humidifer review

To follow up with my previous blog on indoor humidity, I would suggest the Frog humidifier by Crane. Not only does is put out a lot of humidity and holds water for all day or all night, the face on the front aides you in placing the tank on the correct way. No more spilling water trying to get everything together. Great item available at amazon.com or I saw it at my local Target today.

Happy humidifying!

indoor humidity

Temperature is the conditioning factor that we most often think about with indoor air comfort and quality, as well as those nasties that you air filter removes. However, indoor air humidity is one of the unseen forces that make our home comfortable. Humidity also affects the wood in your home, it can cause shrinking and cracking of floors and furniture.

Humidity, especially in the South, is an important element in our air. In the summer the humidity can make it oppressively hot and sticky. In the winter our skin and other systems, so used to the humidity, can revolt when the indoor humidity drops below 30%. According to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-1995 Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, the optimal humidity for the indoors is a range between 30% and 60%. ( ANSI/ ASHRAE stands for American National Standards Institute and American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air/Conditioning Engineers.) You will need a hygrometer to measure your humidity, but a zap from the door knob will let you know there is a problem. Many digital thermometers also measure the humidity.

So, how do we achieve a humidity level in the optimal range? A common suggestion is to leave to bowls of water sitting around the house, which is the slow boat method. And, your pets might be drinking the water instead of letting it evaporate. I prefer a less passive methods, check out my list below!


Top 7 ways to increase humidity in your home
** denotes Eco-friendly ideas

1. Use a humidifier. Place it in the room you are occupying and near the heat vent. The vent will aid in distribution.
2. **Hang your clothes to dry indoors. Purchase a rack or two to hang sheets, towels, or all you clothes to dry. Not only will this add humidity, it will save on you energy bill.
3. Misting. This only might seem a bit odd, but I like to mist my face, I have very dry skin, with a hydrosol or rose water. It's very hydrating and smells nice.
4.**Steaming, instead of ironing, is a great way to remove wrinkles in your clothing, increase you air quality, and save on energy. Irons eat electricity!
5. **Winterize your home. Make sure windows and doors are not bring in cold dry air.
6. Make soup and hot teas. Not only does this nourish your body and soul, stave off a cold and stock the freezer, but boiling liquid adds steam to the air.
7. ** Add plants. Plants are the lungs of the earth as we all know, but they can also be the lungs of the home, taking in carbon dioxide and giving back oxygen and humidity.

winter colors

This morning I was watching my bird feeder and thinking about the colors of the little songbirds visiting me. The yard in winter is mostly taupe to ivory, with dried grasses and bare tree limbs. Winter yards are like the color palette of a common "model home" in a new subdivision... all neutrals and a "pop of color". In the model home the pop of color is the pillows, in the yards the pop of color is usually the berries on evergreen bushes. But if you are lucky, you will get the treat of the songbirds at the feeder.
Today's color palette at the feeder included a new bird, a fabulously ostentatious yellow bird. And like many of the birds who visit my feeder, when the sun hits his feathers they change color, sometimes brightening, sometimes a change in hue. This little bird went from yellow to chartreuse, not a color normally found in nature. But reflecting on the colors of these breakfasting birds, you can see how the color palette around you can change too with different lighting. You can look upon these birds for your next color inspiration, too. My favorite winter bird is taupe with a reddish head. When the sun strikes this bird, his head and back go from dull red to cerise. He glows.
So, how can we make our world glow again, change your lights. Next time you find a sale on CFL light bulbs, buy two packs. One pack should be a cool color temperature, about 5000K, sometimes referred to as "daylight". The other should be warm, around 2700K, sometimes referred to as "soft". Now, replace all the bulbs in a room with one color of bulbs and turn on all the lights. Look around sit down and spend a few minutes doing what you would normally do in the room. Then, replace all the bulbs with the other and do the same test. Which light temperature makes you room sing like a bird? Different rooms will benefit from different lighting at different times of the day. So you might want to try this experiment more than once. So environmentally friendly, you will not be replacing these bulbs anytime soon wih CFL's!
Enjoy your brighter new room.

stylish storage- external hard drive

I have been on the hunt for a hard drive... a stylish hard drive. I know the considerations should be size and price, but if I spending the money, I want something that looks good as well.

I narrowed it down to two brands, one speaks to my green side, the other on purely aesthetics and the parameters of around $100 and a terabyte of space. My green option was the [re]drive by Simpletech from Hitachi. the exterior is made from bamboo and recycled aluminum and it is energy star rated boasting a USB drive which is 25% faster than USB2.0.

Pretty snazzy!

LaCie was my other brand of choice, they have produced some of the coolest electronic gadgets with reasonable prices. I was first smitten with the LaCie Golden Disk designed by Ora-Ito. It looks like water reflecting a sunset or a morphed Chanel quilting bag. And, I what other beauties do they offer... Who knew the beauties I would behold! The Lacie Grand Disk with the subtle face reminding me of a Paloma Picasso design from Tiffany's, it's as if the hand drive could really have a brain.

Golden Disk on the left and the grand Disk on the right.

Then I found the one, the one that makes your heart sing, well is anything Phillippe Starck makes your hear sing... which it does mine! Below is the LaCie hard drive designer by Starck.

It contrasts the smooth front of the Grand Disk with the aluminum hard case of the [re]drive and adds a lighted orange Starck logo as the"on" indicator. And, features a touch sensitive front. I had to have it! All are available on Amazon.com.

Sarah Susanka's house

"Bigger isn't better, Taller isn't braver, Stronger isn't always wise," a few thoughts from the musical Barnum. Though these lyrics refer to Tom Thumb from Barnum's circus acts, they can also pertain to design. In Sarah Susanka's Not so Big House series of books, she elaborates on how a home can be smaller and well designer where the owner doesn't need the size and space that the trappings of ego often influence in home decisions. With lowered ceiling in hallways, focal points, and datums, smaller spaces live large. Living smaller has another advantage of costs. Everything, including design is a balancing act, especially in budget. Living in smaller spaces allow one to spend more per square foot, if desired, or allows one to choose a few precious items to feature in the space, be it art, or a fabulous sink and faucet.
I just saw Sarah on an episode of This Old House, one of my favorite series from childhood. I was amazed that these guys could take a house down to the studs and bring it back different and better than before. I wanted to be able to do that to. I think that's why I care more about the making of a project, the design, how it works than seeing the end products. I do love the process. Of course, it is very important that the process produces your intent, or better, but the journey to the end can be a very rich dessert.