Kitchens and Bathrooms: Fresh Ideas

Posted on by Posted in Bathrooms and Kitchens, Home improvement

Fresh-Ideas-mainIf you want to get a good idea of the latest thinking on kitchens and bathrooms, the annual New Designers exhibition that takes place in London each July is a good place to start, suggests Grahame Morrison

I have seen the future and it is both very exciting and possibly a little scary too. The future – or at least the seeds of it – was on display at this year’s New Designers 2014 that took place at the Business Design Centre in London.

Products for the kitchen in particular featured strongly this year, and while the emphasis was probably more Joseph & Joseph than Fisher & Paykel, the new product suggestions included a well thought out alternative to an energy-guzzling tumble dryer and an extremely clever update to today’s loo that saves both space and water.

We would be short-sighted in the extreme if we ignore what these talented new designers are telling us. Many worked from the premise that interiors are going to get smaller, that the humble table in particular will have to play several roles in the homes of tomorrow to justify the space they take up, that flat pack construction will become even more important for a range of products and that saving water and energy will become mainstream.

While several of the examples here may be short of the features that are going to turn them from a student’s course work into full-on production, to concentrate on what they may lack is I think to miss the main point.

What these new designers are saying is that new solutions are what’s needed, rather than new clothes on old thinking.

  • Nüma is a heatless, energy-efficient indoor clothes dryer designed by Daniel Brooks. A low energy fan at the top pushes air through the column and arms while an ioniser in the base keeps the laundry smelling fresh
  • Jack Taylor-Ribbons’ Larderbox achieves a number of aims. It encourages people to use fresh food and helps to restore a connection with the food itself. It uses a combination of traditional techniques to lengthen the edible life of the food – especially useful in developing countries with limited resources
  • iota by Gareth Humphreys and Elliott Whiteley saves space in the bathroom by up to a third when it is folded up. It reduces water consumption as a flush of 2.5 litres is sufficient to thoroughly clean the bowl
  • Space-saving kitchens in themselves are not new, but the feature that makes Kanak Jaitli’s Modular Kitchen stand out is the clever way she provided the maximum amount of working surface
  • The Ease Trestle by Kit Shadbolt is a work of genius. The trestle is designed to put the table top at two heights; breakfast bar for casual dining or food prep and formal table height for more formal dining
  • The key to Douglas Pulman’s Braces Furniture Range is the bracket mechanism he designed. His aim was to produce a system that did not use hinges or screws as these both require expensive engineering to make them

 

Room for improvement, even with awareness of renewables at 90%

Posted on by Posted in Renewable Energy

decclogoA recent report has been released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), which has found that 90% of the non-domestic organisations which were surveyed were aware of renewable heat technologies.

The survey, conducted by three companies independent to DECC, found that the majority of RHI applicants were found to be satisfied with their renewable heat technologies, with 90% reporting that they are either “very” or “fairly” satisfied.  Applicants were also mostly satisfied with the installation process, with just under two thirds finding it “very” or “fairly” easy. The technologies with the highest take-up (biomass boilers, ground source heat pumps and solar thermal) were the most well known.

The report stated that the financial incentive offered by the RHI mattered and there was evidence that a large proportion of installations would not have happened without the RHI. Citing financial returns as one of the main reasons, the scheme’s involvement was found to be a success. The environment and using renewable energy sources was also important to a majority of organisations in their choice of technology, particularly for large and public sector organisations.

Although the satisfaction and awareness of renewable heat technologies were found to be high, the report highlighted a lack of awareness of the RHI and its aim to promote wider awareness of renewable heat technologies. The wider non-domestic population were reported at 79% unaware of the scheme prior to being surveyed.

The main barriers to investment for organisations are reported as a lack of confidence in the reliability of renewable heat technologies, the length of payback and uncertainty over the level of payback. Fifty two per cent were unsure whether renewable heat technologies would fulfill their heating requirements better than their current system and 58% were unsure whether Renewable heat technologies were more reliable than conventional heating systems.

The report highlighted that applicants to the scheme wanted to see “more streamlining, clarity and consistency in the application process”. A third of those surveyed reported that the process took the equivalent of four full-time days or less, while 22% stated the application process took more than 15 days.

Fifty four per cent reported problems with completing applications due to a lack of clarity of information they were required to provide and overly complex guidance from Ofgem.

The report concluded that the RHI has played its part in the non-domestic RHI by stimulating investments in renewable heat technology. Experiences with the installation and operation of renewable heat technology were found to be positive. The report concluded that, although renewable heat technology is being installed in a wide range of sectors, the relatively low prevalence of non-biomass renewable heat technology, larger systems, and the lack of non-self-financed installations shows that areas of the supply chain still have room to develop.

 

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Baumatic launches Fashionbook Lite

Posted on by Posted in Bathrooms and Kitchens

baumaticBaumatic has launched its latest brochure as an appliance look book.

Entitled Fashionbook Lite 2014, it shows all of the current appliance collections including the Premium Line, Slim Line, and Mega Chef built-in cooking families together, with it’s range of microwaves, range cookers, slot-in cookers, splashbacks, extractor hoods, wine coolers, refrigeration, laundry and dishwashers. All the required technical drawings are available at the back of the brochure.

Owain Harrison, marketing director of Baumatic said:

“In order to satisfy continued demand from our retail partners, we have developed the Fashionbook Lite for the autumn. In line with our philosophy to simply dare to be different, we have designed it in a look book format, where our appliance collections can be viewed at a glance.

“Our continued investment in service ensures that the best possible care will be provided to customers by our fully trained Baumatic service engineers. To that end, we are offering 5 year parts and labour warranties for our most popular products in the Premium Line and MegaChef collections together with 5 year parts and 2 years labour warranty offers for all other appliances in the range.”

www.baumatic.co.uk

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HVAC and Refrigeration Engineering help make Dreams Come True

Posted on by Posted in HVAC Industry, Useful Resources

Dreams Come True

 

HVAC & Refrigeration Engineering Ltd is delighted to have helped to raise over £72,000, for the Dreams Come True, Over the Rainbow Ball, on Saturday 24 May 2014.

The night was a huge success and the funds raised will be used for Rebecca’s Rainbow Heart Ebstein’s Anomaly Trust, continuing to support all of Ebstein’s Anomaly children, by facilitating life saving surgical interventions and funding the provision of a specialist paediatric cardiac nurse, to be based at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.

Services Director, Russell Bell said:

“We are delighted to have helped raise a fantastic sum of money for such a deserving charity and we look forward to the Over the Rainbow Ball next year”.

Dreams Come True is a national charity that fulfils the dreams of terminally and seriously ill children and young people aged between 2 and 21.

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Pilot scheme helps plumbers report high-risk work

Posted on by Posted in Plumbing Industry News

pilot-schemeThe Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) and Severn Trent Water have joined together to pilot a scheme where WaterSafe-approved contractors can directly report any high-risk work to the relevant water company.

Upon receiving a high-risk work report, Severn Trent Water will inspect the work and will have the statutory power to ensure contraventions are addressed, as water companies are responsible for enforcing the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations that apply to plumbing in premises within their area of operation.

John Thompson, CEO of APHC, commented:

“Plumbing contractors do not currently have an effective means of reporting high-risk defective installations in properties, which inhibits potential enforcement actions and also fails to address companies persistently breaching the requirements of the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999.

“We believe there is a unique opportunity through the WaterSafe initiative to bring plumbing contractors and water companies together, to better tackle the issue of high-risk defective work.”

The pilot project is currently being run through a select number of APHC and WaterMark plumbers operating in the Severn Trent Area and the project will conclude later in the year. At the end of the pilot period, it is anticipated that, if successful, a full reporting arrangement will be rolled out across all WaterSafe scheme operators and water companies.

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