Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Solar water heating (SWH) is the conversion of sunlight into renewable energy for water heating using a solar thermal collector. Solar water heating systems comprise various technologies that are used worldwide increasingly.

In a "close-coupled" SWH system the storage tank is horizontally mounted immediately above the solar collectors on the roof. No pumping is required as the hot water naturally rises into the tank through thermosiphon flow. In a "pump-circulated" system the storage tank is ground- or floor-mounted and is below the level of the collectors; a circulating pump moves water or heat transfer fluid between the tank and the collectors.

SWH systems are designed to deliver hot water for most of the year. However, in winter there sometimes may not be sufficient solar heat gain to deliver sufficient hot water. In this case a gas or electric booster is used to heat the water.

Water heated by the sun is used in various ways. While perhaps best known in a residential setting to provide domestic hot water, solar hot water also has industrial applications, e.g. to generate electricity.[1] Designs suitable for hot climates can be much simpler and cheaper, and can be considered an appropriate technology for these places. The global solar thermal market is dominated by China, Europe, Japan and India.

In order to heat water using solar energy, a collector, often fastened to a roof or a wall facing the sun, heats a working fluid that is either pumped (active system) or driven by natural convection (passive system) through it.[2] The collector could be made of a simple glass-topped insulated box with a flat solar absorber made of sheet metal, attached to copper heat exchanger pipes and dark-colored, or a set of metal tubes surrounded by an evacuated (near vacuum) glass cylinder. In industrial cases a parabolic mirror can concentrate sunlight on the tube. Heat is stored in a hot water storage tank. The volume of this tank needs to be larger with solar heating systems in order to allow for bad weather[clarification needed], and because the optimum final temperature for the solar collector[clarification needed] is lower than a typical immersion or combustion heater. The heat transfer fluid (HTF) for the absorber may be the hot water from the tank, but more commonly (at least in active systems) is a separate loop of fluid containing anti-freeze and a corrosion inhibitor which delivers heat to the tank through a heat exchanger (commonly a coil of copper heat exchanger tubing within the tank). Copper is an important component in solar thermal heating and cooling systems because of its high heat conductivity, resistance to atmospheric and water corrosion, sealing and joining by soldering, and mechanical strength. Copper is used both in receivers and primary circuits (pipes and heat exchangers for water tanks).[3]

Another lower-maintenance concept is the 'drain-back': no anti-freeze is required; instead, all the piping is sloped to cause water to drain back to the tank. The tank is not pressurized and is open to atmospheric pressure. As soon as the pump shuts off, flow reverses and the pipes are empty before freezing could occur.

Residential solar thermal installations fall into two groups: passive (sometimes called "compact") and active (sometimes called "pumped") systems. Both typically include an auxiliary energy source (electric heating element or connection to a gas or fuel oil central heating system) which is activated when the water in the tank falls below a minimum temperature setting such as 55C. Hence, hot water is always available. The combination of solar water heating and using the back-up heat from a wood stove chimney to heat water[4] can enable a hot water system to work all year round in cooler climates, without the supplemental heat requirement of a solar water heating system being met with fossil fuels or electricity.

When a solar water heating and hot-water central heating system are used in conjunction, solar heat will either be concentrated in a pre-heating tank that feeds into the tank heated by the central heating, or the solar heat exchanger will replace the lower heating element and the upper element will remain in place to provide for any heating that solar cannot provide. However, the primary need for central heating is at night and in winter when solar gain is lower. Therefore, solar water heating for washing and bathing is often a better application than central heating because supply and demand are better matched. In many climates, a solar hot water system can provide up to 85% of domestic hot water energy. This can include domestic non-electric concentrating solar thermal systems. In many northern European countries, combined hot water and space heating systems (solar combisystems) are used to provide 15 to 25% of home heating energy.

There are records of solar collectors in the United States dating back to before 1900,[5] comprising a black-painted tank mounted on a roof. In 1896 Clarence Kemp of Baltimore, USA enclosed a tank in a wooden box, thus creating the first 'batch water heater' as they are known today. Although flat-plate collectors for solar water heating were used in Florida and Southern California in the 1920s there was a surge of interest in solar heating in North America after 1960, but especially after the 1973 oil crisis.

See Appendix 1 at the bottom of this article for a number of country-specific statistics on the "Use of solar water heating worldwide". Wikipedia also has country-specific articles about solar energy use (thermal as well as photovoltaic) in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Portugal, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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Solar water heating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this version of the decorative water garden fountain, the ceramic planter is left empty, instead of being filled with water. The result is an interesting hollow sound. Photo Credit: David Beaulieu

On Page 1, I presented one version of my garden fountain. In that version, upon completion of the project, not only the pond, but also the ceramic planter was filled with water. If you take that approach, the visual element will perhaps be more striking, as you'll be treated to the pleasing look of water spilling over the sides of the ceramic planter.

In order to keep water in the ceramic planter and achieve this effect, you'll have to plug up the drainage hole in the bottom.

A permanent way to plug it would be to use grout and a sealer. But if you wish to experiment with different options, forgo a permanent solution. Instead, plug the hole with something you can later remove, such as putty or -- if you can find the right size -- just a regular bath plug.

In the version presented on this page, I explore another option, for which you'll want the ceramic planter's drainage hole to be unplugged. Above, you can see that the ceramic planter has been left empty. As water falls into the empty planter, a cool hollow sound is emitted. I suggest trying it both ways. Decide for yourself if you prefer the look achieved on Page 1 or the sound that results from choosing the option shown above.

Be sure to check the water level periodically for any garden fountain, so that the pump doesn't burn out due to accidental loss of water.

The plantings you see in my photos include elephant ears, hosta plants, sweet potato vine, calla lily and ferns.

Originally posted here:
Build Decorative Garden Fountains the Easy Way

Relax alongside a water garden and experience a tranquility that transcends todays stressful world. Recuperate from your hectic day with free moments, listening to the soothing sounds of a waterfall and taking in the sight of a professional low maintenance landscape. Join the many satisfied homeowners who readily profess having Purely Ponds Fine Landscapes install their landscape was the best investment theyve ever made.

We specialize in design and installation of ecologically balanced and low maintenancewaterscapes and fine landscapes. Our professional service and creativity will leave you with nothing more to do but sit back and relax!

Water features coupled with low maintenance xeriscaping are todays hottest trend in landscaping. Across the Front Range, high maintenance , boring expanses of lawn are being transformed into beautiful, low maintenance Rocky Mountainscapes, one yard at a time. In addition, fine landscapes mature with age, thus increasing the value of your property more than any other type of home improvement.

Whether you need a complete custom waterscape or general pond supplies, Purely Ponds is prepared to meet your needs. We carry pond fountains and pondless waterfall products from a variety of manufactures for all types of water features. Visit our online store for beneficial bacteria, string algae control and many more pond supplies. The Purely Ponds team is confident that the addition of a water garden, pond, pondless waterfall or pond fountain to your landscape will bring you pleasure for years to come.

our selection of specials items

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Water Gardens | Backyard Pond Supplies & Landscape Design

Trimming trees at the right time

You may have heard the old saying about tree trimming that goes something like this "Trim trees anytime your saw is sharp." This may be true when it comes to removing broken and dead branches, but in many cases timing is very important.

Most flowering trees set their blossoms the year before they bloom. Therefore, they won't bloom if these flower buds are trimmed off the tree. The best rule is to always trim flowering trees within 3 weeks of when they finish blooming. That should prevent you from inadvertently removing buds containing next year's flower show.

Removing this Weeping Cherry branch in the Fall of the year removes the branch AND the 'flower show' for next Spring

Severely cutting back major branches causes weak growth in the form of multiple branches that grow straight up, ruining the natural structure of the tree. These fast growing shoots are known as 'water sprouts.' Similar shoots, called 'suckers,' grow from the roots of some trees, especially Crabapples

This Silver Maple was 'Topped' a few years ago

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Tree Trimming | Trimming Trees and How to Trim a Tree

A Local Family Company!

"Tree Removal Service Tucsonis an outstanding Tree Service with a great service/price combination and reputation. We pride ourselves on not cutting essential costs to beat the competition. We care enough about you the customer to be Licensed(ROC),Bonded and Insured-both for your and our protection. Please visit Angie's List to view our 80, and counting, A+ reviews and 4 Super Service Awards. They speak to our standards and workmanship. We have received multiple local awards and accreditations. We are a family-owned company with research-based practices and staffed with competent personnel. We are registered withBBB, Member ofTCIA,ISA,AZ Community Tree Council, Certified Tree Care Specialist'sand possess a ROC License, AZ TPT License, local business licenses and are in line with State and Federal laws. We are also a Registered Blue Stake company with a US DOT Number.

We look forward to serving you."

Tucson's Top

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Welcome to Tree Removal Service Tucson's website!

We havebeen chosen as the premier Full ServiceTree Care Provider in Tucson. We aredevoted to providing high-qualityTree Care in Tucson including TucsonTree Trimming Service and the bestTree RemovalTucsonhas to offer for renovation of your property. We complete every job with the level of detail and professionalism that we would useon our own trees.

TRST'sTucson Arborist'shave been seen in both theArizona Daily Star, and onKVOA Channel 4!

These days not to many people have the time or patience to tend to theirTree RemovalTucson and Tree Trimming Tucson projects. Often they find that the job is just too big. Thankfully, Tree Removal ServiceTucson is here to help.

Whether you want the bestTree TrimmingTucsonhas to offer, or help Planting Tree's to create a professional landscaped look, put our experienced team of Tucson Arboristto work for you.

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Tree Removal Service Tucson

Central Texas Tree Care is proud to be a locally-owned and operated Austin tree service company. Co-owners Andy Johnson, a certifiedAustin arborist,and Javier Robles are the experts to call when you have a tree care question, no matter how big or small. We have years of experience trimming, removing and pruning trees in the area and can provide you with a service estimate for your project at no cost. We price our Austin tree services with your budget in mind and guarantee safe and effective care.

Were a complete Austin tree service provider. That means we can handle any and all of your tree care needs. Our team is professionally trained and certified by the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) to provide all types of Austin tree trimming, removal, and pruning services. We have expert rigging knowledge to remove even the most dangerous trees. We also offer a variety of tree health services, including deep-root fertilization, Oak Wilt treatment, insect control and more.

Central Texas Tree Care is fully insured and certified to provide your trees with the best Austin tree services in the area. Read what previous customers had to say about our tree services in our Testimonialssection. We make sure each and every one of our customers is left happy with our tree services. Were also proud to call ourselves a Green tree service. We recently added a second hybrid vehicle to our service fleet in an effort to further reduce our companys carbon footprint.

Contact Andy Johnson at Central Texas Tree Care if you need work done on your trees, have trees you are concerned about, or just want to know the overall health of your trees. Give us a call at(512) 973-9090 or fill out our short estimate form and well provide you with a no-cost, no-obligation quote on our Austin tree trimming and tree removal services.

Our mission is to provide Austin with a complete tree service at the greatest value in a way that continually exceeds our customers expectations.

Native trees to consider planting in the Austin area

I am constantly asked for planting recommendations in the Austin area and with spring approaching now is the time to really think about what makes sense where. Many people plant the wrong trees in the wrong place.

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Austin Tree Services: Trimming & Removal | Central Texas ...

Virginia Green carefully inspects and treats your ornamental trees and shrubs for insects, disease and weather damage, providing the necessary fertilizer and care to ensure healthy blooms and vigorous growth. Our practice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and deep root fertilization means your trees and shrubs are protected against damaging insects and properly fed for growth and color.

Tree and Shrub Program

Horticultural oil for over-wintering insects, sucking insects and scales. Applied as a liquid to targeted plants and small trees.

Balanced ten-month fertilizer and micro-nutrient package specific for plants and small trees. This application is injected into the root system of the ornamentals.

Injection of systemic insecticide into the root base of plants and small trees. This application controls future insects such as Japanese beetles. All dogwoods are treated for anthracnose.

Liquid application for control of plant and tree diseases and insects. Mites are treated on susceptible plants. This application utilizes a systemic fungicide as well as a combination of insecticides for maximum control.

Liquid application for control of plant and tree diseases and insects. Mites are treated on susceptible plants. This application utilizes a systemic fungicide as well as a combination of insecticides for maximum control.

Liquid application for control of plant and tree diseases and insects. Mites are treated on susceptible plants. This application utilizes a systemic fungicide as well as a combination of insecticides for maximum control.

Liquid application for control of plant and tree diseases and insects. Mites are treated on susceptible plants. This application utilizes a systemic fungicide as well as a combination of insecticides for maximum control.

Horticultural oil for over-wintering insects, sucking insects and scales. Applied as a liquid to targeted plants and small trees.

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Tree and Shrub Care Program | Lawn Care Services ...

This ideal is often hard to accomplish. Most plantings attempted this way wind up with one or more trees missing. Sometimes the homeowner tries to replace the missing tree, but the match is rarely perfect. Tree rows are a long-lasting addition to a landscape, so the not-so-perfect effect can be a constant source of frustration for a homeowner who wants the landscape to look tidy.

Instead of planting a formal row of all one type of tree, consider planting a mix of different trees and shrubs. By choosing a mixture of plants, you will protect your screen from major loss caused by an outbreak of a single pest or disease. A mixed planting also increases the biodiversity in your landscape by creating habitat for beneficial insects, birds, and animals. By attracting these beneficial creatures, you may find that they successfully keep populations of pest insects in check.

As mentioned above, a formal, straight line planting is difficult to accomplish and often will not meet your goal of screening as rapidly as you would prefer. Consider alternatives to formal planting rows, including the more natural-looking cluster planting method, or multiple staggered row plantings.

Cluster planting is done by strategically installing plants in groups of threes, fives, or higher odd numbers to block specific views or prevailing winds. Cluster planting provides an attractive, natural-looking screen without walling off your house and yard like a fortress. By planting clusters away from your house, you also provide backgrounds for interesting flowering and fruiting shrubs that are visible from your deck or living room. Additional cluster plantings can be used to create groves. The combined effect provides screening and an interesting design, allows for good air flow, and accommodates walkways through your property.

Another option is to install multiple staggered rows of trees and shrubs. This type of planting will provide a fortress wall effect. Multiple staggered rows are also commonly recommended for homesteads in open areas to provide protection from prevailing winter winds or reduce noise from traffic or equipment. Multiple staggered rows can be installed using two or three rows of trees and shrubs. The spacing should be based on the average diameter of the plants at maturity. Each successive row is offset or staggered so that the plant fills the visible gap between each of the plants in the previous row. To further enhance the screening, a third row of similar size or smaller plants can be planted. The major benefit of this planting arrangement is that gaps fill in quickly and total screening is achieved more rapidly than a single row. However, a common mistake by the impatient property owner is to plant the trees too close together to achieve immediate privacy. This decision will quickly lead to crowding between neighboring trees, resulting in shading, loss of lower branches, and overall loss of the screening effect.

No matter how you choose to arrange the plants in your screen, keep in mind aesthetics as well as utility. Dot the mini-forest you have created with an occasional focal-point specimen treesomething with unusually colored foliage, unusual fruit, or good fall color. This punctuation mark tree will probably cost more than other trees in the screen, but will give you many years of visual enjoyment.

Before choosing any plants, evaluate your site and your planting areas. Consider space limitations of the site including utility lines, walkways, driveways, and roads that must remain visible and accessible. Consider zoning requirements for the distance of the plantings to roads and sidewalks. Consider the soil type, drainage, and pH (soil test kits are available from your local county Penn State Cooperative Extension office). Also, consider the availability of water, which will be needed until the plants are established or during drought.

The following table lists both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs that can be used for screening and windbreaks. Not all plants are suitable for windbreaks due to the potential for injury from cold or dry wind; plant suitability is specified in the table.

More new trees die in landscaping from planting errors than any other cause. All trees should be planted with the root flare just level with the surface of the soil. Use two to three inches of organic mulch in a wide circle, and be sure to keep all soil and mulch away from the trunk.

Before you buy any plant, learn more about it (e.g.; major pest problems in the area, cultural requirements, etc.) by asking questions at the garden center or doing research at your local library. Property size and space will also impact your plant choices, so the table is divided into plants suitable for large scale and small scale screens. Finally, deciduous plants are included for situations where summer screening for privacy is the main goal.

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Using Trees and Shrubs for Privacy and Wind Screening ...

SANTEE INDIAN RESERVATION, Neb. The riders gathered in a muddy parking lot in the pouring rain, no one minding the muck or the wet.

The older men with broke-down backs from their bronc-breaking days joked between cigarettes about needing to ride sawhorses. Teenage girls trotted on a couple of mares in need of a stretch. And one of the youngest among them, a 5-year-old from South Dakota, soaked his Converse sneakers in giant puddles as they all waited to begin.

These members of the vast Dakota Sioux diaspora met here on a gray Memorial Day to remember a series of events that occurred 152 years ago: a war, an imprisonment, a mass execution and an expulsion from an ancestral home in Minnesota to the rugged no mans land of central South Dakota. Some members of this group later left South Dakota for Nebraska.

The full story, which involves broken treaties, unfair dealing and a tidal wave of white immigrants, was not widely known, even among Dakota people who might have heard bits and pieces over the years.

That is one big reason why Jim Hallum organized this weeklong, 180-mile memorial ride from his Santee Reservation in northeast Nebraska to the Crow Creek Reservation in central South Dakota. He wanted to raise awareness of a dark chapter of our shared American history and find healing.

My grandmother never talked nothing about this, said Hallum, who is 56. But I wonder what (elders) knew and I wonder what their mothers knew. But they wouldnt say nothing. I didnt know about it until I did a little research.

This was a common sentiment among the riders, regardless of age or tribe. One 15-year-old South Dakota girl who came was incredulous.

Were from Minnesota? she asked of her tribes past.

This weeks ride highlights a tumultuous period for American Indians.

In 1862, drought, broken government promises and corrupt middlemen called Indian agents made matters worse for the already-squeezed Dakota Indians, reeling from a bad treaty a decade earlier that stripped them of most of their ancestral Minnesota land. Their reservation was too small and waves of white settlers were encroaching on even that little space as game stocks diminished. Whats more, the annual government payment that covered food and provisions had not arrived. People were hungry. Children were getting sick. Accounts tell of one storekeeper who notoriously showed his indifference when he said if the Indians were so hungry, they could eat grass.

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Grace: 180-mile ride sheds light on resilience of Dakota ...

Pond Supplies at PondSolutions.com

PondSolutions.comoffers PondSupplies for fish ponds and watergardens.Since 1999 we'vehad thepleasure of helpingwell over 100,000customers withquality pond products andprovide free, helpful advice.

To help you with your pond project,we have thousands of pond supplies to choose from and a complete Pond Building and MaintenanceKnowledge Databasewhere you can find comprehensive pond building and maintenance topicsincluding:pond filtration, aeration, how to determine pump size, fish stocking info, electric operating costs and so much more. Do check them out. If at any time you have any questions, please let us know. We are more than happy to help you and want you to be a satisfied customer.

In the meantime, happy shopping and enjoy this beautiful day!

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Pond Supplies at PondSolutions.com

We know that choosing the right pond supplies can sometimes be a daunting task particularly when it comes to figuring out the right size of pump, liner or filtration system. Be sure to check out our helpful information inour Pond Building and MaintenanceKnowledge Basefor great information at your finger tips. We also have a great Pond Construction eBook that's chalk full of over 100 pages of helpful information in building your very first fish pond or water garden. If at any time you need assistance, please contact us. We're more than happy to help you!

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