diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

You can try using Flickr

try this. See if this works for you

1) go to g+ and click share photo

2) select "add photo" from "your google+ photo"

3) click the "google drive" tab, you should be able to view your gdrive pictures and select those you want to share

4) click "add"

5) click "add" again

6) click "share", your photos will be share to your G+ profile (you may want to create a new circle with no one in it to share to)

7) you can now select the photos and copy the image URL. This URL should be RT friendly. I grabbed one of the photo from your earlier post and the result are below

Thanks. I tried both methods but could not figure out how to do the link to enable the picture to display on this blog. Sorry, how to do it?

For Flickr, I got this bbcode: IMG_2678 by ks_toh

For Google+ (Picassa brings me to Google+), I somehow could not find the link.

P.S. Ok, seems like the Flickr link works after all!

Edited May 5, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

I suspect that Storage heaters have been around for much longer and so its more well known. Gas heaters by comparison are only gaining some popularity in recent years I believe. Could it also be that the discrepancy between the electricity and gas tariffs were not as great before? So people didn't need to consider an alternative?

Previously the competition seemed to be between instant electric vs storage and once you factored in the ability of storage tanks to provide hot water to more than one location, then the option becomes alot clearer.

I went to CItygas today as I mentioned and there was a guy there who was very helpful and passionate about sharing information on gas heaters.

Here's what I learnt in a breakdown:

1. He's not actually fully certain if gas will save money in your utility bill. If both instant electric and gas consumes the same amount of power then yes, gas will save. However, there could be electric models that have lower energy demands. Also he admits that there could be water wastage issues with gas. And gas would still consume SOME electricity either with a battery for ignition, or the newer AC powered models. AC power on standby 24/7 will drain about $1.50 on your utilities a month at current rates he says.

2. It should have more water pressure than an instant electric. The flow rate is higher and there is also the pressure from the normal cold water adding to it.

3. It can provide hot water to more sources than an instant electric. You just need to run pipes to each area.

4. There have been no cases of gas leaks to date.

5. Installation can be done in a few hours. UNLESS you have existing kitchen furniture, in which case they need to conduct a site visit to see if they can run the gas pipe within safety regulations.

6. Macro is the most common and best reviewed brand they have. Ferrolli is newer but has more complaints.

Interesting discussion. I never figured out how each will affect flow rate which is a major concern for rain showers.

From my own experience, I can vouch for instant gas heater for rain shower. Mine has an excellent flow rate and I live on the lower floor of a old condo.

The other advantage of instant gas heater is that you will never run out of warm water. Whereas it is finite in a storage heater. So if you have a few people using the rain shower, not enough hot water may be stored.

Oh and I never bought instant gas is cheaper either. If there truly are savings, it's minute.

Just when we thought instant gas heaters will be the best of both worlds, I read from lemoncandy's blog about instant electric multi-point heaters!

2010090727d18d92_img_1

Edited May 6, 2014 by kstoh

[BunBun 5]

Hello Kstoh,

Yes, that is the one I asked about. Thank you for posting a close up shot of your countertop.

Actually, the joints for a tiled concrete countertop was driving me nuts because well, the tiling works on my own countertop is barely acceptable. And it looked a little better because of the rounding done to the edge of the tiles.

Usually concrete countertops before tiling, always look smooth and flat after being cured and in few cases, some people will request for leg partition to space the area. Mostly, the countertops are supported only with end legs without any middle support. This was one of my pet peeves when I saw the kitchen countertop up before tiling that is. My kitchen countertop ended up with not one extra support, but 2 extra supports when I did not ask for them. I was later told, this was the sub contractor's style of building a concrete countertop and to add more support. So I was sulking about it to the hubby afterwards as the tiling on the 2 supports didn't gel with me.

Hi, it this what you want?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9DCcfkrQ-Xvb1k4U2MzenE5QkU/edit?usp=sharing

Underside and back not tiled. Side and bottom tiled.

P.S. My Photobucket account keeps running out of bandwidth, so I am trying to use Google Drive above. Is there a way to do Image Display like what can be done for Photobucket images? Or is there a better service provider?

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi. If I understand you correctly, you are unhappy that the contractor added more leg support in between the two ends? That is the opposite of my case.

My counter top is L shaped. Both the contractor & ID wanted to have just one more support at the bend but my wife insisted on adding 2 more to achieve the look that you see from the final result.

[BunBun 5]

Yes, that is right, my hubby also agreed with me on that part - he doesn't like the look too. And on my part, I wanted a countertop with end legs since it is a straight line shape. It's also easier to plan the layout of doors, drawers allocation this way.

Why did your wife want so many supports for the countertop?

Hi. If I understand you correctly, you are unhappy that the contractor added more leg support in between the two ends? That is the opposite of my case.

My counter top is L shaped. Both the contractor & ID wanted to have just one more support at the bend but my wife insisted on adding 2 more to achieve the look that you see from the final result.

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi.

For my dry kitchen, it is one single piece of Silestone Quartz. Actually two pieces joined. No concrete support. All wooden cabinets below.

It is only for my wet kitchen that there is concrete top with supports. The tiles are black homogenous tiles. This is in the yard.

[Ks Toh 74]

This morning, I read from the newspapers that a PE Teacher fell to her death from a ladder, while checking the lights in her newly renovated home. Please be careful. Make sure you buy the correct ladder and use it correctly.

Some tips here: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/62505-top-kew-drive/?p=837895

[4ddd 18]

Great reading especially the ladders.. I am trying to find a ladder which is foldable into a M shape and a big N shape...

Used that before in the army but can't seem to find it.

Really love the nurseries too...now I knw where to check it out.

Thumbs up!

[Ks Toh 74]

Water Heaters

Just thought I should summarise what I know about water heaters. Please note that my experience is based only on electric (single point) instant heaters and electric storage tank heaters. The rest are based on what I read about.

There are many types of heaters or hybrid heaters, but these are the 4 main types you can get in Singapore:

A) Electric (Single Point) Instant Heater

B) Electric Storage Heater

C) Gas (Multi Point) Instant Heater

D) Electric (Multi Point) Instant Heater

Electric (Single Point) Instant Heater

62cc09ec-6022-4021-949b-8fdf2b864c41_zps751ed05c

7-tankless-water-heater

This would be the most common type of water heater in use in Singapore homes. There are many brands and models available but the model shown above is from the "707" brand. The working diagram is that of a typical electrical heater.

This kind of heater is very easy to install. At the place you want to put your shower head, you just need one water outlet. Normally, people put a two or three way tap there. One is the tap, the other connects to the instant heater via a flexible hose. That is all. You of course need to run one electrical point to the heater.

Instant heaters 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. However, there are a few disadvantages.

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 flow rate of the water coming out of your shower head is relatively weak, most likely slower than the the original rate out of the tap. That is why this type of heater is only for single point use i.e. the shower. You cannot be using the water to fill up the bath tub simultaneously. And sometimes, the rain shower may not even work properly with this type of heater. But I did read that some instant water heaters come with a rain shower set. These units have some kind of booster pump inside to support the rain shower.

In addition, there is a limit to the temperature of the water coming out. If you want to really hot water e.g. to fill your bath tub, this type of heater may not be suitable.

Electric Storage Heaters

If you need hot water for places other than your shower (e.g. bath tub, basin tap, kitchen tap), then a storage heater is a common 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 regularly deliver hot water at a higher temperature and at higher flow rates. Shown below is a Joven 25L heater and how the system works.

391637_zps02152d63

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.

For storage heaters, you need to lay hot water pipes from the heater location to all your usage points i.e. shower, bath tup, tap etc. At all these usage points, there will be two water outlets, one hot (leading from the storage heater) one cold (direct from the water mains). The taps and shower sets that you buy should be those hot/cold water types with two inlets but only one outlet. Due to the fact that the shower/tap outlet is taking water supply from two different inlets but output via a single outlet, the flow rate should be somehow improved. (This is conjecture but probably correct to a certain degree).

There are of course disadvantages with storage heaters. First of all, the tank can be ugly. And if you are not able to hide it (above the false ceiling or below the sink), this may be a problem. Secondly, the hot water supply is not instant. You do need to wait for the tank to heat up, and this can take anywhere between 10 to 30 mins, depending on tank size, desired temperature etc. Basically, you heat up the whole tank but you only end up using some but not all of the heated water. And if for some reason you use up all the hot water in the tank, you will to wait for the water to heat up again. Or buy a bigger capacity tank!

Edited May 17, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Gas (Multi Point) Instant Heaters

On paper, instant gas heater seems to combine the best of both worlds (instant electric and storage tank). The hot water can be piped to multiple points. I need someone to confirm that it can deliver on demand sufficiently hot water at a sufficiently high flow rate (good enough for rain shower, bath tub etc). I suspect that due to the fact that the water must still be slowed down for heating, and the water is being heated instantly, the flow rate and temperature of water attainable cannot be as high as that from storage heaters. Nevertheless, I should add that it is rare that you need to turn on the shower, tap and bath tub simultaneously at the same time, and all requiring very hot water. So, for most purposes, as long as you are able to pipe the water to multiple points and get sufficiently hot water there, it should meet your purposes.

There are several disadvantages with gas heaters. Firstly, piped gas is not available in all estates. My estate has no piped gas, so this option is out, unless I use LPG, which is super impractical for heater use. Secondly, storage heaters are normally placed in the toilet itself, very near the shower area. I read that for HDB, the gas heater must be in the service yard? If the distance from yard to your toilet is far, that may be an issue as the hot water needs to travel some distance before it reaches you. So, you get cold water for some time before you get hot water. Installation of gas heaters seem more complicated that the others. You need to run a gas pipe, plus cold and hot water pipes, to the heater. And all these are exposed, since you cannot conceal this gas heater. Finally, there is this fear that the gas may leak leading to fire or poisoning. Never heard of such cases but it does affect me psychologically. The leak is not so much from the unit itself but maybe if you accidentally drill or hammer a nail into one of the pipes behind the cabinets or walls. Just one more thing to worry about.

For user experience, need to check out Dwinsplace's blog, unless he changed his mind: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/65073-hacking-out-a-home-shaped-hole-cassia/

Edited May 17, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Electric (Multi Point) Instant Heater

2010090727d18d92_img_1

I did not know that they sell this in Singapore. Otherwise, I would have installed this instead of the Joven 25L tank.

Basically, this seems to have all the benefits of an Gas (Multi Point) Instant Heater less all the troubles associate with gas pipes. And best of all, it seems like you can instal it in the concealed ceiling. However, just like gas instant heaters, I do not know what the flow rate and temperature attainable is like.

However, do note that based on the heating element alone, this type of heater requires a very powerful heating element. The Bennington C600 website puts the power rating at 4.5 kW to 12 kW. Compare this to Rheem storage heaters with a power rating of only 1.8 kW to 4.8 kW (tanks from 25L to 400L).

For user experience, you can check out lemoncandy's blog http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/64856-the-cosy-corner-we-call-home/?p=853828

P.S. I have been reading reports that this C600 cannot support two showers at the same time. Only storage heaters can.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Ks Toh

[Ks Toh 74]

Another one bites the dust ...

Yet another pump has failed. Taiwanese pumps, no matter how reputable or popular, just cannot last. Cannot compare to those Made in Japan pumps. So, again, I had to buy a new Tsurumi pump to replace the old Elite pump. Luckily, having figured out how to DIY, I can now replace the pump and save myself $880 minus $250.

I have no idea how come the last two pictures are rotated wrongly when viewed on PC when the original pictures are orientated correctly on my mobile as well as on Flickr website. I am now using Flickr. I had no such problems when using Photobucket.

Edited May 16, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Articulated TV Wall Mount

When I decided to mount my TV on the wall at my roof terrace, I searched high and low for an articulated TV wall mount. I went to Ikea, Howard's, Home-Fix, Self-Fix and various hardware stores but all the articulated wall mounts sold could only handle relatively small (and light) TV sets. Eventually, I struck jackpot and found a suitable wall mount in Sim Lim, which could accept Plasma/LCD TV sets from 32" to 42". This articulated wall mount allows me to turn the TV up, down, left and right.

I originally intended to try and mount the TV myself but after I looked at the huge screws, which meant I had to drill big holes in the wall, I gave up and paid the installer to do it. My old 42" TV is rather heavy at about 27.5 kg. I think the newer TVs are much lighter and should not pose any problem for this mount.

Edited May 20, 2014 by kstoh

[OceanEleven 203]

Articulated TV Wall Mount

I originally intended to try and mount the TV myself but after I looked at the huge screws, which meant I had to drill big holes in the wall, I gave up and paid the installer to do it. My old 42" TV is rather heavy at about 27.5 kg. I think the newer TVs are much lighter and should not pose any problem for this mount.

Uncle Toh, did you chance upon one that can support bigger like up to 55"?

By the way, what is the cost and installer charges?

[4ddd 18]

your place is looking like a hotel with that mount. I am interested in the damage too...