Showing posts with label Bathroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bathroom. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Bathroom Lighting Chrome - The Classy Effect

Many believe that chrome is just for kitchen faucets and for Cadillacs. However lighting designers globally are quickly adjusting their methods of designing bathroom lights to a Bath Lighting Chrome effect, as they replace previously popular finishes in nickel and bronze. Bath lighting chrome gives your bathroom beautiful lights which have a beautiful overall finish of chrome. These chrome lights in your bathroom will give it a shiny, mirror-like quality that is second to none. Bath Lighting Chrome will also be great for your decorating needs as it will match perfectly with your traditional and modern bathroom fixtures, as well as enhance the overall brilliance of the lighting produced.

Bath lighting chrome will give your room a modern and tasteful appearance and they are extremely durable, giving you several years of service without any defects. The chrome is a fantastic design for your bath or wash room and will complement its accessories like your towel racks, lotion dispensers, soap dishes and toilet tissue holders. Besides the great decorating benefits, you may discover that a bath lighting chrome effect will give your room a classy look and feel and it goes well with any decorating theme that you may choose to use.

Apart from providing the necessary lighting that is provided in your bath or wash room to brush your teeth and have your shower among other activities, another great benefit of using lighting chrome is that the overall chrome lights are not overpowering and gives your room a gorgeous look. These lighting designs will enhance the taste and attractiveness of your room and it will add a beautiful color to the walls and flooring, giving your bath or wash room and by extension your home a splendid decor.

If you have other lighting designs in your bathroom that is not bathroom lighting chrome, you may need to consider purchasing one, as the chrome design will give your old out dated bathroom a wonderful bright chrome-like look. If you are on a tight budget and you are worried about the cost of these stylish designed bathroom lights, then you should not worry mainly because chrome bathroom lights can be purchased at a reasonable cost. So, you can redesign and remodel your bathroom with beautiful chrome lights, while you save thousands of dollars.

If you are looking to purchase these beautiful chrome lights for your bathroom, you can search the Internet. Online, there are hundreds of websites that will help you to find a wide variety of chrome lights at prices that are affordable. There will also be that perfect light design just for your bathroom and its accessories. You may also need to bear in mind that chrome bathroom lights goes well with other bathroom accessories that are chrome-like to give your bathroom the ultimate classy look that it deserves. Therefore, whenever you choose to remodel your out dated bathroom, you should try to change your other bathroom accessories to give your bathroom that ancient and stylish chrome look. So, whenever you choose to visit your bathroom, you will be graced with the beauty of a classy bathroom making you comfortable and cosy.

Friday, April 23, 2010

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.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

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.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

House Wiring Info - How to Avoid Common House Wiring Issues

In the United States, each year brings 32,000 house fires as a result of malfunctioning electrical wire systems. The devastation of improperly installed wiring is the reason behind an annual total of about 950 injuries, 220 deaths, and nearly $700 million in property damage. The risk level increases when you live in a house aged 50 years or older (like more than 1/3 of residences in the U.S.). Just think - all of the advancements in technology are now much stronger than in the past - meaning older homes suffer a greater drain on their electrical system.

Therefore, when thinking of pursuing a do-it-yourself project that involves rewiring your home - make sure to proceed with caution and gain as much house wiring information as possible. Becoming familiar with common wiring errors and issues is a good way to prevent a catastrophe from occurring in the future. A few house wiring info tips include:

·Working With Live Wires: Every year, a great deal of do-it-yourselfers fall victim to the electric shock of a live wire. To stay safe - make sure you always turn off the circuit breaker or remove proper fuses before tackling a this sort of home improvement project or when replacing a piece of electrical equipment.

·Incorrect Light Bulbs: There is a reason that companies list the maximum allowed wattage on their sockets and light fixtures. Contrary to popular belief, using a higher wattage does not brighter up your room any better, but only causes damage to lights, which can heat up wires to the point of a house fire.

·Proper Grounding: It is important that receptacles are wired with the appropriate grounding and polarity. Grounded wires typically display a copper grounding wire with the cable. If you live in an older house, the wires appear black and white. Before pursuing an electrical project any further, it is important to test your home for grounded wiring. Today, a UL Listed outlet circuit tester is the most effective approach. When outlets are improperly grounded - make sure to call a professional electrician.

·Splicing: When splicing wiring in the house, it is key to display matching wire sizes and types. People who splice wires by twisting the ends together and covering the result with electrical tape face a higher risk of encountering a problem in the future. Also, keep in mind that plastic or metal receptacles lessen the risk of fire.

·Old Wires: When hooking up new light fixtures, make sure the wires in your home can accommodate the transition. For example, older homes may possess wiring with a lower temperature rating. Do-it-yourselfers normally overlook this house wiring info tip. However, to lower the risk of an unnecessary fire, check the wire rating before installing new lights. A solution to incompatibility is to upgrade the wiring or seek out fixtures that satisfy the appropriate supply connection range.