss the Life?

Living on a sailboat was something we did for eight wonderful years...all in the Caribbean...Trinidad to the Virgin Islands. When you sell the boat, it is called "swallowing the anchor". We did so in 2002...we are constantly asked if we miss it. Sure, we do...but

Things we do not miss are the maintenance and up keep the boat requires...for example, the exterior teak needs to be sanded and varnish applied. This must be done once a year. Now it is no problem if you are in Venezuela, you can get day labor for $10 a day to do the sanding for you. If you have to do it yourself, it will take 3 days or so for the two of to do the sanding. You must do it at first light to about 10 AM...the deck is too hot after that.

Other fun boat maintenance I do not miss is keeping the waterline free of algae. You do this from your dinghy or with your snorkel gear. It is a pain, but it has to be done. Going up the mast to replace a running light bulb was never the highlight of my day. It was about 53 feet off the deck. The bosun chair will never win any awards for ergonomics... trust me on that.

The usual stock answer we give is to do you miss the boat is; "we would not take anything for the experience, it remains the highlight of our 35 year marriage, but we are glad we did it when we did."

When we swallowed the anchor I was 57, now I am 64. Do you know anyone who is in better shape at 64 than 57? I thought so...if you have a yen to be living on a sailboat, I would do it as quick as you can.

The saddest thing about folks that would like to try living on a sailboat, is saying; "When I can afford to buy boat X or boat Y...then I will do so." Most everyone who says that is still on the dock. Go with what boat you have now, to wait may be too late. Enjoy.

Is it Worth the Cost to Make a Home More Energy-Efficient?

Making a home more energy-efficient will be worth the investment, especially over time. Not only will you be doing your part for the environment, you could save hundreds, even thousands of dollars on utility bills over the years you stay in your home. And, an energy-efficient home is much easier to sell when the time comes.

You might not want to just launch an effort to make your home more energy-efficient in one fell swoop, but as you make repairs, do upgrades and maybe do a little remodeling, the small additional costs will be recouped faster than you might expect. After all, some of the things you can do to make your home more energy efficient don't cost much at all, especially if you are upgrading anyway.

For example, adding weather stripping to doors and windows will probably cost you less than $50. You could save more than that in the next year in reduced energy bills because your home is losing less heated or cooled air. Installing window film on your east- and west-facing windows will probably cost you less than $100 if you do it and less than $250 if you have a professional do the job. It will reduce your heating and cooling bills and prevent fading of your carpet and furniture caused by intense sunlight saving more than your investment in one or 2 years.

Switching from incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs will cost you a little more when you first buy the bulbs, but you will save on electricity and you will replace the bulbs far less frequently.

Adding storm doors and windows will save on both heating and cooling costs by reducing the amount of conditioned air that is lost and reducing the amount of outside air that sneaks in. If your budget is tight, you can try doing what our grandfathers did when they wanted storm windows - make you own storm windows. You just need a little lumber, a few nails and some heavy plastic.

If you are replacing appliances, it is worth it to insist on energy-efficient models and options, such as vent-free moisture sensing dryers, front loading washers, and refrigerators with through-the-door ice and water. If you are replacing a water heater, an attic fan or a heating/cooling system, you can certainly buy replacements that are more energy-efficient. You might replace your water heater with either instant water heaters or a solar water heater; replace an electric attic fan with a solar-powered fan. Replace your heating and cooling equipment with a single, energy-efficient heat pump. To really save, try choosing a programmable zoned system with timers that allow you to control the temperature in various parts of the house according to your family's needs. Replacing a toilet? Choose a dual-flush toilet to save water usage.

When it is time to replace your roof, choose a metal roof for your replacement. Metal roofs are less expensive and very energy-efficient. If you don't want a metal roof, you can always install attic foil to prevent heat loss.

All of these options are great choices, both for the environment and for your family. But don't forget to look for possible rebates and tax breaks.

Many utility companies offer rebates to customers who install energy-efficient appliances and lights. Just give your utility company a call and ask. Then be sure you understand the standards to qualify for the rebates.

If you install a whole-house voltage surge suppressor or disaster-proof features, be sure to check with your insurance company to see if you will be entitled to any reduction in your insurance rates.

Investigate energy-efficient financing for your upgrades if you are making your home more energy-efficient. Check on FHA Energy-Efficient Mortgages, FHA Section 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance, etc.

And don't forget the opportunities to save on your taxes.

If you will use a remodeled or added room as a home office, be sure to deduct the appropriate percentage of utilities, etc. each year as a business expense.

Get to know the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. It allows homeowners to take tax credits for remodeling that improves the energy efficiency of your primary residence. The maximum credit you can take is $500, but you can take credits for:

10% of cost up to $500 for energy-efficient exterior door or storm doors

10% of cost up to $500 for a qualified metal roof

10% of cost up to $500 for adding insulation expected to last at least 5 years

$300 for qualified central air conditioning, heat pumps or geothermal heat pumps

up to $150 for a qualified gas, oil or propane furnace or hot water boiler

up to $300 for a qualified gas, oil, propane or electric heat pump water heater

up to $2,000 for solar water heating

Making your home more energy-efficient can be good for the environment, good for your family (and your wallet), and good for the resale value of your home. Do your research and shop carefully when you are making upgrades in your home. Going green will usually pay for itself within 5 to 10 years in reduced energy bills.

Copyright 2007 by ABCD Publishing

Living a Greener Life on a Shoestring Budget

It doesn't take a big investment to reduce your impact on the Earth - just a little bit of forethought and attention to the choices that you make. Here are fifteen simple things that can make a major difference in how much energy your family uses around the house.

Find and repair leaks.
A single leaky faucet or drip from your pipes can waste 2,700 gallons of water a year. To make sure you've got no leaks, check your water meter before and after a two hour period when there is no water use in the house. If it's not the exact same, you've got a leak somewhere. Fixing it may be as simple as replacing a worn washer - and can save you hundreds of gallons and a lot of money every year.

Replace light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps.
Replace the incandescent bulbs in lights that are used more than three hours a day with compact fluorescent lamps. The initial cost may seem high when you compare the cost - one CFL can cost up to $7 - but they last ten times as long and reduce the energy used in those lights by 25%. I can tell you from experience that you WILL see a reduction in your electric bill the very first month.

Use weather stripping.
Up north when the winters get cold, homeowners invest in weather stripping to keep the cold drafts out and the warm air in. Air transfer happens down here in sunny Florida, too. Cut down on your cooling costs (and energy use) by making sure that you've got no chinks and gaps that can let the cool air escape. Check for gaps around and under window frames and door frames.

Unplug it.
It may be handy to have your cell phone charger plugged in, but that charger is drawing energy even when it's not in use. If you must have the convenience, get a power strip and plug all chargers into it. That way, you can just turn the whole strip off when none of them are in use.

Keep your lint filter clean.
Cutting down the amount of energy your clothes dryer uses is as easy as making sure that the lint filter is always kept clean and the exhaust is free to open and close as needed. Better yet, take advantage of beautiful days to hang clothes outside to dry.

Use awnings and shades.
If you have awnings installed on your house, use them to shade windows on sunny days. Drawing shades or closing blinds will also help cut down the greenhouse effect. Even lightweight sheers at your windows will cut down on the work your cooling system has to do to keep your house comfortable.

Speaking of cooling (and heating) systems...

Keep the temperatures on your thermostats set no lower than 78 in the summer and no higher than 68 in the winter and you'll make a major dent in your energy expenses and use up far less energy - up to 20% off your energy bill.

Supplement your air conditioning with fans.
They use a lot less energy than air conditioners since they're moving air, not cooling it. Ceiling fans and other fans can often be the only cooling you need on many days.

Only heat the water that you need.
A kettle of water may seem like an awfully small amount to be worried about, but you'll be surprised at the difference it makes when you only fill it with the amount of water that you'll use. Besides the savings in water, you'll also use less energy to bring it to a boil. Those things add up over time.

And while we're on the subject of heating water...
Wrap your boiler. Insulating your hot water heater will prevent heat loss, especially if you have an older heater. Again, the savings compound. Because your water stays hotter, you're using less fuel to heat it, wasting less water as you run it while waiting for it to heat up, and spending less time waiting for the water to come to the temperature you want.

And one more thing about water heaters...
Turn the temperature down a few degrees. 120 degrees doesn't feel appreciably cooler than 125, but those five degrees use up a lot of energy and fuel.

But we're not done with water yet...
Swap out your current shower head with a low-flow water head that will save water. That means you'll be using less hot water, and that means less energy used to heat it, so you save twice.

Install aerators on all of your home's faucets.
The typical faucet spews three to seven gallons per minute. Aerators can cut the flow down to two, one and a half or even one gallon per minute - a hefty savings on water. It gets even better - an aerator will cost you less than $3 and can save you more than that every month on your water bill. Best of all, despite the fact that you're using less water, most of the time you'll have better water flow and more water pressure.

Cool down.
Use cold water for washing whenever possible. If you're not doing food prep or handling meat, washing your hands with cool water will get them just as clean and germ free.

Do you know where that tomato has been?
Locally grown produce is your best bargain. Shop the local farmers' market or vegetable stand where you'll get fresh produce - often picked just that morning. You'll be spending dollars in your own community, which is good for the community. Even better, it reduces the amount of gasoline and other resources that were used to transport your food from wherever it was grown.

There are dozens of other tips and hints on ways to save energy, water and money. Some of them are ingenious, some are frugal and some, honestly, seem downright silly.

Going Green at Home - Easy Lifestyle Changes That Make a Difference

If you think you and your family efforts to go green are worth the trouble, you are wrong! Every little bit helps, and there are some really easy lifestyle changes that can be made that, when added up, are of great consequence in saving our planet. Get your kids involved, and make going green a family affair: here are some quick ways to do it.

-- Be more careful with water usage: Teach kids to turn the water off while they are brushing their teeth. Using refillable water bottles instead of buying plastic disposable bottles will keep landfills emptier and reduce carbon emissions. Fix leaky faucets immediately and take shorter showers.

-- Recycle everything possible: Thank goodness many communities provide recycling bins to go along with garbage bins: if you are fortunate enough to have city-sponsored recycling, take advantage of it! You can recycle more than newspaper and aluminum cans: how about soda bottles, cardboard cereal containers and toilet paper rolls, paper towels and all kinds of plastic packaging too. Aim for a full recycling bin and only a half-full garbage bin.

-- Cut down on electricity consumption: Immediately replace all incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones. They last 10 times longer and only use a fraction of the energy of traditional bulbs. Start using a clothesline to dry your clothes instead of using an electric dryer: your clothes will last longer, and they will be wrinkle- and static-free to boot.

These are just a few of the simple ways families can start going green right here and right now. Once you got the basics down, you can add to them. Making just a few easy lifestyle changes will make a big difference to our planet in the long run.

Fixing That Annoying Blinking Fluorescent Light

So now its time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. There are some very important guidelines to follow when doing electrical work:

-MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF AND THERE IS NO CHANCE OF IT ACCIDENTALLY BEING TURNED ON WHILE WORKING ON IT.
-Have all the materials you will need for your project. There is nothing worse than being half way in your project to find out you don't have everything you need.
-Have the right tool for the job your doing

Following our safety guide we need to turn the power off to the light. You can just turn the switch off to the light and that will remove power, but we need to make sure nobody will accidentally turn it on when your working on it. So find your fuse box or circuit panel and shut the breaker off as well. Look for breaker tags such as gen lighting, or lighting.

Now that we know we are safe to work on the fluorescent light here are the tools you will need:

-A fiberglass ladder (make sure it is fiberglass when working with electricity because fiberglass does not conduct electricity.)
-Lineman pliers
-Nut driver
-Wire strippers
-Voltage tester

Now that we have our tools we need to rule out some simple fixes. I have been on calls that I felt so bad charging a customer for something they easily could have done themselves. Number one thing to do is replace the bulb. Keep in mind there are two types most commonly found and they are T-12 and T-8. The T-12 is a fat tube and a T-8 is thin in circumference, that's the easiest way to figure out what it is. If your still not sure remove the bulb and look at the end of the tube and there will be a model number on it with either T-12 of T-8 in or around that area.

Ok, so we changed the bulb and it's not the fix. The problem most likely lies in the ballast. By removing the center cover we can access the ballast, you should see wire colors of black, red, blue, yellow, white and green. Before you remove anything you need to make sure you have the right type of ballast. Make sure the model numbers are the same and the type of ballast is the same. All newer fixtures use electronic ballasts, while older models might use rapid start, and magnetic type ballasts as some examples. We know we have the right ballast so what I do before I even remove the ballast is take the black and white wire from the ceiling box and remove it from the ballast without touching the bare copper and test them with your voltage tester to make absolute sure they are dead,cap each one with a wire nut, these wires are what give power to the ballast.

Look at the colors and where there connected to. I then cut the wires with my linesmans pliers after the wire nut. I do this because when you put the new ballast in it will have the same colored leads as the old one, so you can use it to help you reconnect the colors of wires to the light. After you cut the wires remove the ballast with your nut driver making sure not to lose that nut you will need it later!!! CAUTION: The ballast may be hot to the touch, put some gloves on or use a rag when handling the ballast. Install the new ballast by aligning it into the slots and the hole where the nut was. Simply fasten the nut down and the ballast should now be secured to the fixture. Now connect blue to blue, red to red, yellow to yellow using orange wire nuts. Next hook up the black wire being careful because this is your "HOT" wire to the black and the white to the white. One thing you need to do when connecting the wires is to make sure that you twist your wires together, do not just rely on the wire nut. If you do not twist your wires it could cause a fire by not having a good connection.

Place the cover back on the fixture, put some new lamps in and your done.

Turn the breaker back on at the panel, turn the switch on and let there be light. Now the bragging starts.

They Cost More So Why Buy Energy Saving Light Bulbs?

Energy saving light bulbs have been available now for a number of years, but, whilst more and more people are investing in them, there are still many who are concerned about the cost and dubious about their energy saving claims. But Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) can indeed save significant quantities of energy and don't actually need to break the bank, so here is some information to throw some light on the situation!

On the energy saving front, CFLs, or energy saving light bulbs, use much less energy than their standard counterparts, up to 80% less in fact. They work in a similar way to traditional fluorescent lights but require a much lower wattage to achieve the same level of brightness as 'normal' bulbs. Straight away this indicates that savings can be made, and as lighting accounts for about 10-15% of domestic electricity bills, these savings will not be inconsiderable. And modern CFLs don't suffer from the same issues of older varieties, which could take a short while to reach full illumination. On top of this energy saving light bulbs can also last up to 12 times longer than traditional bulbs, saving even more money.

The cost of energy saving light bulbs has often been a cause for concern. Prices have come down, however, and some varieties of CFLs are now available at less than £1 each from certain retailers. When this is then considered against the energy savings and the fact that the bulbs will need replacing much less often than standard bulbs, the savings far outweigh any extra costs.

Due to their longer lifespan, energy saving bulbs also have the advantage of reducing waste, as it is estimated that 80 million traditional fluorescent tubes alone are sent to landfill each year. Unfortunately there are few light bulb recycling schemes in the UK so waste reduction is critical.

Energy savings, which in turn mean a reduction in carbon emissions, cost savings and waste reduction add up to plenty of compelling reasons to choose energy saving light bulbs. These are now available in many varieties including dimmer bulbs so should meet the requirements of most if not all domestic lighting needs.

The Best 25 Tips to Save Your Money

Today, we are living in tough times. The entire global economy is on a downswing and we must do what we can to save our money as much and as early as possible even if it wants us to "force" ourselves for doing it. Indeed, it's hard to change the whole picture individually, we should at least take a grip of our own priorities and bring a change now to ensure the security of our own family.

Here are some major steps you can take in order start saving money.

1-FOCUS ON SPENDING

I-Write down every penny you spend on a daily basis and regularly so that you can see and check what, where and why you are spending your money on.

II-Get rid of what you don't need, wander around your home, search and choose the things that you don't need, sell them.

III-Refinance the mortgage on your home to decrease your house payments by several hundred dollars.

IV-Cut back on entertainment expenses. For example, instead of purchasing your favorite DVD, you can either look online for used versions or rent the movie. You can do the same with music and video games.

V-Educate your kids about how to save money. Teach them to understand the importance of money and the influence it will have on their future lives.

2- DEPOSIT AT BANK
I-Open a saving account and determine how you will be saving everyday, month, quarter, mid year and every year and you will be well-prepared and equipped economically, especially when unseen circumstances arise.

II-You can ask your employer to put at least 10% of payment into a high interest bank account, after a while you won't miss it.

III-You can think of putting your funds into a term deposit to keep them there for several months and not withdrawing.

IV-If your life partner is a good saver, you can ask him / her to open a personal bank account where you can deposit and secure your money without having your own access to it.

V-Using an interest-based current account will give you an advantage of withdrawing with cheques or ATM. You will have to always leave some balance in the account daily and it will yield interest.

3- GET DISCOUNTS
I-Get the best discounts on the things you buy and need to buy so that you do not over pay and you are satisfied with your purchase.

II-Look for freebies, rent instead of buying and buy things in bulk, use recycle papers and look for used good off the internet.

III-Utilize package deals on cable, internet, and phone from cable companies at a discounted rate.

IV-Clipping and using coupons is a great way to save money on everyday expenses. Coupons are abundant through local newspapers and the mail and are very easy to collect, and you can really get quite a few fairly quick.

V-During shopping, get benefit of various consumer offers and sales.g. buy one get one free. For grocery shopping, check if you can search for some big whole sales stores instead of making expensive purchases at typical retail shops.

4-SAVE ENERGY AND FUEL
I-You can cut-down your electricity bill by switching off the unused lights or adjusting the temperature settings of your refrigerator. Use florescent light bulbs in your house. Only use the dishwasher when it is full.

II-Think of replacing your old appliances with energy-saving devices which carry labels being an energy saver.

III-If you insulate your home, it will reduce the cost of heating and cooling.

IV-If you're a homeowner, consider converting over to a gas water heater. They are very efficient and hence will help you save your money over a course of time.

V-Save gasoline for your automobile by check tires regularly, accelerating and decelerating slowly while running and removing unnecessary weight. Keep filters/converters clean and if possible, try to keep windows and sunroofs closed especially at high speeds.

5-INVEST WISELY
I-You can lend money to financial institutions for a specified time so that, later, your money can be repayed to you with interest. A lot of investing options are available nowadays, such as bonds, insurances, stocks, etc.

II-Refrain from being in debt and manage your investment plans successfully. Refrain from debts that involve high interest rates.

III-If you prefer a long term saving option, the insured account of money markets can be your choice. As it is for a long time period, the financial institute offers a good interest rate.

IV-You can also invest your money in collectibles and other items that will grow in value over time. You know that they are going to grow, so you hold on to them until the time comes that you need to sell them.

V-Don't forget to concentrate on the basic investment areas.g. stock market, share market, real estate, business, partnerships, joint ventures etc. Choose an option that suits you the best.

Summing up, if you know the right ways, it is easy to make money. With little imagination, creativity and self-discipline, you can help yourself in holding your hard-earned money to a great extent.

Light Bulbs Burning Out - Why?

Why are your light bulbs burning out? Umm, because light bulbs burn out? No, sorry, I'm not being fair; that's not what you're asking. But it's true, of course. So first of all, are you sure they are burning out too soon? Do you count how many hours each bulb has run? I'm half serious. If you leave indoor lights on a lot or outdoor lights stay on all night, maybe they have lived a full life. Some bulb packages still state an average life expectancy in hours.

I am only dealing with incandescent bulbs here, not fluorescent, though they are subject to many of the same causes of burnout.

Are you even sure they are burning out? Recessed "can lights" have a "thermal protector" that will stop power to the socket if the fixture overheats from hot weather, too much attic insulation, or the wrong style or wattage of bulb. Once it cools down, it will power the bulb again.

Next, did you know that besides a wattage, bulbs have a voltage rating, usually 120 volts? That means they are designed with 120 volts in mind. If the power company delivers more than that to your home (and this may be true of half of all homes), then the life of your bulbs will be less. Bulbs rated 130-volts are available for the asking, and even though they will run a little less brightly, they will stand up better to a higher voltage level and also to spikes and surges in voltage.

Other factors can contribute too. The quality of bulb manufacturing can be poor. The socket that a bulb sits in can be poor, as when rivets that relate the socket to its wires in the fixture loosen up. And the connection of these fixture wires to the wires in the electrical box can be poor. All these conditions I have just listed, however, may come about or be made worse whenever bulbs of too high a wattage are used, and not just the bulbs there now, but any used there in the past. So the light fixture itself may need replacing.

While we're at it, let's trace contributors back further. Poor electrical connections may exist at the light box, its switch box, other boxes of that circuit, the breaker, the main wires of the panel and meter, out to and including the power company's transformer. Such poor connections can still let current through to run the light bulbs, but may do so in a jagged way that stresses the filaments of many bulbs in the home, shortening their life. This irregular current may or may not be visible, as flickering or blinking, to someone looking at the lit bulbs.

One particular connection problem kills bulbs very quickly, by subjecting them to more sustained and extreme voltage than what the power company would provide. Bulbs (and vulnerable electronics) can receive to up to 240 volts if a neutral wire shared by two or more circuits loses continuity. This can happen where two circuits share the neutral, or, in the case of a main neutral wire, it can happen to the entire home. Because widespread bulb, fixture, and appliance damage is possible, several things burning out simultaneously is a symptom that calls for prompt professional attention.

In conclusion, with good observation over time, it is sometimes possible to know the cause of bulb burnout in a given case. Some experimentation and documentation may be needed. Later, a troubleshooting electrician might help, although we don't know everything either. Bulbs burn out!

LED Lighting for Businesses

Using the most efficient and affordable way to do business is key to the success of any business. Your company might be completely streamlined in how it does business, but many business owners overlook such things as energy expenses. For many companies, switching to LED lighting can provide a substantial cost savings, both in the amount of energy they consume and also how often they have to replace the bulbs.

LED light bulbs are extremely useful in some rather surprising places. They have gained a lot of popularity for usage in electric signs, such as emergency exit signs. A regular, incandescent bulb will last about a year in an emergency exit sign, while an LED light bulb will last approximately eleven years. That's ten extra years of not having to change the bulb and ten less bulbs found in your local landfill. LED light bulbs can also be used in other electric signage, such as scoreboards in a hockey rink or lit up road signs.

Using LED lighting to light offices is becoming a more mainstream option for many businesses. Not only is LED lighting cost effective, it can also reduce the damaging effects of fluorescent lighting to staff. Fluorescent lighting is known to cause headaches and eyestrain, and with LED being the artificial light that is closest to daylight, replacing fluorescent lighting with LED lighting can be beneficial to human resources as well.

There are other, simpler ways to add LED lighting to your business. Desk lamps are particularly well suited for LED light bulbs, since LED gives off directed light that is great for task lighting. Old Christmas decorations can be replaced with a new, LED variety. Any office that wants to save money and also move towards being environmentally friendly will find that making the switch to LED lighting is a must.

Lighting the Bathroom Mirror the Right Way

One of the most important parts of any bathroom is the mirror. When properly lighted, a bathroom mirror can be every woman's best friend. Have you ever wondered why some bathrooms can be so friendly and welcoming while others are harsh and uninviting?

The answer probably lies on proper lighting. Let's admit it; everyone spends a considerable amount of time in front of a mirror. We primp and preen in front of a mirror trying to fix ourselves in as many ways as we can. A mirror is an important tool in providing ourselves proper grooming. The mirror needs to be properly lighted so that spending time in front of it will be an everyday pleasing routine.

It is a challenge to provide good lighting for a mirror. Lighting a mirror properly will eliminate unnecessary shadows and provide good illumination for every user. Frequently, we see only a single ceiling fixture in a bathroom. Instead of providing a friendly illumination, this type of lighting only casts shadows below your eyes and hit your eyebrows, which are definitely unfriendly effects. Cross lighting is the key to good mirror lighting. Cross lighting includes direct light from above, both sides and below. Achieving this can be made possible through a wide range of available lighting fixtures. Glare from frosted bulbs or those fixtures with opaque plastic or glass shields should be avoided.

Decorators suggest that the sink's front edge and countertop should be illuminated with a light on the ceiling above the mirror. This could be a recessed task light that can be a round incandescent ceiling fixture that should be at least 12 inches in diameter with a bulb rating of 100 to 120 watts. You can also choose a fluorescent ceiling fixture above the sink. It is recommended that a fluorescent ceiling fixture above the sink should hold two 24-inch bulbs with 20 watt rating.

In order to complete the cross lighting, you should place light fixtures on both sides of the mirror. It is important to choose a light fixture that casts light in four directions - up, down and both sides. Rows of exposed incandescent bulbs with low wattage are especially designed to light mirrors. Pendants or wall-mounted fixtures are also common choices. These types of fixtures should be placed at eye level and should have at least 60 to 70 watt bulb. Fluorescent tubes are also favored choices because these utilize low electric consumption and last longer. Today, there are a lot of fluorescent tubes that are designed for vanity use and which provide a full spectrum light. A 24 inch 20 watt tube placed on each side of the mirror will create the required illumination. If your bathroom mirror is more than 24 inches wide, you can use a wall mounted light above the mirror and at the same time use the same type of fixture on the sides to complete the cross lighting effect.

Finally, for mirrors larger than 36 inches wide, sidelights may not be enough to provide the desired illumination. However this can be corrected by using powerful overhead light sources, which will be enough to cover even the mid section of the mirror that the side fixtures may fail to illuminate.

LEDs and Solar Powered Lights - Progress Still Needed

Ways to adopt more energy efficient habits has been a top priority world wide, but one attraction in particular is drawing tourists for not only its ingenuity but for its amazing display of lights as well. In Japan the Toki no Sumika Gotemba Kogen Resort has built a tunnel that is illuminated by 3.2 million light emitting diodes, or LEDs. The tunnel is then bathed in the glow of energy efficient light bulbs that casts a notably less yellowish or bright light than that from the more familiar, standard light bulbs.

While the tunnel is vastly more energy efficient than those lit by traditional bulbs it does point out the biggest drawback from LEDs. The quality of light from these bulbs is much less than standard lights and they are generally best for only downcast light fixtures or accent lighting. In fact it would take more than 30 LED lights to provide the same level of brightness of just a single lamp with a 13-watt CFL bulb. While solar lighting systems are improving, there is still progress to be made in being able to supply ample energy to so many light bulbs from each square foot of panels from the Photo Voltaic material.

To improve the PV panels and make their production more cost effective, there has been the introduction of PV films. These films are much thinner and only need 1 percent of the amount of semiconductor material necessary for each panel. Each square foot of film is capable of generating an equal amount of energy as one square foot of paneling, but it is much less expensive to produce. This will then make it easier to adopt solar lighting systems and in turn cut back the amount of reliance upon nonrenewable sources of energy.

Still there is much work that needs to be done for PV panels and films to replace all current systems. This is because even under the best of conditions, equatorial noon at sea level, each square foot of PV paneling is only able to produce 30 watts of energy each hour despite the fact that there may be 100 watts incoming from the sun's light.

This makes it nearly impossible for a single solar unit to generate even 150 watts each day per one square foot. On average, the amount of energy used for solely lighting purposes in one home in America is about 20 percent of their total electric consumption, 250 kWh each month. This means that in order to provide that amount one would need nearly 280 square feet of PV panels.

Because the amount of sunlight will vary not only from day to day but hour to hour, solar power units must run with a battery that is able to store a reservoir of energy to be used in times of overcast skies and during the night. Once the rest of a household's energy necessities outside of lighting are added in, that would mean an increase in the amount of square feet of panels to 2,800. Should the home be heated from electric energy, the amount of paneling would increase by twice that amount.

Again remembering that a single LED is only able to provide a much lower level of light than a 60 watt standard bulb, in order to illuminate a single home in the manner, it would take significantly more light bulbs. Should the home have 30 of these standard bulbs, it would mean that there would be a need for much more than 1,000 LED light bulbs.

Still, solar energy systems are advancing and are an appealing source of renewable energy power. In keeping with such, over time they should become more practical and then become implemented for more uses and widespread markets. Even in its current state, solar units can be used in accordance with traditional energy sources to cut back on the amount of nonrenewable energy your home uses.

Home Mosquito Control - Turning Your Yard Into Hostile Territory For Mosquitoes

The No-Fly zone: Turning your yard into hostile territory for mosquitoes

Ready to get rid of those mosquitoes around the house? Great. But there's one thing you should know about home mosquito control right up front.

There's no silver bullet to mosquito prevention, no one product or tactic guaranteed to clear them out of your yard. And you will never be able to get them all; it's just not possible. The best you do is thin out their numbers and lessen the odds of getting bitten when you go out of the house.

To accomplish this, you'll have to use a combination of approaches. That includes ferreting out the possible mosquito breeding sites around your house, making the yard as inhospitable as you can, and attacking the adult swarms with everything from mosquito traps to mosquito spray.

It will take some time, and yes, cost you some money, as well, but when you're done, you will be able to relax outside your home, confident that you're as safe from the marauding bloodsuckers as you possibly can be.

Effective mosquito control starts with a thorough inspection of the potential battlefield, so let's head outside for a look around.

Is your yard a breeding ground for mosquitoes?

On your way out, check all the doors and windows in the house. Every window that opens should have a screen that fits tightly into place - no gaps around the edges - and is in good repair, without cuts or holes.

Same for entrances. You need a good screen door for each. When closed, the screen door should be snug against the door frame, and the screen should not have any damage that would allow mosquitoes to get inside.

Of course, they don't do any good if you raise the window screens along with the windows, or leave the screen door propped wide when the house door is open. Mosquitoes can and will come into the house any chance they get, so make sure to always keep the screens in place.

Outside, you need to look for standing water, in both the obvious places and the not-so-obvious. The folks at the Alameda County (Cal.) Mosquito Control District put it best on their website:

"The main rule when it comes to breeding grounds for mosquitoes is that they need stagnant water in order to lay their eggs. What most people don't realize is the surprising number of areas around their own house where mosquitoes can find the stagnant water they need. The main rule: If it can hold water for more than a few days, it can breed mosquitoes."

Female mosquitoes can lay their eggs in as little as an inch of water. So look for these likely places where mosquitoes can breed:

Tree holes - Some mosquitoes favor laying their eggs in hollowed-out places in trees where rainwater collects. Dealing with these can be tricky because insecticide might harm the tree, as could removing part of it. You may want to consult a landscaping expert or tree service for help.




Yard equipment - An upright wheelbarrow, an empty flowerpot, or even an abandoned shovel can hold water long enough to develop mosquito larvae. Store equipment inside, or turn it over so that rain will run off. Drill holes in the bottoms of containers that must remain outside, so they can drain.




Tarps - Any kind of plastic or nylon cover, whether it is draped over a stack of firewood or a boat, will eventually begin to sag and develop pockets where water can collect. Tighten them where you can and check them frequently.




Toys - Rain will fill toy trucks, teacup sets, or Frisbees left lying in the grass. The same for old-fashioned tire swings, which collect stagnating rainwater, or any old tire left laying in the yard. Make sure the kids pick up after themselves, and get rid of the tires.




Puddles - You may have low spots in the yard where water gathers and is slow to drain. If the water stands for more than a week at a time, you'll get mosquitoes during the warm months. Fill in the spots, install drainage pipes, or change the landscaping to keep the water away.




Rain gutters - When the gutters on your house get clogged with debris, water can back up and become stagnant. Check the gutters regularly, especially if you have heavy leaf fall. Also, keep the yard raked. Overturned leaves hold water, and mosquitoes like to breed in them.




Birdbaths and wading pools - Take a hose to the birdbath at least once a week during warm weather to keep the water from stagnating. Turn the kids' pool over and stand it up against a wall when they aren't using it. If you have a swimming pool, make sure you clean and service it regularly.



OK, you've taken care of the standing water in the yard. Now, since mosquitoes like to rest in warm, moist vegetation during the day, make sure you keep the grass cut and the bushes trimmed, and clear all the weeds out of the flower beds regularly. Water the grass and plants enough to keep them healthy, but avoid doing it so much everything stays wet.

Natural mosquito control around the home

Next, you may want to make a few additions to the yard that can help control mosquitoes organically.

You've probably heard of the citrosa, called the "mosquito plant," that's supposed to miraculously repel mosquitoes just by its presence. Unfortunately, that's not completely true. Mosquito control studies have shown that an undisturbed citrosa has very little effect on the pesky bloodsuckers.

However, the citrosa leaves do contain citronella oil, which is a mosquito repellent. And there are other plants with oils and fragrances believed to irritate mosquitoes, including citronella grass, lemon thyme, catnip and rosemary.

The trick is that you have to crush the leaves in order to release the mosquito repellents. Not terribly effective as an active measure, but it might be worth planting some around your favorite spots, so you can rub the leaves on your skin when you're outside, to help keep the mosquitoes away.

This is also a good time to think about a small decorative pond to aid in mosquito control.

If you have one already, it's a good bet mosquitoes breed in it, unless it gets a constant flow of fresh water. A natural way to treat the pond for mosquitoes is to stock it with gambusia, also known as the mosquito eating fish.

Gambusia feed on mosquito larvae, primarily wigglers at the surface. They grow to about two inches and require no care. About 35 to 100 are enough to keep a small ornamental pond relatively free of mosquitoes, according to Rutgers University entomologists.

Many local mosquito control districts will provide them for free as long as they are kept somewhere that does not connect to other water environments. Gambusia are predatory fish and have been known to feed on the young of other native species.

Meanwhile, if you don't have a pond, it could be a good idea to get one installed. Designed correctly, a small decorative pond can attract dragonflies, sometimes known as "mosquito hawks" because they feed on both mosquito larvae and adult mosquitoes.

The British Dragonfly Society recommends the pond be at least 130 square feet, but obviously, you can go much smaller. Put it somewhere protected from wind, but where it can receive direct sunlight to keep the dragonflies warm.

The pond needs to be deep at one end, at least two feet, and shallow at the other, so dragonfly larvae, called "nymphs," can dive when threatened by predators and eventually crawl out of the water once they've grown.

Stock the pond with native aquatic plants that rise above the surface, giving the larvae a place to rest and hide in the roots, and the young adults a place to rest out of the water. Also plant shrubs close by to encourage the adults to stick around.

Surround the pond with flat, light-colored rocks. Some dragonflies like to land on flat rocks to sun themselves.

One quick note: You may have heard that bats and purple martins also are handy to have around because they eat mosquitoes. But researchers say those are fallacies. Bats prefer other insects, with mosquitoes making up less than one percent of their diet. Purple martins are partial to dragonflies.

Mosquito spraying and other forms of attack

Now that you've turned your yard downright unfriendly toward mosquitoes, it's time to take a little more aggressive action. Again, you'll need to use a combination of tactics.

One of those involves insecticide.

You can kill mosquito larvae in standing water with a product like Mosquito Bits, which contains the Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis bacteria, the most effective larvacide, or you can apply a larvacidal oil to the water's surface to keep the larvae from breathing.

Adults are susceptible to foggers and mosquito spray.

Foggers heat insecticide and release it into the yard in low volumes, killing mosquitoes on contact, but the fog, and its effectiveness, wear off within a few hours. A mosquito spray, such as permethrin or bifenthrin, lasts a little longer and can be used to coat areas where mosquitoes like to rest.

Spray the grass, trees, bushes, wooden fences and walls of the house, then let it dry. The poison, a synthetic version of the insecticide produced by the chrysanthemum plant, kills mosquitoes on contact by attacking their nervous systems.

You can find larvacides, foggers and sprays in most hardware and home improvement stores.

Believe it or not, you are still going to have mosquitoes, even after all of this. Different tricks work with different species, and there could be tens of thousands of mosquitoes from a dozen or more species flying around your neighborhood.

To add the next layer of protection, replace the regular lights bulbs in your outside lights with yellow bulbs, which attract significantly fewer insects. Then, put a mosquito trap in your yard, away from the deck, patio or anywhere you normally spend time.

Mosquito traps mimic the attractants that draw female mosquitoes to feed on human bodies. They release carbon dioxide and Octenol, found in exhaled breath and sweat, and they emit heat and light in ranges designed to stimulate the mosquitoes.

The traps can lure mosquitoes from more than 100 feet away, then sweep them through a fan into a container where they die. While you sit comfortably, the mosquitoes are tricked away from you to another corner of the yard and quietly disposed of by your trap.

Within about two months of running the trap, you can expect to see significant reductions in the local mosquito population, as female after female is drawn in and dies without laying more eggs.

And that's it. You have implemented a thorough, comprehensive program of home mosquito control. Now put on a little mosquito repellent with DEET - you can't be too careful - and go enjoy a nice summer evening outdoors.

The Importance of Electricity

Electricity is important to the world. Fans, light bulbs, televisions, ovens, air-conditioners... All of these cannot function without electricity. So, as you can see, electricity is very important to the world. But before I can tell you about electricity, you must what is it. And you must know about energy, and the (famous) inventor who invented the light bulb. Then, electricity. Finally... electricity's advantages & disadvantages.

ENERGY- Conductors and insulators.

Energy is found everywhere (and I really mean everywhere). Well, you can't see energy, but it is around. Reading this article uses energy, too. Well, I won't be talking about contracting and expanding and all that stuff (find it in another article). I will be talking about conductors and insulators.

Ok. First, conductors of electricity mean that it attracts electricity. Insulators are exactly the opposite. Metal is a good conductor of electricity while plastic is an insulator.

Thomas A. Edison

Invention of the lightbulb

Now, electricity is...Whoops, actually, step 2 is: Who invented the lightbulb. There are many inventors in the world. Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning conductor. The Wright brothers invented the aeroplane. No, no, no. I am NOT concentrating on them. Thomas Alva Edison is a very famous inventor. He invented the lightbulb, and yes, that is the one I am looking for.

The lightbulb consists of the filament, which is for the bulb to light up. Correct, if the filament is taken away, then the bulb would not light up.

Now you know about electricity, you're going to learn how electricity is made. Number two... Oh, yes! The advantages and disadvantages of electricity.

How is electricity made?

Ha ha, I hear you say. Electricity can't be made. Well, almost correct. No, 0 percent correct.

Huh? Then how is electricity made? I'm sure you're asking that. You'll learn right now.

Electricity is a half-natural half-man-made thing. You might not know, but electricity is made from crude oil. That's the main 'ingredient'. Ha ha. Wrong again. That's the only ingredient. OK, I must give myself 10%/100%. Why? Well, it is simply because you don't cook electricity! Well, you want to know the answer? You BURN crude oil! Did you think of that?

Advantages and Disadvantages

I'm sure you know the advantages of electricity. They help many things to function. As I have mentioned earlier, Fans, light bulbs, televisions, ovens, air-conditioners and many other things cannot function without electricity.

But I don't think you know much about the disadvantages of electricity. As you know, electricity is made by burning crude oil. But crude oil is a limited resource. This means that it may run out in the future. If we don't use electricity wisely, there might not be any electricity in the future.

Another disadvantage is that because it is made by burning crude oil, it causes pollution to the environment, also at the same time increasing the speed of global.

Now after this article, I guess you wanted to save electricity and use it wisely. Well, you should, and prevent global warming in the future!

Outdoor LED Lighting - A Must For The Garden

Nothing can make a home look more breathtaking than when it is illuminated at night by a quality outdoor LED lighting system. Some people use them above ground, some in-ground, some surround their decks with them, others use them by their ponds or to light up their pools and wherever it is placed you can be sure that it will add significance and beauty to your home. In addition, outdoor lighting using LED provides a sense of security and safety.

What's Good About LEDs

These lighting fixtures are generally available in strips, clusters, or arrays but if you are using groups of six or more it is necessary to use a regulated transformer so you can get the maximum life out of the lighting systems. These lights offer extreme money savings by only using 2-10 watts of electricity; you can get up to 60,000 hours out of these bulbs, they are very cool running, the turn instantly on and off, they work great in cold weather, and they can withstand moderate power surges, they are often sensor activated, and the bulbs are very durable.

Less Costly Operation

It is said that the light bulbs used in LED lighting will pay for themselves within a year's time. Many people choose outdoor LED lighting so they can illuminate walkways or as occupancy sensors for home security measures. Sometimes home owners use this kind of light in lanterns or votives around their yards which creates a beautiful lighting display any time of the year.

LED for outdoor lighting is also available in holiday selections because they cost a lot less to operate and they are longer lasting. That is the promise of LED lighting, that they will last about ten times longer than outdated incandescent lighting options and there is less need to worry about replacing light bulbs all the time.

Some Disadvantages

While there are many advantages with LED lighting, it also has some disadvantages. For one, these lights may cost more to initially install. They are very heat-sensitive so excessive heat can reduce both output and lifespan, and they typically cast light in one direction at a narrow angle compared to incandescent or fluorescent lamps

LED lighting, which stands for the longer and more complex name of Light Emitting Diode, is a semi conductor device that converts electricity into light. While this form of lighting has been around for years, it has only been more recent where this was used for purposes that were not commercial. While LED's are small in size, they can be grouped together for higher density applications.

Save Money And Save The Environment

Today, the concept is to go green and save the environment. LED lights do just that as they work to also improve and reduce power consumption. They are environmentally friendly and leave a minimal footprint on our environment. Many people are saying that LED lighting is going to be the lighting of the future. Keeping this in mind, it is always a good idea to save where you can in terms of money and the environment, everyone should check out outdoor LED lighting as well as for indoor use too.

Wind and Solar Power Generator

If there was an alternative for you to avoid paying the ridiculously high price for gasoline, an option that was virtually FREE, would you choose to use that option rather than spending your hard-earned money making the oil companies even richer ? Of course you would.

If there was a way for you to avoid paying an electric bill monthly, would you also choose that option ? Again, the answer would obviously be a resounding YES!

Well, something that still at least somewhat surprises me, is that there is another choice instead of paying the electric company that hard-earned money, month after month, year after year. The part that surprises me is that a very few, and I mean a tiny fraction of the people that could totally eliminate their monthly electric bill, choose to do so.

In fact, if you produce (and you can) more electrical energy than your home uses, the utility company buys the surplus from you.

I would guess that most people have at least heard of solar and wind power for generating electricity by now. However, relatively few are taking advantage of this God-given source of almost totally free energy. Admittedly there is a cost associated with building the system(s) that converts the suns energy, and the energy of the wind into electricity that you can utilize for your home, but the costs are so minimal when compared to what is spent in a lifetime paying the electric company, they can almost be considered negligible. This is, of course, assuming you build the system(s) yourself.

Commercially available systems are still very high in cost, and will probably continue to remain so, at least until newer, more cost effective methods of production are developed. As more and more people start turning to alternative, renewable energy sources, this will come about.

Well, it doesn't have to be that way. Right now it's possible to build your own wind turbine electrical generator for just a fraction, and I mean a very small dollar value compared to what it costs to buy a comparable unit commercially.

For less than $200, using only simple tools and parts available from your local hardware or home supply store,and eBay, you can build a wind power generator that will supply up to 80% of the electrical needs of a modest sized home. Obviously, if you were to build (2) of these units, you would have a surplus of electrical power that you could then actually sell back to the utility company that has been taking so much of your money for all these years!!

One thing many people ask is, 'What happens when there is no wind ?'. There's a very simple answer, for an equally small investment you can also add a solar unit to your home electrical generating system. Then you have both wind and solar power working to keep the current flowing. Is that always enough to keep the electrical power at it's peak ? Well, there still could be times when there is virtually no wind, and no sunshine. That's when deep cycle batteries are figured into the system.

Deep cycle storage batteries are different from the battery in your car. The battery in your vehicle is designed to have high 'cranking amps.' This just means that the battery can provide a heavy current, but just for short periods of time. A deep cycle battery is designed to be able to supply a decent amount of current (power), for extended periods.

So, the way the system that you can build works is like this...when the sun is shining, and/or the wind is blowing, the solar panel(s), and/or wind turbine is generating the electricity. This electricity is there for you to use for your tv, computer, refrigerator, whatever it is that you need to run on electrical power in your home.

It's not limited to supplying the power for the immediate demands of your household though. Some of the electricity also goes into the deep cycle batteries, keeping them charged so that they can provide you with uninterrupted electrical power when there isn't sufficient wind or sunlight to keep things going. An inverter is added to convert the DC current from the batteries into AC current that your household appliances can use. It's a fool-proof system powered entirely by the sun and wind.

For such a relatively tiny investment, this is undoubtedly the single easiest, least expensive change that the average homeowner could make, that would also result in the largest amount of money being saved month after month, year after year. If you ever decide to sell your home, the market value is also greatly enhanced.

You can replace all your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, you can add insulation, you can add double or even triple pane, gas filled windows, and all these changes are great, but in comparison to suddenly not having an electric bill, there is nothing that is a better move than building you own solar and wind power system for your home.

It's also worth noting: in the past, most homes have been heated with either natural gas or propane due to the low efficiency of most electric furnaces. Electric heaters (or furnaces) work by drawing a very high current, resulting in, yes, very high costs, but if you were to add on to your home built system to the point of having electrical energy to spare, you could get to the point that you could totally heat (and cool) your house with virtually free, totally 'green' electricity.

This single tiny investment of a little money, and a few hours time, could prove to be one of the best financial moves that many people ever make in their entire lives. Free electricity for life does add up after all. Do it for yourself, but just as importantly, do it for the generations to come.

With a LED Replacement Bulb - You Gain WHAT?

Some Benefits

To know what actual benefits you stand to gain you need to know just 3 things. And none if it is the ACTUAL energy price. (In fact, shortly you will see that you won't need to know that, because your LED bulb will use the same - already high priced - electricity.)

energy use of a LED replacement bulb vers. your regular bulb





price of a LED light bulb vers. your current regular bulb





Number of regular bulbs used for the lifetime of one LED bulb



None of these need actual absolute prices -- instead, they are ratios. You don't even need to factor in the soaring prices of electricity. Why you ask? Good question. But think about it for a moment: - You will pay the SAME DOLLAR PER KILOWATT for both. In other words, just by buying one over the other, the price of power sold to you by your current utility provider won't change. (Well, not unless they too replace their regular bulbs and light up their plants with LED light themselves;-) - but that is another kettle of fish entirely.)

Ok, let's see those ratios in order:

Today, a LED replacement bulb will use about 97% less energy than your current incandescent light.





Price of LED bulb is about 52 times higher than your regular bulb





You will replace up to 60 regular incandescent bulbs in the socket - one after the other - for the same time ONE LED light bulb can last.



Now that we collected all that data how are we going to calculate the actual gain? Well, we can calculate it in break-even time on your investment of buying a LED replacement bulb. And we can calculate the actual costs you need to fork out to buy and run both.

Ok, today I've ran these calculations based on a simple break even formula I worked out for the purpose. And the results are staggering. Ready? After investing in a LED bulb, you will break even in less then 8 months. And after that you will pocket the gains for up to 7 years. How is that for benefit?

But using the same formula I also ran calculations for a future point in a current trend as power prices rise and LED prices drop. Now, as this happens as we speak, you stand to gain even more by shrinking break-even time to around 2 months at some point.

After that I became curious and ran a step-by-step cost calculation based on my formula. And the results were even more staggering.

Now then, haven't we forgotten something ...?

Well, how about less tangible benefits, such as quality of enjoyment you would be hard pressed to put a price on; - such as significantly less heat at the light source? Well, actually that too can have a price tag -- just much harder to calculate. Why?

Your current regular bulb uses power to make 80-90% heat and at best 15% light. That heat needs to be vented. And on a hot day, that ACTUALLY adds to your air-conditioning bill. It's just hard to know how much exactly. But if you look back at the differences in energy efficiency between a LED replacement bulb and a regular bulb, you see a figure of 97% percent. (That's actually a generous average.) The 2-12% difference is in fact somewhat larger, when you count that a regular bulb throws light in a spherical fashion - comes from the centre of the bulb and goes in every direction along with the heat just mentioned. -- In most of those places they are a waste and not needed at all. By contrast, a LED light bulb only throws a narrow light beam directed exactly where needed.

There are other issues also that will make the pay-off equally more enjoyable and more recycle-friendly, but this would be hard to discuss in the framework of just this short article. And of course you can't use LED bulbs just everywhere - not yet.

But the bottom line? When you count the beans in the kitty, you will stand to gain BIG time with investing in a LED replacement bulb for accents, flood lights, washers and for every other use where appropriate.