diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

In the East area where i live, there are quite a number of nurseries. Some of the more prominent ones include Ban Nee Chen at 45 Amber Road, which specialises in bougainvillea. There is also Katong Flower Shop at 3829 New Upper Changi Road, opposite Tanah Merah MRT.

But I prefer to go to the row of nurseries along Bedok South Road, since I can park my car in one nursery and walk from one nursery to the other. Here you have Kwang Kee, Chin Ling, Spa, Lai Seng and Bedok Garden. I normally go to Lai Seng and Bedok Garden. Lai Seng because I am a long time customer of his and I know the old man. Bedok Garden because it is part of the Far East Flora group and has a big selection. I also have a discount card with them.

Edited April 2, 2014 by kstoh

[Makanology 29]

Hi Kstoh, we are keen to know what the steps you have taken for your flourishing ikea orchid plant. Needless to say, we killed ours

[lala81 3]

Karcher is an incredibly noisy vaccum cleaner. zero noise insulation.

I regret buying mine. Cannot adjust the speed as well. Mine is a basic model.

I think the noise is only tolerable as an outdoor use or a really big room.

I'm already toying with the idea of buying another vaccum cleaner.

[greglhc 30]

Nice to see plant enthusiasts!

I've been bitten by the plant bug too, specifically cacti and succulents, as well as bonsai

My favorite bonsai after pruned!

The nurseries which are a must to visit are world farm (near khatib) and pioneer (which was mentioned here)

Best prices so far. Far east is most ex in my opinion but they do have some nice ones from time to time.

[Ks Toh 74]

Yeah, I have visited World Farm a couple of times too. Bought some plants there as well.

Basically:

Cheap : Ikea

Convenient: Nurseries near your home (I like those along Bedok South Road)

Large selection of potted plants and cheaper too: World Farm (Hua Hng) along Bah Soon Pah Road (near Khatib). Opposite Word Farm here there is also a Pioneer Landscape that sells potted plants. The plants in Ikea are supplied by this Pioneer nursery.

Large selection of landscape plants: Pioneer Landscape along Jalan Lekar, Lim Chu Kang

Edited August 10, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Karcher is an incredibly noisy vaccum cleaner. zero noise insulation.

I regret buying mine. Cannot adjust the speed as well. Mine is a basic model.

I think the noise is only tolerable as an outdoor use or a really big room.

I'm already toying with the idea of buying another vaccum cleaner.

Oops. So sorry to hear this. Now that you say it, my Karcher is a bit noisy. But I guess I never included noise as a consideration.

If less noise is important to you, I think you can consider Miele. The last time I tried, seems not so noisy. But expensive.

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi Kstoh, we are keen to know what the steps you have taken for your flourishing ikea orchid plant. Needless to say, we killed ours

No special steps. Just add water when dry. But I have these plants for only about 2 weeks, so still early to tell.

p.s. my orchids also died after several weeks!

Edited August 10, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

One of my koi pond pumps failed. It is the second pump i have changed. The first lasted 10 months. This one lasted 8 months. The pumps only come with 6 month warranty, so I am out of luck.

Both my pumps were from AFEC (All Favor Enterprise Co Ltd) from Taiwan. But I think pumps that cannot even last one year are quite hopeless. My pond contractor suggest to change to Japanese pump but he quoted $880. So I decided to DIY. Went to Mainland Tropical Fish Farm and bought a Made in Japan Tsurumi OM3 submersible pump for only $250. In order to connect to existing pumping, I had to purchase some PVC connectors. Cost $6 more. Total $256.

Pump seems to be working fine. According to what I read,Tsurumi (pronounced soo-roo-mee) was established in 1924 and is one of the world's most experienced pump manufacturers, with a huge range of submersible dewatering & effluent pumps, & waste water treatment equipment. Tsurumi's Kyoto Plant is the world's most modern submersible pump manufacturing plant with a total manufacturing capability of 1 million units per year. Let's hope this unit lasts.

Edited April 13, 2014 by kstoh

[WCCommander 0]

wow this pump really looks huge !

is it an external pump , or do you put it in the pond ? how do you hide it asethetically ?

sorry for the noob question

[Ks Toh 74]

No, no. This pump is only about 1 foot tall.

It is a submersible pump. It must be in the water, or at least the bottom part which sucks in the water must be in the water.

I do not bother to hide my pump. If you look at my pond picture above, it is at the top left corner of the pond, inside the pond. Look at post #289 http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/62505-top-kew-drive/?p=845654

Initially, I had a cage (made of those black plastic planter base) over the pump to hide it and to prevent the pump from sucking in fishes. But ended up the small fishes keep getting trapped in the holes in the cage. So, I just removed the entire cage. The fishes do not seem to be bothered by the pump.

Edited May 1, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi Kstoh, we are keen to know what the steps you have taken for your flourishing ikea orchid plant. Needless to say, we killed ours

That picture was taken when the orchid was maybe 1 or 2 weeks old. I have to report that the leaves of my orchid have now turned yellow and dropped off! I guess we are in the same boat. Too embarrassed to show photo.

Edited May 1, 2014 by kstoh

[Asking4Help 1]

Hi kstoh,

do u hv any recommendations on types of red wine(affordable though) for consumption on wedding dinner & places to get them...? I assumed u have a wealth of experience on this...

[Ks Toh 74]

Instant Water Heater or Storage Heater?

I find this question being asked quite a fair bit especially by first time homeowners so I thought I will share what I know and my opinion.

Many people ask "which is better" and the answer is "depends on your usage requirements and priorities".

Aesthetics

Most people would have seen an instant water heater. It is that box in the toilet shower wall with a shower head connected to it. It is not that big and rectangular in shape. I have never seen it in any other shape. In some other countries, there are instant water heaters that supply instant hot water to the whole house but in Singapore, I think instant water heaters are normally used in the shower only. Some of the newer models are quite sleek looking. There are many brands and models available but shown below is a model from one of the popular models here from "707" brand.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, there are some people who have never seen a storage heater. This is because the storage heater is normally one big ugly container (usually round or square with roundish corners) tucked away at the corner of the ceiling or hidden away in the false ceiling or below your wash basin inside the cabinet. Hot water from the storage heater is normally piped to more than just the shower area. Shown below is a model from Joven, one of the popular brands. I bought a Joven JH25 too.

So I think if you do not have a place to locate the water tank and you simply cannot accept this tank visible anywhere in your home, storage water heaters are not for you.

Edited May 1, 2014 by kstoh

[BunBun 5]

Your house looks good! Mind if you can take a closer shot at the black tiles joining edge for the kitchen countertop and if the underside of your countertop is also tiled?

[Ks Toh 74]

Usage

The most important factor to determine which type of heater to get should be your usage.

If you need hot water for places other than your shower (e.g. bath tub, basin tap, kitchen tap), then a storage heater is usually the choice. Storage heaters come in many capacities from 15L to 400L, and are designed to supply hot water to several usage points. As compared to an instant heater, a storage heater can normally deliver hot water at a higher temperature and at higher flow rates. The water pressure coming out of the storage heater should be around the same as the source water pipe pressure. Basically there is a heating element at the bottom of the tank that heats up all the water in the tank. Incoming cold water is pushed to the bottom of the tank to be heated up and discharged from the top of the tank. The tank is insulated, so it does try to retain the heat in the water even when not in use.

On the other hand, most instant heaters work by passing the incoming cold water over some heating element, and then discharging it immediately via your shower head. The water flow is slowed down to allow the heating to take place, so the water pressure of the water coming out of your shower head is relatively weak, compared to the storage heater. That is why we read sometimes that instant water heaters do not work with rain showers. The water pressure is simply not strong enough. If the rain shower head is not too big, it may still work, but the rain shower is not really working at its optimum working capacity. I have used storage heaters for many years, and I like the water to shoot strongly onto my body. So when I use instant water heaters, I find the weak water spray on my body "not fulfilling" - I cannot find a better description

And due to the lower flow rate, it is normally not possible to connect the outlet from the instant water heater to more than the shower head. I read that there are now gas instant heaters that can deliver hot water to more than one usage point. I have no knowledge of this type of appliance and I do not know what is the flow rate and temperature that can be achieved. So, I am not able to advise or comment on these heaters.

Energy Consumption

A common question is which type of heater saves electricity. Like many things in this world, there is no clear answer.

Generally speaking, an instant heater should be more energy efficient since it consumes electricity only on demand i.e. you heat the water only when needed and you heat only the amount of water you actually use. On the other hand, most people have the habit of switching on the storage heater anywhere between 5 to 30 mins before they take a bath, since you need some time to heat up all the water in the tank. My wife and children all do that. And if you do not use up all the hot water in the tank, the rest of the heated water are "wasted".

I personally find it unnecessary to "pre-heat" the tank. I always just switch on and go. I find that often there is more than sufficient remaining hot water in the tank, from the last time it was used. Often, I do not even bother to switch on the heater. But possibly, I am one of those who do not need hot water to bathe. I just need "not cold" water. Due to the insulation, the water in the tank is often warmer than tap water. However, my savings in not pre-heating the tank is often offset by my forgetfulness in not switching off the heater after use. Sometimes overnight.

However, I read that as instant water heater makers try to build units that can heat up the water rapidly and not slow the flow rate too much, they have no choice but to put in more powerful heating elements. So, the power consumption for these units can be higher as compared to storage heaters, assuming the same amount of water is being heated (to the same temperature) and used.

Edited May 3, 2014 by kstoh