Archive for January, 2011

1. Oprah said so.

2. It looks like the robot from “Lost In Space”.

3. Brad and Angelina are adopting one.

For those of you who make your decisions based on real information, here are some cool portable air conditioner facts.

A goldmine of enlightening information can be uncovered by visiting forums. For instance, when I wanted to tap into the experiences of actual portable air conditioner owners, all I had to do was Google “portable air conditioner forums” and Voila!, I had instant access to pages of relevant information from 3 different forums.

I encourage you to try this technique. Just substitute any generic product or service description for “portable air conditioners” plus the word “forums”.

What I uncovered was concerns over energy consumption, how energy consumption impacts circuit load, noise level, venting, the disposal of water from the dehumidifying process, and of course, price.

Portable Air Conditioner Energy Consumption
In the United States, the average air conditioner runs 750 hours each year. Since air conditioners use a lot of electricity, their efficiency has become a public issue. The EER, or Energy Efficiency Rating, is the ratio of the Btu’s per hour to the number of watts the unit draws.

EER ratings of 7 or 8 are at the low end of energy efficiency. Many units have ratings around 12 which are good. The highest rated portable air conditioner I could find was the Amcor AL10000E . It has an awesome EER of 16.6.

Portable Air Conditioner Circuit Load
Before you start your search for a portable air conditioner, check your breaker box for the number of amps available to the room you want cooled. If you buy a unit that draws 14.5 amps on a 15 amp circuit, you’ll have the additional but unintended cooling effect of sitting in the dark while enjoying your new portable air conditioner.

How Noisy Is A Portable Air Conditioner?
Most portable air conditioners that deliver 14,000 Btu’s or less have a noise level around 50 decibels. This is comparable to the loudness of most refrigerators. At 60 decibels, a 16,000 Btu unit is slightly noisier. Think of what it’s like to watch TV in the kitchen while the fridge is running.

Portable Air Conditioner Venting
There is some controversy as to whether a dual hose unit is superior to the single hose configuration. On one hand, a single hose unit will exhaust from the room some portion of the cool air it just produced.
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Many people worry a lot when it comes to caring for their plants. When talking about house plants, there is no need to worry. There are just a few things you need to consider.

1. Watering
A watering can is a must-have in every garden. It is recommended that you purchase the one with a narrow spout to ensure adequate watering. But that does not always apply, so the finger test may come in handy. Insert your index finger up to the first joint into the soil. If you feel that the soil is damp, don’t water it. Otherwise, do.

2. Feeding
With foliage plants, they always need to be high in nitrogen. For flowering plants, on the other hand, K2O is needed. Fertilizers such as the slow release ones can be mixed with the compost. However, some plants like cacti and orchids need special feeds. Feed plants on the height of their active growth.

3. Lighting
Plants like Sanseveria and Aspidistra require no shade. They can be placed away from a window. Spider plants need semi-shade. You can put plants like these near a window that does or does not get sunlight. Others need sun or no sun at all like cheeseplants.

4. Temperature
With houseplants, they can survive in temperatures a little bit higher than 15 – 250 C or 55 – 750 F. But drastic fluctuations of temperature may not be good for them.
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Dear Friend,

Thanks for visiting and finding my article. What follows is information that I have pulled together from many different sources. The secrets, tips, and techniques you read here are from my book “Crocheting Made Simple”. I hope you find it both interesting and helpful.

It is an exciting step in sewing when you begin to assemble the pieces, and then, the form of the substance begins to appear. Yet, the fulfillment is not entirely recognized not until the individual, who tries to come up with a work of art, was able to claim that what he did was something that he did using his own hands.

In a certain point of view of sewing, crocheting, as one way of creating a work of art out of various pieces of threads in a yarn, is another configuration of design that enables an individual to construct something out of a basic component.

By virtue of this approach, one can produce a special kind of baby outfit, a hat, or any garment that one could use to make a fashion statement. Alongside the combination of resilient materials such as the yarn and the different basic ‘crochet stitches,’ different items can also be made.

Afghan Crocheting is Most Popular

One of the top favored products of crocheting is the afghan. From babies to old men and women, afghan had been used, reused, and was handed down from one generation to the next as it remained in fashion and durable blanket after so many years had passed.

What is the reason’ It is based on the way the stuff was made. This is because Afghans are made be means of the incredible methods of crocheting. With the precise combinations of different crochet stitches and the watchful manipulation of the designer in order to come up with a great material, afghan crochets are, undeniably, one of the finest commodities this type of recreation has ever made.

The History of the Afghan

The history of afghan can be traced back to the period when ‘Afghan Oriental rugs’ were still really fashionable. Most of the men and women contend that the favored rugs convey a likeness to the afghan crochets. Consequently, from that period on, most of the people had started associating this kind of crochet to the Oriental rug. Even if there were no solid validity as to whether the designation ‘afghan’ was borrowed from the fashionable rugs, the label just stuck as history unfolds itself.

Simplicity of the Afghan

It is intriguing to note that individuals who are trying to learn the fundamental of crocheting consider the making of an afghan as their first full-size endeavor. The explanation behind this specific desire is that the principle of making afghan crochet is genuinely easy, with no fluster and difficulty. Besides, the primary component of making afghan crochets is more on the use of the basic crochet stitches along with the different afghan crochet patterns.

Along with the simplicity of the afghan is the pattern. In actuality, crochet experts contend that, just like any sewing endeavor, crocheting would not be easy to deal with if there were no patterns obtainable to assist as a guide.

Since its birth, there are numerous different afghan crochet patterns that were established in the market previously. This is in connection to the demands of the ‘crochet fanatics’ who requested for additional patterns to use so that they could make results that are more diverse.
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