If you have a home where some or all of the heat comes from your fireplace or wood stove, you may want to consider investing the money in a conversion or improvement to get the most out of your fuel. There are a number of ways to do this. Some of them may require an outlay of cash, but they will end up saving you many times that amount in heating bills, wood purchase and time.

The first way to improve your fireplace’s efficiency is the simplest: clean it! Chimneys blocked by creosote and soot not only endanger your home through the risk of chimney fires and dangerous gas emissions into the home, they also prevent the fire from getting the oxygen it needs. Consequently, it takes more energy for the fire to provide heat to a room or home.

You might think that chimney sweeps disappeared with the Industrial Revolution, but the profession is still alive and well. A professional chimney sweep can clean your chimney and give you some good advice on how to keep it cleaner. If you choose to clean the chimney yourself, be prepared for several hours of dirty, hard work! Take some measurements of your fireplace and chimney with you to the fireplace/wood stove supply store or online to get the correct size cleaning tools.  Read more...

Randy and Tim face off over Binford’s environmental policies when Randy writes an article for his school newspaper. Jill gets an internship counselling families.

S2 EP19: Tim tries once again to be macho…breaking a board with his head…& as usual, hilarity ensues. Eh, look on the bright side. This time there wasn’t glue on the board! ^_^ Copyright 2008 Futuramklax.

 Now that more and more people are gaining interest in acquiring a home alarm system for the safety and protection of their families and loved ones, many home alarm companies have sprung up to offer quality products and services which is geared to the requirements of any household size and budget. The times have changed and with the changes that have come, an appropriate action or reaction becomes necessary on the part of anyone or else he will find himself clinging to the past and finding nothing but disappoint in the future.

Such is our times. Many a safe and peaceful neighborhood have found themselves victims of the growing menace of burglary and other crimes against persons as perpetrators grow bolder and their desperation grow stronger. Even the poor and the elderly are not spared. While we place our trust in our leaders as well as law enforcers, it has become apparent that if we will not take active and preventive measures on our part, we may live to regret this. Home alarms are among the most basic forms of active preventive action we can take. With today’s technology, we can go to the internet and look for resources where we can inform ourselves of the best and least expensive ways to install home alarms.  Read more...

Mr Bean – Episode 10 – “Do-It-Yourself Mr Bean” Part 3