Home Improvement | LCG Media Center

Coming home from a long hot day just to find out that your air conditioning isn’t working will just put you in a bad mood. How about when your heater ain’t working in the winter? That can cause a lot of damage to your home if the pipes freeze up. You can live without cool air, but you can’t live if it gets too cold.

There are ways in which you can prevent this from happening to you. There are some things that you can do to maintain your HVAC system before you call a service man.

Air ducts

Your air ducts collect dust and get clogged over time. They are very easy to clean; just send a sweeper up the ducks, or you can blow high-pressure air through them. If you or someone in your family has a problem with allergies, they will suffer more from all the dust that is coming out of your air ducts. They should be cleaned at least every two years. Your home will also have filters; they need to be changed at least once a year.

Season checks

Your HVAC works hard in the winter and summer; this is when you should be checking the HVAC filters. They need to be changed at least once a month to keep them running smoothly. You will also need to oil the fan. You should oil it two times a year. Keep the area around your HVAC cleaned and weed free.

Air vent flow

Have you checked your HVAC vents for proper air flow? If the air doesn’t flow right, it will start to mold and give out a bad smell. Your HVAC service man will have to check this for you. Most servicemen have a tool that will check the moisture in the air that is flowing through your ducts.

HVAC repair

You can look on yellow pages, or you can ask around to see what other people have used before. The Internet is a sure way to find an HVAC repair service.

They are local, and they are available 24 hours. Just check them out on their website. They have been in service since 1982. Their technicians are licensed, and have excellent customer service.

Do not use blunt knives in your kitchen. Having a sharp knife in the kitchen is a desire of all of us. It eases cutting of cooking ingredients and makes food preparation enjoyable. Recent technology has presented us with the best knife-sharpening tools. There are still traditional tools for sharpening knives like the Chinese water stones. Most people have their preferred tools of sharpening knives which they term effective.Nevertheless, experts have recently advised for the usage of the following top sharpening tools.

A review of three best knife sharpeners

Chef’s Choice Diamond Hone Electric Knife Sharpener

This is the most decorated and famous knife sharpener recommended by most experts. It is a three-stage sharpener which most users use to sharpen and align the edges of knives. The key feature of this system is the high-quality diamond gruff. This system is fitted with three items you can use to sharpen the knives. These are stone, strop or a hone. These three parts ensure that your knives are effectively sharpened, and their durability sustained.This system is known for its durability and its ability to produce long lasting sharp edges.

The system can be pre-set with accurate settings which produce sharp long lasting edges by using the user guide available when purchasing the machine. The machine is also equipped with a metal alloy that enhances its performance. Moreover, the system is fitted with extraordinary flexible guides that control the accuracy of sharpening angle. Most users ultimately recommend friends to purchase this system because of its assistance in sharpening the knives. However, it is expensive but worth buying.

Presto Ever Sharp Electric Knife Sharpener

This is a two- stage sharpening system which is very easy to use. It gives professional results and convenient in the comfort of your kitchen. Precision blades are mounted and are meant to guide the knife to the best sharpening angle. The system is integrated with very effective Sapphirite sharpening wheels which are hard and durable.

Numerous customer reviews have indicated that no much pressure is required in using the machine. One only needs to hold the knife into the slots slightly. It is worth noting that the sharpener is suitable for knives made of alloy, carbon or stainless steel. Sparks may be produced when these materials come into contact with the Sapphirite sharpening wheel.

The apex system

This system is not electronic. It composes of grit medium fine water stone as the sharpening tool. The apex system does not permit us a clamp to grasp a knife in a sharpening angle. A guide allows the system to work on a variety of blade sizes. Many users have preferred this system since it is simple and what the claim as damage of knives by electric systems.

They say that electric systems may “eat away” the edge of a knife and thus if sharpening continues for a relatively long time, the size of the knife may be affected. The main advantage of this system is that the manual sharpening protects tempering of the blades by heat as it is in electric systems. Furthermore, this system can sharpen a wide variety of knife sizes.

Category: Home Improvement

Proper HVAC maintenance and repair