Tips

Solar Shutters

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Plantation shutters are useful for keeping sunlight out, but they can also be adapted to harvest solar power… at least that is the vision of the San Diego company called Plug ‘n Save Energy Products.  Placing these shutters on the windows on the south side of your home will do double duty reducing heat gain from sunlight while collecting the solar energy.   Connect the photovoltaic panels on the louvers to an inverter that plugs into an outlet and returns power back to your electrical system.

Picture Source:  latimes.com

Sigmafocus BBQ

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The Sigmafocus BBQ looks like the perfect solution to limited space outdoor cooking for apartments, condos and smaller homes with limited outdoor entertaining space.  According to thedailyeatery.com the Sigmafocus is:

A compact alternative to the traditional barbecue, the sigmafocus attaches to a point on any wall, flips out to cook and folds away afterward. It comes with a stainless steel grill, a range of barbecue tools and can be fueled by wood or charcoal.

The generous ash pan allows the barbecue to be used a number of times without it having to be emptied. The protective dish that attaches to the wall guards against smoke and heat damage. The quality and thickness of the steel guarantees the barbecue’s longevity.

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Why didn’t anyone tell me that?

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This is a non-construction tip.  I saw this on Twitter the other day and wondered why no one ever told me this.  The little triangle on your gas gauge next to the gas pump symbol…  It’s not just a triangle, it’s an arrow pointing to the side of the car that the gas cap is on.  Really!?!  Why didn’t anyone tell me that?  Not that it’s a huge deal, but it’s definitely one of those PITA things when you rent a car and pull in expecting it to be one way and it turns out to be the other way.  I’m sure some of you (like Julie here in our office) are thinking, “Duh!  How could he not know that?”  Well, I didn’t.  If you didn’t, you’re welcome.  Ha!

Since reading about this I’ve been looking and not every car has it.  That makes me feel a little better.  It’s still something good to know.  I’ll at least look the next time I’m trying to put gas in a strange car.

Source:  Gas gauge picture borrowed from howisavemoney.net

News

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One of my regular lurkers mentioned to me that they just discovered that I was posting things under News on our website.  Those items show up under the “Recent Happenings” heading at the bottom of the front page of our site.  Unfortunately the recent posts there have mainly been of ECC friends we have lost this year including Richard Ford and Don Neidig.  I also try and post occasional milestones and accomplishments there.  Check there too if you want more of what’s happening at Easterday Construction.  It may make more sense to put the posts here and link them from “News” so we have more consistency.  The whole website is a continuing experiment, so change is constant!

Source:  Image borrowed from Barrington Library website

Decorative Grab Bars

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Delta Faucet Decorative Grab Bars

The standard grab bar offerings are very institutional and look like they are made for hospital or nursing home settings, i.e functional, but not aesthetically appealing.  Even in new construction of assisted living facilities we often only put in the blocking for grab bars leaving the installation until they’re needed.  Delta Faucet has a new line of decorative ADA grab bars that lose the institutional look, but retain the functionality.  The Delta faucet grab bars come in finishes like chrome, gold and oil rubbed bronze with trims that match the Delta faucet collections.  They also include anchoring systems to meet ADA standards.

These are just the latest offerings.  Also check out the Kohler, Rohl and Bellacor collections.

Like most ADA grab bars it is best to plan for these in new construction to allow proper blocking to be placed behind the walls, but these new decorative offerings make it more attractive to install these in new construction before there is a need.