November 8, 2018 Editor Home Essentials
Your AC unit is more important than you think – not only does it keep you cool and comfortable during a hot day, but in an office setting, it could mean the difference in workplace productivity.
The best way to take care of your aircon is by calling a professional aircon servicing company to take a look at your AC unit and recommend the best service for it.
Aircon services fall under the following categories:
1. Repair – Is your air conditioner not cooling even at the highest setting? If so, you should call a home AC repair service to get it running again.
It could be the cause of one or many parts failing at once. For instance, you might have a defective compressor that won’t circulate the refrigerant, or that you have insufficient coolant because of a previous leak.
Other less serious problems include having a faulty thermostat, which can give you an inaccurate reading on your room’s temperature and cost more power in the long run.
It’s best to fix cooling system problems even though they seem small at first – they can easily get worse if you leave them alone.
2. Maintenance – A clean AC is an efficient AC that will keep working for a long time. Let a professional aircon servicing company based from Singapore clean your air-con filters and dirty coils to bring your air conditioning unit’s functions back to normal. Regular, thorough cleaning also keeps you from having to call a repair service for emergencies, which can get quite expensive quickly.
3. Installation – Installing an aircon unit can be difficult if you don’t know how to do it properly, so it’s best to leave it to a professional service to get the job done.
With proper installation, you minimize any damage and reduce the cost to upkeep AC units at work or at home.
Types of Aircon Units
Before you call an air conditioning services company for your unit, it’s important to know that there are different types of aircon units and yours may fall into any one of the following:
• Window – Older HDB flats in Singapore will have a windowsill designed to fit this particular unit (where all components are included in one box), which is designed to fit in a window, hence the name.
• Portable – Portable units also have all their components included in one box, but instead of being fixed to one location, you can move them around.
• Split – The most commonly used AC unit in Singapore consists of two part: one internal and one external. These two parts are connected to each other through pipes and cables.
• Cassette – Cassette types work the same way as split-unit types, but free up more space thanks to their design.
Keep in mind that if you need to install aircon at your premise, it’s crucial to look for a certified aircon master installer in Singapore. The cost of AC system fitting also depends on the type of unit that you have in your home or office.
And because different units have different capacities, it’s important to know whether your unit is fit for the area it’s installed in. In fact, your AC unit can break down because it’s often used at capacity in the wrong room (i.e. it’s too small to cool it properly).
If they do break down, be sure to tell your aircon servicing company about how often you use your units. This lets them make a more accurate assessment and make the right repairs.
October 15, 2018 Editor Food World
For people who love bread and are lucky to have no intolerance to gluten, there are a lot of choices in the market for different types of so-called healthy bread. Are there really significant differences among the different types? Let’s examine each bread.
Whole Grain
To understand the names below, remember that a grain kernel is composed of three parts; endosperm, bran, and germ. The bran is the outer skin, while the germ is the embryo. The endosperm on the other hand, supplies the food of the germ, but all three are rich in nutrients and vitamins. As the name implies, whole grain food is made up of fully-intact grains of wheat, brown rice, oats, rolled oats, and barley.
Whole Wheat
Whole wheat is a type of whole grain food, which means that its germ, bran, and endosperm are still found in the kernels. A whole wheat bread, therefore, is food made up of wheat kernels.
Wheat Bread
A wheat bread is made of wheat flour or refined white flour, not wheat kernels. Be careful when selecting products that say wheat bread or whole wheat bread, because there are differences between the two. Some producers falsely label wheat bread as whole wheat.
Multigrain
In its simplest meaning, multigrain is a type of food made from more than one type of grain. It could be a mix of oats, wheat, and others, but it does not mean that the grains are whole. Some of these have had their germ and bran removed, so look for labels such as enriched and bleached, which will indicate that it’s not made from whole grains.
White Bread
White bread is usually made from wheat kernels without its bran and germ. While most health-conscious individuals prefer the whole wheat bread over white bread, it’s much tastier and affordable than the latter. There are producers, however, who fortify their white bread with the missing nutrients.
White Whole Wheat
This type of food is made from albino whole wheat grains, which means that all three components are intact. White whole wheat’s nutritional value is the same as that of whole wheat bread. There is also a red variety of wheat which will result in a dark-colored food.
Sprouted Grain
This type of food is made from flour of sprouted grains, which is the transition of a seed into a new plant. The producers of sprouted grain can create the right conditions to stop the seed from sprouting into a new plant at the right moment. The sprouting process can either be dry or wet, which will determine its shelf-life. Sprouted grain is considered an alternative to the white flour and the whole grain flour.
October 15, 2018 Editor Art
If you are ready to start your training with oil paint, you will need tools different from that you use for watercolor and acrylic. You do not need to buy the most expensive items or professional-grade tools just yet, but you can start with student-grade materials.
These are the most important items you will need to start oil painting.
• Oil Paint
Buy a painting kit that contains a pack of several oil paints, because these are usually more affordable than single-color products. For a beginner, you will need the following colors: cadmium red, permanent alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, cadmium yellow light, ultramarine blue, ivory black, and titanium white. Some artists, however, do not advise getting an ivory black paint and encourage mixing of colors to achieve grays and darks instead.
• Brushes and Palette Knives
You will be using a separate set of paint brushes for oil from your watercolor and acrylic brushes, because oil paint can easily destroy some of them. You might have to spend extra money on quality, durable brushes in different sizes. You must have at least a pair each of round, filbert, and flat brushes; with sizes 2, 6, and 12. You could get sizes smaller or bigger than those listed here as well as other types of brushes if you think you need them. The palette knife is also ideal for mixing and applying paint directly on the canvas.
• Palette and Jars
Any type or size of palette will work for oil, as long you choose one that has a surface for mixing the paint. You will also need at least two pieces of ceramic or plastic jars for cleaning your brushes and storing your mineral spirits or turpentine.
• Mineral Spirits or Turpentine
Oil paint on your brushes cannot be cleaned off with water alone, instead, you will need solvents such as turpentine and mineral spirits to thin out the paint. There are mineral spirits that are odorless and easier to handle than turpentine and paint thinners.
• Oil Medium or Linseed Oil
While mixing oil paint, you will need to add linseed stand oil or a painter’s medium. It will act as a diluting solution, pretty much like water acts as a thinner to watercolor. It has the same function of turpentine and mineral spirits, but the oil medium is more useful for achieving an ideal paint consistency and texture.
• Rags, Newsprint, and Apron
Oil painting is messy, so you will need rags and newsprint to protect other items in the room while you’re painting. You should also wear an apron to protect your clothes, because the oil paint is difficult to remove.
• Painting Surface and Easel
You can paint on any surface besides on a pre-stretched canvas as long as you treat the material first with gesso. You might also want to invest on an easel if you’re planning to paint on canvas, because they will make painting easier.
September 26, 2018 Editor Home Essentials
Out of all the essentials to keep our home or office running, electricity is obviously one of the most important. When something goes wrong with the electric system, it can be very dangerous. That is why it is important to seek help from the professionals and immediately call electrician services when problems arise.
Fortunately, no matter where you are in Singapore, there are companies that can provide electrical service. Even at the dead of night!
Problems you may face with electricity
A power failure, for one, can occur because of different reasons. It could be because you’re using power way above your supply’s capacity, or the power simply out in your area of the city. Regardless, it is still ideal to not meddle with your electrical system. In times like these, it’s also best to have a home electric handyman ready on contact, especially if you don’t know the reason behind the power outage.
Most electric service companies also have a 24 hour electrician ready to deploy. This is because with electricity, literally, anything can happen. Some rodents might have nibbled on your electric wires or there may be water that accidentally leaked through an outlet without you knowing. These things may pose a threat to our lives and we might not notice it. But luckily for us, there is a residential power line troubleshooter in Singapore ready to answer our calls at any time of the day. Whether it is a simple power trip or a new line installation, a licensed electrician is your best option.
The importance of electric services
Just like with everything else, we won’t have much problems with our electrical works if we know how to maintain it well and not overwhelm our power supply. You might like to talk with a commercial electrical contractor to gain knowledge and information about proper maintenance of your electrical system.
Electrical works are very complicated and amateur intervention with an electrical system posts a lot of risks. In these situations, a licensed electrician is the best man to call. He knows how to read blue prints of electrical components, he is able to install power point switches, and even trace the flow of electricity through the cables. This is why it is so important to hire a professional electrician. For quality work and guaranteed safety, you should definitely call a certified electrical worker.
Also, take note that there are differences between certain electricians. Residential linemen set up and maintain electrical wires that run from power plans to homes and residential properties. A cabling technician, on the other hand, installs and maintains cable television and internet services. This is a good thing to know when you’re trying to call an electrician for a certain type of job.
To fix and connect electric wires are not the only things electricians do. They are responsible for so many more, even our own safety. You could say that electricians even risk their lives to do their jobs. In our time, where the use of electricity is vital for our daily endeavors, the importance of electrician services cannot be highlighted enough.
September 21, 2018 Editor Beauty
Who hasn’t dreamt of staying forever young? We all want to stay as if we’re forever this age: agile, carefree and of course looking fresh.
But once those wrinkles start to show, even a line or two can cause a frenzy deep within you. You second-guess yourself, if you still don’t look your age – but this time older than you are.
So get ahold of yourself and go easy. Here are a few tips to help you prevent those wrinkles from ruining your self-esteem one line at a time:
1. Stay hydrated
Cliche as this may sound, those eight glasses or more really do their job. Not only of keeping you healthy, but it also has a delightful side effect of keeping you wrinkle free. It helps keep you beautiful and young from deep within. You might also want to up your coconut water and green tea intake as they help eradicate toxins from your body. Especially on summer, sunny days could actually speed up your body’s usage of moisture. So you might want to stay as hydrated as you can amidst the summer heat.
2. Befriend antioxidants
If you aren’t aware yet, antioxidants effectively combat free radicals which are always present in our environment. These free radicals damage our skin and are typically found in pollution and toxins. Antioxidants combat them and what’s even more good news is we have ready sources of these helpful wrinkle-fighters. Blueberries, spinach, kale, artichokes, walnuts, cranberries, prunes, beans and kiwi are all good sources of Vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene also known as our helpful antioxidants.
3. Switch to nontoxic moisturizers
If you find your bureau containing almost every kind of age-defying or miracle moisturizers, you might want to take a break from them first. Switch to naturals instead. Try using oils instead of lotions and creams. Coconut oil helps in reducing age spots, wrinkles and cellulites. But if you have an oily face, try Argan oil to moisturize. It is also an effective anti-inflammatory. Jojoba grapeseed and olive oil also do well as moisturizers, depending on your skin type. Make sure to check first which skin type you have so you don’t end up worsening your waterloo. Safety first, before all our beautifying efforts.
4. Quit smoking
Do we have to enumerate how your lungs primarily benefit from this step? Your wrinkles also do a double take if you finally stop this unhealthy habit. Wrinkles result from aging, and every cigarette you smoke speeds up the process. Smoking also makes your skin dry and robs it of its luster. Basically it’s harmful both inside and out. So stop smoking and you’ll find yourself with healthier, younger glowing skin.