Facts - Home information packs (HIPS)

June 1st sees the HIPS becoming obligatory. Here’s an idiot guide to it.

All Home Information Packs must contain:

• For new properties, copies of warranties and guarantees
• Any guarantees for work carried t on the property
• Standard searches (that is, local thority inquiries, plus a drainage and water search)
• An energy performance certificate

Leaseholders must also provide:

• A copy of the lease
• Their most recent service charge unts and receipts
• Building insurance policy details and payment receipts
• Copies of any regulations made le landlord or management
  company
• The memorandum and articles of association of the landlord or management company

Where appropriate for leasehold properties, a new home warranty will also be required

The following documents may be included in the Hip but are optional:

• A home condition report, based on a professional survey of the property
• Other guarantees and warranties
• Other searches

For more information go to http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk/home.aspx

Facts HIPS Info

Gadgets - Solving the standby problem

Bye Bye Standby is a brand new energy saving solution designed to reduce the daily energy consumption of electrical devices. Bye Bye Standby works by completely cutting power to the devices plugged into it when they’re not in use, thus saving the power that these devices would otherwise have consumed in Standby Mode.

Coming to a supermarket near you for £29.99 or preorder at www.byebyestandby.co.uk

Gadgets Going Green

Facts - Insulation

Insulation can be one of the most important factors in achieving energy efficiency in a building. It works primarily to slow the flow of heat through a building envelope, but it also can seal the envelope, preventing outside drafts and air leakage from unconditioned spaces, thereby maintaining indoor air quality. Insulation not only saves money by reducing heating and cooling loads but also is a key factor in achieving comfortable living and working spaces. Insulation Ratings
Read more

Facts

Gadgets - The future for TV’s

The way we enjoy music and movies is changing rapidly. Instead of listening to CDs, many of us now choose to play music in the house through an iPod-based speaker system, or - if we want to be really flash - through a dedicated music server available from companies such as Living Control, ‘Imerge or Sonos.

Very soon the same will happen in video. Already, hard drive devices such as Sky+, which will store hours of TV programmes, are proving popular alternatives to video/DVD recorders. But that’s not all. Companies like Kaleidescape are now selling hard-drive devices that can store your entire DVD movie collection on a unit not that much bigger than a PC tower. Just click on the cover image of the film you want to watch and it will play at the touch of a button. It’s even possible to store your favourite scenes and watch them — a bit like setting up a play list on your iPod. Video servers are increasingly popular with custom installers carrying out hi-tech makeovers for rich clients. However, with an average price tag of between £15,000 and £20,000, they’re still beyond the means of the vast majority of people.

Nevertheless, the days of owning massive collections of disks (both CDs for music and DVDs for film) are coming to an end. That’s great news for those with limited storage space and also for those who don’t want to take up shelf space with disk clutter.
And although initially people will still need to own the actual disks to ‘burn’ (record) movie content onto their hard drive, this will change with the latest IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) technology which lets you view and download TV programmes and movies directly from the internet. For example, Sky Sports Broadband (skyscape.sky.com) already offers highlights of sporting events such as UEFA Champions League, Premiership football and boxing over the net while the BBC (who provides an internet-based ‘listen again’ facility for much of its radio content) has been trialling an interactive media player (iMP) which will let you watch the latest BBC programmes on your PC. Similarly, the Sci-Fi Channel has added full ‘webisodes’ of Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who to its online video on-demand line-up.

So what are the implications for home-builders and renovators? On a basic level it means that it’s a good idea to make sure you have a cable or telephone point installed near to where you want to put your monitor/TV screen. However, you should also think about the type of set-up you want. While it goes without saying that any type of TV display should be HD ready (look out for the logo), you also need to decide how you might want to access the internet to watch video over the web. One option is to buy a flat-screen TV with a PC input (most of them now have one).

Alternatively, you could opt for one of the latest Media Center PCs which combine PC and built-in TV tuner complete with Sky+ type recording functionality. Designs are getting better all the time and it’s even possible to buy all-in-one units, like the £2,000 32″ Elonex Lumina, which are little bigger than a conventional flat-screen display.

Finally, for those who want to watch their TV and DVD recordings without cable clutter, Sony is introducing LocationFree TV this summer. Combining small LCD screen and decoder device, this clever little set-up works by streaming all of your content over a broadband internet connection so you can watch TV/DVDs wherever you are — in the home or anywhere in the world. We’ve sure come a long way since the BBC transmitted its first ‘high-definition’ broadcasts from Alexandra Palace exactly 70 years ago!

Gadgets Info

Bathroom - showers

1. First things first. Is your water pressure high enough for you to successfully run one of these luxury showers? Certain models will only work with high-pressure systems, so check with the manufacturer.

2. Before buying a shower, check what kind of system you have. Traditionally in Britain, water has been supplied via a storage system, whereas elsewhere it is supplied directly from the mains and so is under mains pressure. With this system, known as a gravity fed system, the hot water feed comes from either a hot water cylinder or a combination boiler. For a shower to work, the cold water tank should be positioned at least one metre above the shower head, although three to four metres is necessary for a really good shower. If the distance is any less than this, then water pressure and flow will be distinctly underwhelming.

3. Thankfully, many of us are now able to wave goodbye to feeble showers either by installing a pump or converting to a direct mains supply. If you are hoping to fit a pump to your shower but have a combination boiler and no hot water cylinder, then you are likely to be disappointed, as this will not work. Power showers generally use more hot water than a combination boiler alone can produce.

4. The term power shower is used quite loosely these days and few people actually really understand the term. A power shower is in fact exactly the same as a gravity-fed shower but has an electric pump concealed within, which gives the pressure going to the shower head a big boost and results in a more invigorating spray.

5. Although relatively unpopular these days, electric showers still  have their part to play. They can be fitted wherever you like in the house no matter where your header tank is. Plus, they are cheap and easier to install. They are fed by high-pressure mains water through a pipe from a copper cylinder located in the wall unit. When turned on, the electric heater, located in the cylinder, is activated to heat the water, the temperature of which is regulated by controls on the front. The main downside of these showers is that they generally lack power and no pump can be fitted to rectify the problem.

6. Temperature control is key to your enjoyment of your new shower one that consistently switches between scalding hot and freezing cold will certainly not do. Thermostatic shower mixers regulate the temperature of the water, so that if another tap is used elsewhere in the house, the thermostatic mixer adjusts the water flow so that the temperature remains constant. They are a little more expensive than other mixers but well worth it.

7. Once you have determined the type of shower that will be  compatible with your plumbing system, the fun bit begins choosing the model of shower. Shower heads come in all sizes, shapes and finishes: from enormous rose heads designed to give the showerer a thorough drenching, to smaller heads offering a selection of spray options. Shower heads can be either fixed or flexible. Fixed heads are either secured to the wall at a set height or, as is often the case with many contemporary designs, fixed to the ceiling above in some way some rain showers are designed to be set into the ceiling for a seamless effect. The pipework is generally concealed within the wall with this style of shower, with just the head and controls on view.

8. Flexible showers are fitted to a flexible hose and come with a  riser rail: a sliding bar on which the most convenient height for the shower head can be selected by the user. Flexible shower heads often have a variety of sprays to choose from, ranging from frothy champagne sprays to invigorating jet sprays. They are the best choice for family bathrooms.

9. At the very top end of the luxury shower market are models which combine both fixed and flexible heads, featuring both within one showering unit, often complete with your choice of enclosure. It is not unusual for these showers to also be available with a selection of rain bars — poles located at the side of the shower emitting powerful sprays of water — mood lighting and sound systems some even double up as steam cabins.

10. Although showering is often thought of as a means of saving water when compared to bathing, bear in mind that a power shower uses much more water than a conventional model. In households where power showers are used several times a day, the water used could well exceed several bathfuls.

Source: Homebuilding&renovation

Bathroom Plumbing

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