Showing posts with label cooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooling. Show all posts

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Our New High Tech Door, Worth The Money

When we renovated our kitchen last summer, we also decided to change the door going to the mirpeset, balcony/terrace.

It was wood with a glass window, and after over thirty years being exposed to the worst of the wind, rain and strong sun, the time had come to replace it. Draughts and rain snuck through, and if I tried to clean the window panes, it was clear that they were very loose.

A few years ago, when I had first been concerned that the lower section was about to separate forever, my son-in-law insisted he could fix/replace that part. That repair didn't solve all the problems, just one. But when the door became so warped that the lock mechanism was misaligned, and keys broke, I lost all patience with it.

The time had arrived to get a new door, something that would upgrade our home. My daughter highly recommended in internal blind, inside the double panes of special insulating glass. Considering how much we were spending on the kitchen, I didn't think it was wise to go "cheap" on the door.

For years I'd been drooling over a door of new, modern materials, neither wood nor aluminum. I wanted top notch insulation. It has always been important to me. I had planned and built the house according to the principles of passive solar heating, and it is as well insulated as was possible to build at that time.

Basically, we had a choice between ordering from an American company via a friend of ours, who is their agent here, or buying from a more local company headquartered in nearby Sha'ar Binyamin. And we know the owners of that company, also. The deciding point was that the American company didn't have a possibility for internal blinds. So, I called Chaim Briskin of Hi-Tech Windows in Sha'ar Binyamin, 02-656-5575, email info@pvcwindows.co.il.

I chose what I wanted when visiting their showroom factory, and then later on, they came to my house to measure and take a look at the doorway. Not only did we get a door with a large glass window that has the inner blinds, but we also ordered a simple screen door. By having a screen door, we figured that we can save money in the summer, especially in the evenings, by being able to keep the door open and the screen closed. That way we wouldn't need to use the airconditioner for cooling all that much.


Since the door didn't arrive until the weather had cooled, we can't say how much it will help in the summer. But we're overjoyed at how the door is increasing our winter quality of life. No longer are we suffering from the cold draughts that had plagued our dining area.

It's also a great savings in heating costs. The heater goes off frequently, since heat isn't being lost. During the previous winter, the heater never seemed to go off.

When we built the house, custom designed and built, we ordered double windows. The inner window frames are wood, and the outer ones are aluminum. The planning was rather primitive by today's standards, but despite the numerous imperfections cold stays out.

I firmly believe that it's worth investing in the best possible insulated doors and windows, and today you can get top notch doors and windows from Hi-Tech Windows. I recommend them for all of your window and door needs. You'll save on heating and cooling, especially if you don't skimp on screens. They work all over the country, not just around here.

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Report on the New Heater/Cooler Airconditioner

  • I absolutely adore the new feel of the house.
  • I love coming in on a cold day and actually feeling warmer inside than I had been outside all bundled up. 
  • It's so nice that our rather small living-room and even smaller bedroom no longer has to be cluttered by a radiator.

Everyone keeps asking:
"Aren't you sorry you didn't get them ten (or more) years ago?"
Well, in all honesty, maybe not ten or more years ago, but certainly five or so when prices began to drop drastically. I remember that the earlier ones, which we would have certainly been replaced a couple of times by now, weren't a fraction as good as today's standard models. It's sort of like the "advantage" of a baby walking a bit "late" and saving her/his parents money on shoes, since those early walkers need more pairs of the more expensive ones.

Today's models also have better motors and thermostats, so they go off a lot, and the house stays comfortable.

Our neighbors had a very early model, and everytime it went on our lights dimmed, because the neighborhood electricity supply was connected and insufficient. I'm not the type to keep berating myself for something in the past that can't be reversed. Let's just enjoy what we have today.