Descrease article font size

Increase article font size

Saskatchewan residents and businesses are encouraged to check their properties for damage after the recent hit of cold weather.

Winter has proved its not done with the province just yet, with wind chills that dropped this week into the -40s.

Some things warrant immediate investigation before things turn catastrophic in some cases, said Jim Mandeville, senior vice-president, large-loss at First Onsite Property Restoration. Prevention is the best medicine here.

First Onsite said home or building owners need to be looking for:

0:35Saskatoon homeowners should watch plumbing red flags during extreme cold periods: restoration expert

The most common is frozen pipes, said Mandeville. Its frozen faucets, frozen fire sprinklers.

Trending Now

Story continues below advertisement

He said that oftentimes, commercial buildings arent built like a home and are more susceptible to frigid temperatures.

The number one thing that we are always worried about with this extreme cold is the plumbing.

Mandeville noted that people going on vacation should have someone checking in on their home or building every few days to see if anything is out of the ordinary.

This could save some money for homeowners in the long run.

If these things leak while youre in Mexico for a week on vacation and your house sits wet and freezes solid into a giant icicle, its going to be a big nightmare for us to clean it up for you, Mandeville explained.

First Onsite is stressing urgency if people notice a drip in their house or a slow faucet.

1:21Extreme cold warning issued for most of Saskatchewan

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Read the rest here:
Restoration company warns Sask. homeowners of extreme weather damage ...

'Bring them home': Restoration efforts have condors returning to Yurok Tribal lands  Herald and News

View post:
'Bring them home': Restoration efforts have condors returning to Yurok Tribal lands - Herald and News

When temperatures drop, its easy to find yourself cranking up the thermostat to keep your home warm. Choosing the right type of home heating system can ease the burden of your thermostat and help save energy. All heating systems share one goal: Transfer heat to living spaces to maintain a comfortable and toasty environment.

Some homes have more than one heating system, particularly when they have a basement or an additional room heated by a different system than the rest of the house. Here are the 10 types of home heating systems that you should know as a homeowner (or prospective homeowner).

Forced air distribution systems are by far the most common type of home heating systems. They use a furnace with a blower fan that delivers heated, conditioned air to the houses various rooms through a network of ducts. Because forced air systems share the same blower and ductwork as the air conditioner, they can also be used during the summer months.

Older homes and apartments may have traditional boilers and radiator systems. These use a central boiler that circulates steam or water through pipes to radiator units around the house. This is best for providing zoned heating and cooling, but it isnt as efficient for heating more spacious areas of the house at once.

Heat pumps are the newest home heating system technology. They use a system similar to an air conditioner by extracting heat from the air and delivering it to the home through an indoor air handler. A popular heat pump system is known as the mini-split or ductless heating system.

This system uses a small outdoor compressor unit and indoor air handlers that can be placed in different rooms throughout the house. They can be a flexible addition since they can be switched to air conditioning mode during the summer months.

Radiant systems provide even heat throughout the house. Most in-floor radiant systems use plastic water tubing inside concrete slab floors or attached to the bottom of wood floors. They are very quiet compared to other home heating systems. There are also in-floor radiant heating systems that use electrical wiring to work with ceramic or stone tile materials.

While they are slow to heat up and adjust to temperature changes, in-floor radiant systems are energy efficient and provide heated comfort to every inch of the house.

Electric resistance heating systems or electric heaters are not used as the primary home heating system due to the high cost of electricity. However, they are a good supplemental heating system for home offices, basements, season rooms and homes without other heating systems.

Electric heaters are easy to install and relatively inexpensive. Theyre usually portable, making them easy to transport from room to room. They also dont have any moving parts, requiring virtually no maintenance, ductwork, air handlers or any other equipment.

Hot water baseboard heater systems, also known as hydronic systems, are a modern form of radiant heat that can be highly efficient. Using a central boiler, these systems heat water that circulates through a system of water pipes to low-profile baseboard heating units. These are updated versions of the traditional upright radiator system. They help heated air rise from the baseboard unit while pushing cold air toward the unit for heating.

Compare Quotes From Top-rated Local HVAC Contractors

Select a State To Get Started With Your No Commitment, Free Estimate

Also known as portable or plug-in space heaters, electric heaters can be affordable for homeowners who dont live in cold weather. These are excellent temporary solutions that can provide targeted and controlled heat within minutes of being plugged into an electricity source.

Electric space heaters are oil-filled and convert electric current directly into heat, similarly to how a toaster works. Some modern electric space heaters also have cooling fans that can be used during warmer days, making them an excellent choice for studio apartments, home offices, basements and smaller rooms.

A more modern home heating system, active solar heating, uses solar energy to heat a fluid and transfers solar heat directly into the interior space or a storage system for later use. These are usually supplemented by radiant heating systems, boilers or heat pumps. But active solar heating systems can distribute the heat using the radiant floor, hot water baseboards or a central forced-air system.

Unfortunately, active solar systems still rely on other home heating systems to be 100% efficient.

Hybrid heating home systems combine the energy efficiency of a heat pump system with the power of a gas furnace. Most of the time, the heat pump operates at total capacity to heat the home. Then, during extreme weather conditions, the furnace will complement the system to reach the desired temperatures.

Because both systems complement each other, there is significantly less strain on each system, which means less repairs and replacements.

A modern version of the traditional furnace heating system, gravity air furnaces distribute air through ducts. However, rather than forcing air through a blower, gravity air furnace systems let warm air rise and cool air sink. A furnace in the basement heats the air, which rises into the rooms through the doors, and cool air returns to the furnace via another system of cold-air return ducts.

Understanding the many types of home heating systems will allow you to make the best decisions about how to heat your home, or decide which system youd prefer when searching for a home. Knowing which system works best for you could help you save time and money down the road.

Compare Quotes From Top-rated Heating And Cooling Contractors

Free, No-commitment Estimates

Your Home. Your Decisions. Our Support.

Get expert advice on your home, design tips, how much to pay for pros and hiring experts, delivered to you daily.

Thanks & Welcome to the Forbes Home Improvement Community!

{{ newsletterState.emailErrorMsg }}

See more here:

Types of Home Heating Systems Forbes Home - Forbes Advisor

Summary

heating, process and system of raising the temperature of an enclosed space for the primary purpose of ensuring the comfort of the occupants. By regulating the ambient temperature, heating also serves to maintain a buildings structural, mechanical, and electrical systems.

The earliest method of providing interior heating was an open fire. Such a source, along with related methods such as fireplaces, cast-iron stoves, and modern space heaters fueled by gas or electricity, is known as direct heating because the conversion of energy into heat takes place at the site to be heated. A more common form of heating in modern times is known as central, or indirect, heating. It consists of the conversion of energy to heat at a source outside of, apart from, or located within the site or sites to be heated; the resulting heat is conveyed to the site through a fluid medium such as air, water, or steam.

Except for the ancient Greeks and Romans, most cultures relied upon direct-heating methods. Wood was the earliest fuel used, though in places where only moderate warmth was needed, such as China, Japan, and the Mediterranean, charcoal (made from wood) was used because it produced much less smoke. The flue, or chimney, which was first a simple aperture in the centre of the roof and later rose directly from the fireplace, had appeared in Europe by the 13th century and effectively eliminated the fires smoke and fumes from the living space. Enclosed stoves appear to have been used first by the Chinese about 600 bc and eventually spread through Russia into northern Europe and from there to the Americas, where Benjamin Franklin in 1744 invented an improved design known as the Franklin stove. Stoves are far less wasteful of heat than fireplaces because the heat of the fire is absorbed by the stove walls, which heat the air in the room, rather than passing up the chimney in the form of hot combustion gases.

Central heating appears to have been invented in ancient Greece, but it was the Romans who became the supreme heating engineers of the ancient world with their hypocaust system. In many Roman buildings, mosaic tile floors were supported by columns below, which created air spaces, or ducts. At a site central to all the rooms to be heated, charcoal, brushwood, and, in Britain, coal were burned, and the hot gases traveled beneath the floors, warming them in the process. The hypocaust system disappeared with the decline of the Roman Empire, however, and central heating was not reintroduced until some 1,500 years later.

Central heating was adopted for use again in the early 19th century when the Industrial Revolution caused an increase in the size of buildings for industry, residential use, and services. The use of steam as a source of power offered a new way to heat factories and mills, with the steam conveyed in pipes. Coal-fired boilers delivered hot steam to rooms by means of standing radiators. Steam heating long predominated in the North American continent because of its very cold winters. The advantages of hot water, which has a lower surface temperature and milder general effect than steam, began to be recognized about 1830. Twentieth-century central-heating systems generally use warm air or hot water for heat conveyance. Ducted warm air has supplanted steam in most newly built American homes and offices, but in Great Britain and much of the European continent, hot water succeeded steam as the favoured method of heating; ducted warm air has never been popular there. Most other countries have adopted either the American or European preference in heating methods.

The essential components of a central-heating system are an appliance in which fuel may be burned to generate heat; a medium conveyed in pipes or ducts for transferring the heat to the spaces to be heated; and an emitting apparatus in those spaces for releasing the heat either by convection or radiation or both. Forced-air distribution moves heated air into the space by a system of ducts and fans that produce pressure differentials. Radiant heating, by contrast, involves the direct transmission of heat from an emitter to the walls, ceiling, or floor of an enclosed space independent of the air temperature between them; the emitted heat sets up a convection cycle throughout the space, producing a uniformly warmed temperture within it.

Air temperature and the effects of solar radiation, relative humidity, and convection all influence the design of a heating system. An equally important consideration is the amount of physical activity that is anticipated in a particular setting. In a work atmosphere in which strenuous activity is the norm, the human body gives off more heat. In compensation, the air temperature is kept lower in order to allow the extra body heat to dissipate. An upper temperature limit of 24 C (75 F) is appropriate for sedentary workers and domestic living rooms, while a lower temperature limit of 13 C (55 F) is appropriate for persons doing heavy manual work.

In the combustion of fuel, carbon and hydrogen react with atmospheric oxygen to produce heat, which is transferred from the combustion chamber to a medium consisting of either air or water. The equipment is so arranged that the heated medium is constantly removed and replaced by a cooler supplyi.e., by circulation. If air is the medium, the equipment is called a furnace, and if water is the medium, a boiler or water heater. The term boiler more correctly refers to a vessel in which steam is produced, and water heater to one in which water is heated and circulated below its boiling point.

Natural gas and fuel oil are the chief fuels used to produce heat in boilers and furnaces. They require no labour except for occasional cleaning, and they are handled by completely automatic burners, which may be thermostatically controlled. Unlike their predecessors, coal and coke, there is no residual ash product left for disposal after use. Natural gas requires no storage whatsoever, while oil is pumped into storage tanks that may be located at some distance from the heating equipment. The growth of natural-gas heating has been closely related to the increased availability of gas from networks of underground pipelines, the reliability of underground delivery, and the cleanliness of gas combustion. This growth is also linked to the popularity of warm-air heating systems, to which gas fuel is particularly adaptable and which accounts for most of the natural gas consumed in residences. Gas is easier to burn and control than oil, the user needs no storage tank and pays for the fuel after he has used it, and fuel delivery is not dependent on the vagaries of motorized transport. Gas burners are generally simpler than those required for oil and have few moving parts. Because burning gas produces a noxious exhaust, gas heaters must be vented to the outside. In areas outside the reach of natural-gas pipelines, liquefied petroleum gas (propane or butane) is delivered in special tank trucks and stored under pressure in the home until ready for use in the same manner as natural gas. Oil and gas fuels owe much of their convenience to the automatic operations of their heating plant. This automation rests primarily on the thermostat, a device that, when the temperature in a space drops to a predetermined point, will activate the furnace or boiler until the demand for heat is satisfied. Automatic heating plants are so thoroughly protected by thermostats that nearly every conceivable circumstance that could be dangerous is anticipated and controlled.

Read more here:

Heating | process or system | Britannica

COMFORT SYSTEMS USA INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-K)  Marketscreener.com

See the rest here:
COMFORT SYSTEMS USA INC Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (form 10-K) - Marketscreener.com

Grab a Refurbished Ecobee Smart Thermometer for as Little as $87 and Cut Your Utility Costs  CNET

Here is the original post:
Grab a Refurbished Ecobee Smart Thermometer for as Little as $87 and Cut Your Utility Costs - CNET

This restored 1884 Irving Spencer House is the oldest in Portlands Irvington neighborhood  OregonLive

Read the original:
This restored 1884 Irving Spencer House is the oldest in Portlands Irvington neighborhood - OregonLive

31 Mid City homes in Baton Rouge will undergo an $8.7 million renovation  The Advocate

Read more:
31 Mid City homes in Baton Rouge will undergo an $8.7 million renovation - The Advocate

Benefits of Pest Control

Pest control is an efficient way to prevent pests that can potentially cause health issues and structural damage on property. Controlling the infestation can mitigate the risks of costly repairs and other health-related issues. Pest control can help property owners to

Unknowingly, pest infestations can happen in any area of a property, including the perimeter, basement, indoor areas, ceiling, etc. Pest inspections can help licensed pest control professionals identify potential pest problems and design control strategies. The most common types of pests identified during inspections are the following:

Termites abound in areas where there is wood, plaster, metal siding, and insulation, and where the climate is ideal for their nests. According to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), termites caused over $5 billion in property damage annually in the United States alone. Termites eat into the very structure of the property including support beams, floor joints, posts, ceiling joists, and wall studs.

One of the most common ways to determine termite infestation is to check for swarming. Swarming happens during the spring when winged termites emerge inside the property. A termite inspection is recommended to ensure that, if there are termites present in the property, infestation can be controlled immediately. A termite inspection can be conducted by property owners or facility managers by visually inspecting the area with the help of a termite inspection checklist.

A termite inspection checklist is used to find evidence of termite infestation. It helps inspect the critical areas, different points of entry, and exterior and interior of the property. It is used to proactively catch an infestation before more serious damage takes place.

Bed bugs are difficult to spot due to their small size but are generally found in locations often occupied by people, since they strive to be near a food source. Hotel rooms, apartments, college dorms, residential bedrooms, and even office buildings, are susceptible to bed bug infestations. As NPMA reported, 1 in 5 Americans has had a bed bug infestation in their homes or knew someone who has encountered bed bugs in a hotel.

Bed bug bites can leave behind itchy, red welts, and can increase health risk for a secondary infection as a result of scratching. Small, reddish stains of dried blood on bedsheets are a sign of bedbug infestation. To prevent the spread, perform bed bug inspections immediately and prepare bed bug reports to apply corrective actions as soon as possible.

A bed bug report is prepared by professional bed bug exterminators, facility maintenance personnel, or housekeeping staff members to provide a comprehensive room inspection report. It helps assess the facility for signs of infestation and provides recommendations to take swift action to resolve the issue before it turns into a full-blown infestation.

Rodents can enter through property holes, pipelines, or cracks found in floors, walls, and foundations. It can consume or contaminate about 20% of the worlds food supply and can cause serious diseases such as Rat-bite fever, Salmonella, Trichinosis, Murine Typhus, Plague, and Leptospirosis.

Rodents can cause serious property damage including fire by chewing wires and spilling flammable or hazardous chemicals. These problems can be eliminated by maintaining a clean facility and adhering to safe food storage guidelines.

A food safety checklist is used to monitor employees if they are following food safety procedures to ensure goods are properly stored, handled, and prepared. It aids facility teams to assess business compliance with food safety regulations to prevent any food contamination due to rodents or other pests.

Pest control is a vital service that protects homes, families, and businesses from a variety of diseases. It helps to locate the root cause of the pest infestation and stop the spread of diseases brought by unwanted pests. The following industries benefit from using the service.

Pests carry foodborne pathogens that can contaminate food and food contact surfaces which can lead to serious food poisoning. Unable to control pest infestation can damage business reputation, costly sanitation regulatory fines, lawsuit, or even fatality.

The presence of pests in the food industry premises reflects poor hygiene and low food safety standards that could drift customers away from the business. Ensure cleanliness and maintain hygienic and organized facilities with the use of a cleaning checklist.

A commercial kitchen cleaning checklist is used to assess if a commercial kitchen follows standard cleaning protocols. It aids kitchen managers during inspections to ensure kitchen equipment is properly cleaned and sanitized before and after use.

Pest control plays a vital role in protecting the food supply and public health. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have prepared a list to identify pests of significant public health importance.

Perform agriculture inspection to assess the operations involved in food production agriculture such as farming to ensure compliance with laws and quality standards. This would help identify and monitor the presence of harmful diseases, chemical residues, and pest infestations in produce to control it immediately. Unable to secure the safety of agricultural products can result in legal ramifications such as costly fines or plant shutdown.

An agriculture safety inspection checklist is designed to check the health and safety programs, workplace conditions, and hazards specific to farms and ranches. It helps monitor if pesticides are used according to good application practices.

Real estate properties are prone to pest infestation, including cockroaches, termites, and rodents, that could affect the overall structural integrity of the property. Pest control services can help ease the pain of property owners by exterminating these unwanted pests to avoid severe property damage.

Home inspections could help assess the physical condition of a property or building. It can identify any actual or potential structural issues and damage caused by pest infestation. Performing home inspections would help property owners foresee areas that need urgent repairs.

A home inspection checklist aids home inspectors when performing a visual check of the entire property. It helps to thoroughly inspect the property including grounds, structure, exterior, roof, windows, doors, interior, rooms, and other sections of the home.

The presence of pests in the hospitality industry can be a big turnoff for customers. It can cause bad reviews and poor customer retention which can lead to profit loss. Pest control is paramount to ensure the entire property is free from pest infestation.

Maintaining hotel cleanliness is a big factor to lower the risk of future infestations. The use of hotel checklists can help to improve the quality of hotel amenities and services. Perform inspection before guests check-in and after checking out to ensure the room follows hotel standards to provide guests a high level of service.

A hotel room checklist is used by housekeeping staff to maintain the guest rooms cleanliness. It helps ensure mattresses and couches are free from bed bugs and all items in the room are operational.

Create Your Own Pest Control Checklist

Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.

There is a license to be a pest control operator and these service operators need to comply with existing requirements, regulations, and standards. Businesses that need pest control services arent required to conduct pest control by law. Pest control requirements will differ by states and countries. The BRC Global Standards for Food Safety, Storage, and Distribution require businesses to manage pests as a best practice for the food industry.

Safety is paramount in every business, and pest control is not an exception. Here are some important reminders to ensure the safety of employees when using pest control chemicals or other hazardous substances.

To get started, we have prepared pest control safety checklists that could guide pest control professionals to ensure their safety.

A pest control checklist is a tool that can assist inspectors during property inspections. It can help identify or look for signs of pest activity and determine whether these areas have signs or evidence that pests are nesting and need treatment. Here are some pest control checklist examples:

A PPE inspection checklist is used to select the appropriate equipment to reduce hazards identified at work. It would help ensure PPE will last for a long time with minimum degradation. It aids pest control professionals to comply with safety regulations.

This checklist is used to ensure employees are following proper handling, storing, and disposal of hazardous chemical substances. It helps assess employees if they are trained in safe procedures when working with hazardous chemicals.

A job sheet template is used to document the key tasks performed onsite and obtains the required client sign-off upon completion. It helps record the materials and cost of the works performed and the details of additional works required.

This sample pest control PDF report contains every section of the checklist form and also highlights the failed items during the pest control inspection.

Pest control service is vital in different industries, and technology plays an important role in transforming the way they do business. A cost-efficient digital solution like SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) can streamline the workflow of pest control inspections and can lead to the improvement of many processes.

Get started with SafetyCulture as pest control software to oversee and manage property conditions easily. It can help save time capturing photo evidence in-app using a mobile device and create reports easily right after the inspection with just a tap of a finger.

Taking advantage of this flexible pest control software, enables property managers to identify issues immediately and experience these benefits:

Here is the original post:
A Comprehensive Guide to Pest Control | SafetyCulture

BioSolutions 2023 Event To Shine Spotlight on Nasty Fruit and Nut Pests  Growing Produce

Read more from the original source:
BioSolutions 2023 Event To Shine Spotlight on Nasty Fruit and Nut Pests - Growing Produce