What is a power shower?

A power shower is a system which enables more water pressure to be had than a normal shower and therefore creates a much more enjoyable experience. A power shower can help your muscles and can also be very refreshing. However, there is one downside to a power shower and that is that it does use a hell of a lot of water when compared with a traditional shower. Power showers are generally built in to houses where the water pressure is slightly lower than normal. If this is the case then a power shower can really help your shower experience and can do wonders for your home.

They actually work by using a pump to boost the water supply so that the water comes out faster and there is also a lot of water that comes out when compared with a normal shower. All power showers are integral which means that you use the taps to give a flow of water to the shower – unlike an electric shower. This does however mean that you will need to ensure that you have a supply of hot water available and you’ll need quite a bit considering a power shower uses more water and at a high rate of pressure.

A power shower can only be installed in low pressure tank supplied systems so you’ll have to figure that out before you even think about buying one. Also, you’ll need to ensure that your water tank is actually big enough to cope with a power shower. You’ll need at least 25 gallons simply for the shower so if you have a water tank that supplies water to more than just your shower then you’ll need at least 50 gallons available. You’ll also need a dedicated hot and cold water supply for a power shower and you must also ensure that the water supply is always above the shower so that you can be sure the pump won’t take in any air while it’s working.

Of course, there are many benefits to owning a power shower but there are some negative points as well. Below I’ve listed the main benefits and the main disadvantages of owning and using a power shower regularly.

Pros:
Much more refreshing than a normal shower
Easy to use – (hot and cold taps)
Doesn’t use electricity – like an electric shower
Saves you time in the mornings
Helps with water pressure problems

Cons:
Uses a lot of water
Can be expensive
Complicated to install (sometimes)

So, as you can see, there are more pros than cons but it really depends on what you want from your shower.  A power shower is very luxurious and it’s a great way to update an old bathroom. All in all, power showers are a good idea and are definitely good if your usual water supply is low in pressure. It can help save you time in the morning because a power shower is likely to be quicker than an average household shower and therefore you’ll be ready to roll in no time.

How to Automate your Garage Door

Having a non-automated garage door can pose a lot of problems. Whether it leads to falling on top of your car and leaving a big dent or you forget to close it and your vehicle gets stolen (while it may be a little silly, it’s possible), there are a lot of situations which make having your garage door automated a big advantage.

The most basic method that you can use to automate your garage door is to install a garage door sensor. This sensor will beep when the door is left open so you are notified that it is still open. This device won’t actually close the garage door but for a price of $30, it can be an inexpensive method of keeping the job done.

The next method would be something that takes a bit less effort – you will just have to push a button and then the door will open or close. Here is what you need for this method:

- X10 Universal Moduleicon
- X10 Powerflash Moduleicon
- intelligent X10 Controller (like software on your PC – Stargate Lite is a good example)

You will have to know that after you push the button to open or close the garage door, it will just (for a moment) contact closure and this will complete a circuit. After that, the voltage that is produced will signal for your garage door opener to take care of its part.

To do this, you will have to hook together a 2 conductor wire (parallell to) with the button that opens your garage door. The best place to splice the wire at its current state would probably be near the opener and you should unplug it before you do the splicing. On the other end of the wiring, it will be connected to the terminals located on the X10 Universal Moduleicon. You will have to program that address for the X10 on the module so you are able to open and close the garage door through X10.

You will also have to make sure that you program the Powerflash module to * Momentary Contact Closure * and let’s say it is programmed to C-1 for further reference.

You will have to make sure that the door knows that it is open or closed when it is in place. This is whether you will have to incorporate the Powerflash Module. You will also need a basic closed door security sensor placed on garage door *some garage doors already have this* but if you have to add it in, just plug together the Powerflash to the sensor wiring in a series.

If not, then you would have to incorporate a sensor and plug in the wires into the terminals located on the Powerflash module.

You will have to set the Powerflash module to mode 3 (input B) and then program the address to anything but “Universal Module” so let’s use an example of F-2 as the programmed term. Then you have to set up the intelligent X10 controller *the controller will have to be set up with the if/then logic* and you can then program the garage door in a variety of ways. For example, if you would like the garage door to close by itself when it becomes dark *noticed by sensors* then you would set it to something similar to this:

IF it’s dark
AND
If F-2 OFF            (This would mean that the garage door is open)
THEN C-1 ON      (This refers to the momentary contact closure)

With that (above) set, you can now get the garage door closed as soon as it gets dark out – this would be beneficial because it only does something IF it is needed and it can help keep the raccoons, stray cats, and burglars from sneaking in.

You should know that a lot of newer garage doors have a special feature that is built into the door for safety which work like IR beams to stop the garage door from closing when there is an object or person in teh way. If you don’t have this, you willl obviously have to be very careful – especially with kids around.

See also:
http://www.garagedoorguide.co.uk/

Different Types of Garage Doors

There are quite a few different types of garage doors available but there are four main different kinds that would come to mind. These particular types of garage doors are the up and over, swing hung, sectional, and roller garage doors and each of them hold certain values over the others for certain reasons. Through this article, we will go through each of them.
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Different Garage Door Materials

If your garage door is starting to show aging (you probably have the old wooden garage door), you may want to consider replacing it with a new one. The door is probably getting even harder to lift up and open and with that extra struggle, it’s just more to throw on your side to further believe that getting a new garage door is needed. The new garage doors are a lot fancier but a lot easier to use as well.
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Why get a new garage door?

If you are someone who currently has an older garage door, you are probably going to want to consider getting a new garage door after reading this article. The thing is that garage doors age and they will become worn out after a while and they will need replaced so it becomes a time where upgrading to the new style garage door occurs. Now, when you originally bought the garage door you have now, it was probably an easy decision but nowadays, there is a load of different types of garage doors available so it is hard to choose what one is right for you. Read the rest of this entry »