16 December 2020

A Short History Of Refrigeration


We were all born in generations that had fridges, so we take them for granted. Without one, we would have to eat food as soon as we buy it. That would be a huge time-waster, and it would be a nuisance for all of us. It's an appliance that everyone needs, even more than a TV.  

We keep all of our snacks and drinks there, and we often forget how big of a role they play in society. A few thousand years ago, humans mastered fire, but to master cold was a completely different challenge. It's challenging because the laws of physics don't allow us to control it as easily as fire and heat. Follow this link for more info http://www.historyofrefrigeration.com/.

How did it all start? 

Ancient civilizations relied on complex irrigation tunnels that brought water to their crops. This was essential to their survival. The Persians are the only civilization that added cooling along with the water. They made a pyramid-like structure that could produce ice during the cool temperatures of the night.  

It was such a common thing that even the poor people enjoyed iced tea more than two millennia ago. The downside of this technology is that it didn't work in the places of the civilizations that tried to mimic them.  

Others relied on bringing ice from the mountains and using it or cutting pieces of it during the winter and trying to store it. There was an entire market for it, and there were traders in Greece, Italy, and Spain.  

People climbed mountains to cut ice during the night, and they came back to the cities to sell it during the day. After two thousand years, Britain realized the power of the Persian buildings and started making freezing pools based on that technology.  

This gave the wealthy families ice over the winters. After a hundred years, even the general public could enjoy cool drinks and delicious desserts. The technology spread to America and the rest of the world. In the year 1851, James Harrison used a steam machine to make ice with the help of a flywheel and a compressor.  

Another one was made for chilling beer, and that was the first known refrigerator. Now, new opportunities started to pop up. Since the machine was invented in Australia, these machines could be used on ships, and they could transport meat and fruits to the rest of the world.  

This made ice quite cheap, and many people installed their own iceboxes. This was the earliest version of the commercial fridge. It looked like a cupboard, but there was an opening at the top where you could put a block of ice. When it melted, an iceman would give you a new one, and that served to keep food cold. People did it all the way until the 1940s.  

Technology comes to the rescue 


The United States started selling refrigerators in 1918. They were super expensive, and many people didn't bother getting one since they didn't have electricity in the first place. It was a complicated machine, and it was quite difficult to stop them from catching fire.  

When people installed electricity in their homes, the prices started to go down, and the design had improved considerably. By the 70s, most families had a fridge. Nowadays, almost all homes have them. One of the best things about them is that they can store out of season foods for a long time.  

If you want to eat strawberries during the winter, you can. Fresh produce is always on the shelves, and all the foods have the same nutritional value as they did before they were stored. However, the options aren't limited only to food.  

Hospitals use them to keep blood supplies, as well as vaccines. We also have air conditioners at home and in our cars which work on the same principle. The technology hasn't changed in the last hundred years. However, many minds are tackling this problem because global warming is becoming a major issue. The planet is becoming warmer, and we might need to find a way to cool it down.  

What does the future hold? 

Commercial refrigeration is still far from perfect. There are many ways in which it can be improved. First of all, 75 million people each year are becoming urbanized. This is mainly because developing countries are making progress and improving their livelihoods.  

They need to keep their food fresh, but there is still a missing link in the cold chain. More than 20 percent of all the food produced in the world becomes waste. That's a fifth. Sometimes we throw it away, but sometimes food spoils when it gets distributed or refrigerators break down.  

There are more than 1.5 billion home fridges at the moment, as well as a hundred million commercial ones. This number is only going to rise. We always pay the price when it comes to technology and urbanization, and expanding the cold chain isn't any different.  

One of the hot topics today is the greenhouse effect. This is a process that happens when carbon dioxide levels increase and the atmosphere heats up. You can go to this site for more info.  This, combined with the release of refrigerants can be quite dangerous for the future.  

Can the design be improved? 

There are many solutions and ways to improve the efficiency of refrigerators. One of the most recent discoveries is the introduction of inverter-controlled compressors. These compressors work best with brushless motors, and they are the most efficient option today.  

The efficiency is amazing, and depending on the cooling demand, they can modify their rotation speed. This can range anywhere from 15, up to 100 percent. Everything is done automatically, and this reduces power consumption by 25 percent.  

The less power they use, the better it is for the environment. Processors equipped with predictive algorithms can solve many of the problems we face today, and one by one, they can make a small change in the world. This, along with a reduction in CO2 and new mechanisms that optimize defrost intervals will be a part of the future.  

14 December 2020

Scott's Liquid Gold and me

 


A couple of weeks ago, I received a box of product samples from Scott's Liquid Gold Wood Care. Although it's a product I use and recommend already, I am being compensated for this post.

Many years ago, when I was starting out as a kitchen and bath designer, stainless steel kitchen appliances had hit the mainstream in a very big way. I was interning under a kitchen designer in the '90s and we spent a lot of time talking to clients and potential clients about caring for stainless steel.

Stainless steel refrigerators were just starting to catch on and at the time they were a lot more expensive that the-then default finish colors: white, black and bisque (shudder). People who had them already complained that they were impossible to keep shiny and people considering them wondered why they should spend more money for something that would look bad in the long run.

Stainless steel, like any shiny surface, shows fingerprints and smudges very easily. But because stainless is practically a mirror, especially when it's a large vertical surface like a fridge, those prints and smudges are really obvious.

I had lunch one afternoon with my Sub-Zero representative and I brought up the fingerprint problem as an objection I needed to be able to address when I was talking to clients about stainless in general and Sub-Zero in particular.


She told me to use a furniture polish, Scott's Liquid Gold specifically, to clean stainless steel. I was taken aback because it seemed like such a strange recommendation. All I knew about furniture polish in a can I observed from my mother's obsessive dusting with the stuff. Every surface in the home I grew up in had a almond-scented oily surface. That's not what popped into my head when I thought of sleek, shiny and modern stainless steel.

After that lunch with my rep, I went back to the studio and set up and experiment over the following week. Our studio was set up with a couple of kitchen vignettes and one of those vignettes was a fully-functioning kitchen. In that kitchen was a Sub-Zero refrigerator with stainless steel doors. All of us in that studio used that refrigerator every day and clients were forever pawing it so it had a surface that saw a lot of hands touching it. Our cleaning crew had a stainless steel cleaning product that they used on it but it still ended up looking pretty dingy pretty fast.

I asked the crew not to clean it for a week and instead to let me take charge of it for a couple of days.

Clients back then reported to me that they cleaned their stainless with window cleaner. Honestly, it's the same thing I'd have used. I mean, it's shiny like a mirror so clean it like a mirror. Right?

Wrong. Window cleaner is lousy on stainless steel because it leaves streaks and it evaporates completely so skin oil from touching the steel just stays on the surface and deflects light.

When I sprayed a towel with Scott's Liquid and then wiped down the refrigerator door something really cool happened. All of the streaks and prints disappeared with a gentle rub and as a bonus, a very tiny bit of the oil in the polish stayed behind. That leave behind stopped prints and smudges from appearing all together in the days that followed. My sub-Zero rep was right after all.

In the years that followed, Scott's Liquid Gold stayed on my short list of product recommendations for maintaining a new kitchen. I used it to this day on my own stainless appliances.

As I mentioned at the outset, Scott's sent me some samples to use and clean with in exchange for this post and I'm really grateful for the products and the opportunity. Included in their box of samples was something new from them.


This is Scott's One Clean Home. It's new for them and a revelation for me.

My current kitchen has dark granite counters. On some levels, granite is a practical surface and depending on the color of the granite, it's either a breeze to live with or a nightmare. My dark granite falls onto the nightmare end of the spectrum. Dark and shiny has a lot of the same problems reflective and shiny stainless steel has in that it shows a lot of smudges and fingerprints. 

I find my granite to be difficult to keep clean and my next kitchen will not have granite counters. Add to my granite my gloss-finished cabinetry and my kitchen is a gallery of fingerprints and smudges as often as not. When I clean I have to wash down all these surfaces and then buff everything dry to prevent water spots. It's a pain and honestly, I let it go far too often.

When I read the label from Scott's One Clean Home I read that it works on all manner of surfaces:

  • Finished Wood
  • Wood Laminates
  • Stainless Steel
  • Tile
  • Plastic
  • Metal
  • Stone
  • Porcelain
  • Vinyl

I was skeptical until I started cleaning with it. Holy cow talk about a home run! Scott's One Clean Home cleans just about everything in my kitchen and it does almost as good a job on stainless as Scott's Liquid Gold.

Honestly, One Clean Home made a believer out of me and it's really great to find a single product that will clean every surface in my kitchen. From my travertine floors to my glossy cherry cabinets, it's all clean and clear. As a bonus, it smells like grapefruit and I'll take that anywhere I can find it.

10 December 2020

New kitchen plan? Mind a few things

Your food preparation space at home matters more than you think. If you're like most people, then you devote a lot of time to put together meals on a daily basis. You may even spend a lot of time in your kitchen snacking or eating meals in general. If you're keen on establishing a residential kitchen that's the definition of cozy and welcoming, then these design suggestions can go a long way for you and for all of the other members of your household.

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Install a Spacious Kitchen Island

Kitchen islands can make amazing additions to any and all food preparation spaces. If you invest in the installation of one of these islands, you can reap the rewards of extra preparation space. A kitchen island can make setting aside essential meal ingredients a lot easier. It can eliminate a lot of clutter and chaos, too. If you want to store gorgeous and practical accessories, the assistance of a capacious island can be a huge help. Choosing kitchen Italian accessories is often as simple as assessing your lifestyle and day-to-day objectives.

Focus on Broad Walkways

It can be frustrating to have a residential kitchen that's overly cramped and tight. A tight kitchen can look unpleasant. It can also feel unpleasant. If you want your kitchen to feel like a million dollars, it can be nice to have ample space and top-notch ventilation. Strong ventilation can contribute to excellent indoor air quality. That can do a lot for any designated food space. If you want your kitchen to feel as comfortable and enticing as can be, then you should zero in on walkways that are broad. Broad walkways can also make tackling food preparation duties a lot simpler and more practical. It can be hard to prepare meals in a kitchen that makes you feel claustrophobic. It can be uncomfortable to constantly bump into things, too.

Install a Cozy Booth

Some of the best kitchens in the world also happen to be the coziest ones. If you want your kitchen to contribute to a well-rounded food experience, it can be a fantastic idea to install a relaxing booth. Kitchen booths provide people with hassle-free places to enjoy quick and tasty snacks in the middle of meal preparation duties. If you want to be able to nosh on a hassle-free meal without having to go through all of the trouble of setting up your dining table, the addition of a pleasant booth can be a game-changer.

Resurface Your Cabinets

It can be a terrific idea to update the look and feel of your kitchen cabinets. You don't have to deal with the expenses of replacing them fully, either. That's because you can always opt to resurface them. Cabinet refacing can get rid of unsightly and conspicuous scrapes, scratches and imperfections. It can make the paint on your cupboards look a lot fresher and more "alive," too. If you want your kitchen to look far from neglected and tired, then there are few actions that can hold a candle to cabinet resurfacing. Don't forget, either, that full cabinet replacement costs a lot more. It's also a process that's a lot more time-consuming and cumbersome. If you want your cabinet job to be efficient, refacing is the answer.

09 December 2020

How to Advertise Your HVAC Business

 

The HVAC system of a building is a very important part of the building. This is because it is the system in charge of its heating and cooling and you will agree that these two are important for anyone to survive. It is a critical system for everyday life and living.

One way or the other, people have to deal with extreme temperatures and it is at this time that you appreciate what the system is about. This means that for a business in this field, their job is critical to people’s survival. Therefore, making their services available on time bodes well not just for the business but for people that need it as well.

You can read more on the importance of HVAC here.

Owning an HVAC Business


As important as the HVAC system of a building is, so are the businesses and professionals that handle its installation, maintenance and repair. 

This is why businesses must set up shop to help residents of cities around them with their HVAC systems. It is not enough to set up shop, you also need customers. Therefore, you need to advertise so people can know what you are offering and what you are capable of.

With this in mind, you may own a business and you do not get enough customers to patronize you. This may be down to several factors. Firstly, it can be due to a lack of proper advertising. Secondly, it can be a result of poor services on your part. Thirdly, it can be due to stiff competition from other businesses offering the same services, and so on. 

One thing is sure though. As it has been established, HVAC services are important and it is needed in every home. So if you are not getting customers, you have to look inwards to see what you are doing wrong and what you need to correct. A huge part of this could be advertising.

You are probably not the only one in the city offering HVAC services, other businesses do offer the same. Unless you are known and out there, the likelihood that people will reach out to your business is slim. 

Also, life keeps advancing and so are the ways things are done. To ensure that your business is patronized, you need to embrace new ways of marketing to keep pace with the times.

What are the Ways to Advertise Your HVAC Business?

In this digital age, more and more people are spending their time online. If you like to have a successful business, that is where to meet up with them. You need to have a strong online presence where potential customers can easily locate you. You have to start by owning a website that is easy to navigate, user-friendly and accessible. 

These days, it is not enough to just have a website, you need to also take further steps in addition to this. These includes:

Implementing Local SEO

This is the single most important thing that must be done to your website. Search Engine Optimization talks about optimizing your site so that it can be easily located during web searches. Also, when the customer eventually is on your website, it must be user-friendly.

Most customers simply go online and search for the kind of service that they desire in their locality by using search engine sites such as Google and Bing. If your website is not optimized for SEO, when they search, they will not find your business. If it is, you will be able to rank high in searches. Your website will be easy to locate and to visit.

Take Advantage of Online Marketing

Asides from implementing SEO, since most users spend time online, you should take advantage of digital and online marketing. You can post ads about your business using tools such as Google My Business Page, social media marketing, pay per click ads, content creation and so on. 

All these will bring your business to the fore. Even when potential customers are not actively searching for your HVAC business, it is registered in their subconsciousness. By the time they need your services, they can then easily remember to reach out to you.

Have a Great Landing Page

Part of owning a website is having a really welcoming landing page. A landing page is the first page that a visitor to your websites sees upon clicking on your link. It must be attractive as well as user-friendly. It also must be easy to navigate and must have a call to action. A call to action helps customers to know what to do and how they can get to reach you.

You must put relevant information that will keep the visitor engaged on your landing page. You may also add a live chat feature so that if the customer desires to ask your business direct questions, they will have the opportunity to do so.

A poor landing page is a turn off so ensure that you make it attractive and engaging enough for visitors to your website to spend time there.

You can visit https://www.hvacadvertisingtemplates.com if you want to learn more about this. 

Conclusion

No building can do without an HVAC system so if you are involved in such a business, you should readily get clients. However, if this is not the case, then you probably need to look for smarter ways of advertising your business.

As most people are online these days, it makes sense to have a huge online presence. Much more than that, you also have to devise a strategy to ensure that you can easily be located and that gives you leverage over your competitors.