Tackling home improvement projects can be a great learning experience, profitable, and fun. You can also help the environment, air quality in your home, and cut down on energy costs by making some environmentally friendly choices. Incorporate as many green options as you can when beautifying your home. Here we will discuss ways that you can make your home more energy efficient. Let’s take the master bedroom, for example. Do you have crown moulding? If you didn’t install the crown moulding yourself, you may want to take a peek behind there. Some drywallers have been known to install drywall flush with the floor instead of lifting the piece up to the ceiling. They can only get away with this if they know that crown moulding is going up to cover the laziness. You could have as much as a two inch gap between the ceiling and drywall, making your heating and cooling bills through the roof, literally. Painting a room is the fastest way to give it a facelift. Regular paint produces dangerous chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. VOCs are chemically similar to smog. They linger in the air of rooms painted with ordinary paint for months. A more environmentally friendly option would be to use a “low VOC” or no “VOC paint”. Be aware that when you add a color to the low or no VOC paint, that you are adding more VOCs to it. Some paints are colored with a dye powder, like “Freshaire” brand paint, and stay truly VOC free after colorization. Replacing old windows with energy efficient ones can save a lot on energy bills. You can caulk around the window to ensure that it is properly sealed. You may have to remove the window facings to do this. Energy efficient windows insulate as well as reflect radiant heat from the sun. Also, check behind your light switches and electrical outlets. Contractors and builders are only required to meet minimum standards for air draft control around outlets and switches. It may seem insignificant, but this could be equivalent to leaving an exterior door cracked open three inches all the time. Turn off the power, remove the covers, and replace them with insulated ones. Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or LED bulbs. This will cut down on energy usage and radiant heat. Install a ceiling fan if you don’t have one already. They use minimal energy and can make you feel 3 degrees cooler in your bedroom. When you are done, accessorize and decorate your new master bedroom. Get rid of plastic and wire hangers, replacing them with <a rel=”external nofollow” target=”_blank” href=”http://www.onlyhangers.com/Cat-32-1-2/Wooden_Hangers.htm” title=”Wood Hangers”>wood hangers</a>. A more environmentally friendly option would be to choose bamboo hangers. You can buy furniture made from renewable resources, like bamboo, or from reclaimed and recycled products. You could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,500, or 30% of your purchase price for energy efficient home improvements. The stimulus covers things like good energy rated air conditioning units, hot water heaters, energy efficient window and insulation. Families in a low income bracket can also get money for weatherizing their homes. This money can be applied to energy efficient heating and cooling systems, air filters, energy efficient windows and insulation, up to $5,000.
Tackling home improvement projects can be a great learning experience, profitable, and fun. You can also help the environment, air quality in your home, and cut down on energy costs by making some environmentally friendly choices. Incorporate as many green options as you can when beautifying your home. Here we will discuss ways that you can make your home more energy efficient.
Let’s take the master bedroom, for example. Do you have crown moulding? If you didn’t install the crown moulding yourself, you may want to take a peek behind there. Some drywallers have been known to install drywall flush with the floor instead of lifting the piece up to the ceiling. They can only get away with this if they know that crown moulding is going up to cover the laziness. You could have as much as a two inch gap between the ceiling and drywall, making your heating and cooling bills through the roof, literally.
Painting a room is the fastest way to give it a facelift. Regular paint produces dangerous chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. VOCs are chemically similar to smog. They linger in the air of rooms painted with ordinary paint for months. A more environmentally friendly option would be to use a “low VOC” or no “VOC paint”. Be aware that when you add a color to the low or no VOC paint, that you are adding more VOCs to it. Some paints are colored with a dye powder, like “Freshaire” brand paint, and stay truly VOC free after colorization.
Replacing old windows with energy efficient ones can save a lot on energy bills. You can caulk around the window to ensure that it is properly sealed. You may have to remove the window facings to do this. Energy efficient windows insulate as well as reflect radiant heat from the sun.
Also, check behind your light switches and electrical outlets. Contractors and builders are only required to meet minimum standards for air draft control around outlets and switches. It may seem insignificant, but this could be equivalent to leaving an exterior door cracked open three inches all the time. Turn off the power, remove the covers, and replace them with insulated ones.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or LED bulbs. This will cut down on energy usage and radiant heat. Install a ceiling fan if you don’t have one already. They use minimal energy and can make you feel 3 degrees cooler in your bedroom.
When you are done, accessorize and decorate your new master bedroom. Get rid of plastic and wire hangers, replacing them with wood hangers. A more environmentally friendly option would be to choose bamboo hangers. You can buy furniture made from renewable resources, like bamboo, or from reclaimed and recycled products.
You could be eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,500, or 30% of your purchase price for energy efficient home improvements. The stimulus covers things like good energy rated air conditioning units, hot water heaters, energy efficient window and insulation. Families in a low income bracket can also get money for weatherizing their homes. This money can be applied to energy efficient heating and cooling systems, air filters, energy efficient windows and insulation, up to $5,000.
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Can you Please Critique my job interview answers? With what you might say instead?
This question may take a while to answer but please, no cheating by saying "I'm too lazy to answer" or &q
uot;I don't know" I will report offenders.
Please!!! I am really depending on honest answers. This may be my only chance to getting this job.
I applied at two Spirit Halloween stores because I really want to work at a Spirit store this year! I so far had three interviews between the two of them with these following questions I answered. Some are easy, some are hard, some are confusing as to why this would be related to the job…
On two of those interviews, I severely screwed up with what I said, but thank the lord another spirit store is giving me an interview. This may be my last shot so I must study hard!!!
So here is exactly how I answered them I know I really said some messy no no's that probably blew it for my chance at the job… But I'm not sure how to answer these in a prettier way that doesn't sound as unattractive. I would appreciate if you rate how well my answers are and if they are not. What you would say?
Q-What is your favorite subject in school?
A-Philosophy, I feel in love with philosophy and had taken two classes in the subject.
Q-Who was your favorite philosopher?
-Shakyamuni Buddha
Q-How was you past within relations to customers?
A-I dealt with many different kinds of customers during my past jobs, I have dealt with the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Q-How do you deal with the bad and the ugly customers?
A-Usually they would get upset when they want something that is out of my power. What I do then is call someone in higher power who may be able to help him or her better or confirm that there is nothing we can do about them.
Q-What if you were helping a customer, but something needed to get done?
A-I would keep helping the customer first until there needs are meet then whatever else needed the attention, I would get it started.
Q-You would get it started? Would you get it finished?
A-Of course I would. Unless it is too much to ask to get something really large done in one day.
Q-What happened with Target? Why did you quite after only four months? (This question was the hardest because I didn't want to lie)
A-*Thought for a long time how to put it as I felt the pressure of the interviewer staring at me.*
My ex boss and I toward the end we were not getting along. Mind you, I don't have a problem with authority one bit, In fact I loved my ex boss at Hometown Buffet and I was proud of that job. We did used to get along at the beginning, but eventually the relationship started to deteriorate. What he would do is imply that I'm stupid by asking me "Hey Jessica, there is something called common sense. Have you heard of it?" What I mainly did that built my fear of him was he threatened me that he would send me home if I forgot my apron one more time, and I assume that meant fired. I was careful, but sure enough I eventually did forget my apron so I just quit on the spot. Sometime later, he eventually lost his job because many other people besides me were quitting because of him.
Q-How would you handle problems you had with your fellow employees?
A-I usually would bring it to human resources, and dispute it until we come to an agreement that we would collaborate.
Q-If I called your ex boss from Hometown Buffet right now, what would he say that you need room for improvement with?
A-I really don't know. From the top of my head guess, I would think he would say that I could improve on learning how to handle situations myself rather than depending on a higher power such as himself.
Q-Is their anything else I need to know about you?
A-Well, I do have an emotional disability which sometimes brings me to crying spells. Mind you, I never let the customers see it. It had to had happen twice in Target and only once in Hometown Buffet. It's not the customers that mainly trigger it, but the employees I have to face on a daily basis. However, this is still rare.
Q-I have an x number of application and only a couple of slots left, give me a good reason why we should hire you?
A-Obvoiusly I am determined, Very determined because I keep giving phone calls and coming back in person to check my application statues. That tells you something about my commitment and integrity.
Q-Do you have any questions for me?
A-What do you expect of me?
Q-Do you have any other questions for me?
A-*Thought about it* Not that I know of, but if one does come up I'll let you know.
About Author
About the Author: Joe Granville is on the staff of Only Hangers, a leading online resource for wood hangers, coat hangers and all types of clothes hangers which is recognized for the excellent quality and value of its wood hanger and coat hanger offerings. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyhangers.com.
December 24th, 2009 at 18:29
Hey. I got a 502 gateway error earlier today when I tried to access this page. Anyone else had the problem?
April 20th, 2010 at 09:05
Heya, already been following your website for some time. I operate a comparable blogging site although I keep getting a great deal of spam responses, how do you keep your blogging site so clean?