Blog
23/11/2011 Dust mites cause an increase in household allergies
According to The Independent, there has been an increase in household allergies which is down to dust mites. New research has found that an estimated 12 million Britons are allergic to their own homes!
Research done by the charity Allergy UK shows that 58% of all household allergies result from dust mites!! It’s not only dust mites which are the problem 31% of the nation is allergic to mould, 45% are allergic to pets and 30% have trouble with chemicals found in cleaning product.
Making sure your home is well ventilated is essential, in the winter months people are closing doors, windows and turning up the heating these all provide a breeding grown for dust mites.
A heat recovery ventilation system helps people with allergies, including asthma and hay fever sufferers, by lowering the relative humidity. This has a major impact by significantly reducing the dust mite numbers and the airborne allergens they produce. Dirty, stale and damp air is removed and replaced with a constant flow of fresh, filtered air – meaning your environment is healthy for you and your family. Pollen and particles, which affect hay fever and asthma suffers, are filtered out from the incoming air. By also fitting a central vacuum system reduces the amount of house dust mites even further, with its powerful suction.
Another simple tip is to make sure you change your bedding once a week and wash it on a 60 degree cycle and buy new pillows every year.
16/11/2011 Five top tips for saving money this winter
This winter is set to be another cold one, with temperatures forecast to plummet to well below zero across the country at the start of 2012. Low temperatures, combined with rising gas and electricity prices, mean that more homeowners are looking at ways to save money on their heating bills. Here are our top 5 tips:
Insulation
This is still one of the most effective ways to reduce heat loss in your home. The best way to find out whether your home is adequately insulated is to check to see if there is any insulation in the loft. If there isn’t, then make sure you get some fitted as the Energy Saving Trust estimate that insulating an un-insulated loft could save you around £175 a year and reduce your carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions too.
Switch to low energy lightbulbs
This is a really easy step and they last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, using one could, according to the The Energy Saving Trust, save you around £55 per year.
Air Tightness
Any cold air coming through draughts and cracks in your home is displacing warm air you've just paid for. Improving the air tightness of your home could save you hundreds of pounds annually. Air tightness is basically covering up leakage points in your home so the cold air can't get in. Drop methods such as trickle vents and open fires in favour of a Heat Recovery Ventilation System and tripled glazed windows.
Turn down your thermostat
Even turning down your thermostat by a barely noticeable 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent and typically save you around £60 per year. Also, if you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time.
Check your windows
It doesn’t get much simpler than this, but closing curtains is really effective and acts as another barrier to prevent heat escaping. If you do still feel a draught, it might be time to consider replacing your windows for modern, energy efficient alternatives.
09/11/2011 Thank you for joining us at The Harrogate Show
Thank you to everyone who joined us at The Harrogate Homebuilding and Renovating Show last weekend, we had a great show and a big turn out.
We love these shows as it's a chance to meet the public face to face and find out what it is they are looking for and to help answer some of their questions. One question that kept popping up was "What is the difference between Ground Source Heat Pumps and Ground to Air Heat Exchangers?"
A ground source heat pump or geothermal heat pump is a heating system that is electrically powered, it uses the grounds constant temperature to provide heating, cooling and hot water for properties.
A ground to air heat exchanger (GAHX) works in conjunction with a heat recovery ventilation system. It works by drawing air through an underground network of pipes, the GAHX again uses the constant temperature of the ground, around 10 degrees.
It is important to know that a GAHX is not a geothermal system, it doesn't use heat from the ground to power a building, it instead exchanges energy between the air and the ground in a system which is high volume and low energy!
