Your Home Tool Kit

We’ve all heard we need to adjust the thermostats when we are gone to not waste gas or electricity, but what about the water? Sure, take shorter showers or baths to save, but what about a constantly running toilet? Did you realise that a leaky toilet could waste as much as a few thousand gallons of water each month? That can add up to as much as $50 extra on your water bill! Here we will show you how to fix a running toilet valve. The Scoop on Valves So, what is a valve, anyways? A valve is a device that controls, directs, or regulates the flow of liquid or air. To better apply this to matters of your home, it is a “switch” for your water. When you turn the cold or hot water knobs in the sink tap or tub or turn the water on to your garden hose, you are opening and closing a valve to allow the water to flow. Valves are very simple devices. They control the flow of water by means of a ball or a gate. These ball or gate valves can go from completely closed to gradually opening up to the ...

With all the talk of saving money, saving energy, go green this or that, sometimes it can all get a bit overwhelming to a point that nothing gets done. However, one simple step can be taken to get started doing all of that – replace the bulbs in your home with LED bulbs. As you will see, it’s not as expensive as you may think… What are LEDs? LED is an acronym for Light Emitting Diode. Simply put, it is a semiconductor that puts out light. They use about one-third less energy than Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL’s), and only a fraction of the energy used for incandescent bulbs. They are perhaps the most versatile of all the lamp types – you can customize the color, the amount of light output, and even the beam direction. They radiate less heat than their CFL and incandescent companions, whose heat output makes up about 80% of their energy use! LED bulbs can be purchased in styles that allow to swap out from incandescents one for one. They put out just as good or better light than incande...

There is no doubt that property crimes are on the rise. It seems we always hear of home break-ins, auto theft from homes, and even packages being stolen right off peoples porches – in broad daylight light! Here we will share with you an overview of the importance of installing home security camera systems, and walk through basic steps to take in installing one. Why Install Home Security Camera Systems? Among the many reasons to install home security camera systems, the most obvious reason is to deter break-ins and malicious activities. According to FBI.org , nationwide in the United States, an estimated 7.9 million property crimes took place in 2016. These losses incurred an estimated $15.6B in losses! The information also provided that there were about 420 arrests made per 100,000 inhabitants. Other sources suggest that 3 out of 4 households will be broken in to at some point in the next 20 years. With these numbers, it is highly likely that everyone reading this article, including th...