We are now
in our second spring of the Fusion show and we
are finding all new
stories to share. When we chat about
what is of interest to us, they
are generally stories that our friends and
family have questions about also.
If you have questions about home
improvement, décor or cooking we invite
you to share those ideas with us. Either
way, drop us a line and let us
know how we are doing!
Lampshade Chandeliers
A lot of the newer homes and condo are
missing something! Just walk into a room and
try to turn on a light. In most of the
rooms, there is no overhead light. To help
get around that we stopped by
Naomi's Lampshades and Lamps (503-636-1884) to chat with Bea for some
'bright' ideas. She showed us how easy it is
to build your own chandelier
out of your favorite lampshades. It's a
lamp, without a lamp! Not only
that, you can also use this same technique
to build reading lamps for your
bedroom or even replace an old, out of date
chandelier in your dining room!.
It is a great way to bring light to those
darks rooms and make your own
creative mark on your living area.
Changing Your Patio
The weather is getting warmer and that means
we will be moving
outside to entertain and enjoy our homes and
gardens. You can create a
great outdoor living space without breaking
the bank. Jeanette from
Al's
Garden Center (503-726-1162) joined us at their Sherwood
location to show us how easy it is
to build that welcoming environment. She
told us that we should be asking
ourselves some questions. What is the size
of the area, what do you want to
do in that area (entertaining or dining),
and what is your 'look', color or
theme. The first thing you start with is
good bones. That means the major
elements have to be of high quality. Your
furniture, tables and chairs have
to be built to last. You will build your
area around these quality items!
We then showed you how easy it was to change
from a Tuscan theme to a
tropical theme with a couple of simple
changes.
We then moved to a small bistro set to show
you how small
changes can make a difference in your
outdoor dining area. Here we featured
an outdoor piece of art, some new cushions
and a plant in a quick change to
create a totally different feel. The most
interesting piece for us was the
half umbrella over the table. This new
umbrella would be great in those
small spaces of a patio at an apartment or
condo. If you need some tips for
creating a big impact in a small space check
with the experts at Al's in
Woodburn and Sherwood.
Grind Your
Own Spices
One of the quickest ways to 'punch' up your
recipes is with
fresh spices and you can create your own
tasty spice combinations by
'cooking' and grinding your own spices. We
met with Chef Vaidya from the
Oregon Culinary Institute (1-888-OCI-CHEF) who showed Chef
David how easy it is to do. Chef Vaidya
picked out 7 different spices for
us to look at. We saw some different spices
like clove, cinnamon, bay leaf
and nutmeg. Spices can be anything that adds
flavor to a recipe and can come
from different parts of plants in nature. It
can be a leaf, seeds or even
bark from a plant. Chef Vaidya showed us how
to use a stove-top pan to heat
the spices. The heat releases the volatile
oils from the spice and creates
a more intense flavor. After heating, he
ground the spices in a mortar and
pestle. This also helps release the flavor
and mixes the spices into
different combinations. You can store these
spice mixes up to 6 months. If
you are interested in taking some cooking
classes and learning more, check
out the Oregon Culinary website.
Sanderson
Fire Extinguishers
We all know that fire extinguishers are
important for the safety
of our families and property, but there the
important differences in the
types of fire extinguishers that are
available to the homeowner so we
stopped by
Sanderson Safety Supply (503-238-5700) to talk with Geoff about
the different types and how to use them.
First of all you may have noticed
a letter designation on the front of your
extinguisher, an A-B-C or a
combination of those letters. Those letters
refer to the type of fire that
the extinguisher can treat. 'A' means a
paper or wood combustible. 'B'
refers to liquids and 'C' deals with
electrical fires. So an ABC
extinguisher can handle all of those
different fires in your home.
The most important areas for placing an
extinguisher is a
kitchen, a garage (near your furnace or hot
water heater), and your sleeping
areas. The first areas are where you are
most likely to encounter a fire
and the last area is for your safety if a
fire happens during the night.
Make sure the equipment is accessible for
use too. Don't bury it in a
closet.
To use the extinguisher you would use the
PASS technique. That
means 'Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep'. Pull
the pin, aim at the base of the
fire, squeeze the handle and sweep at the
base of the flames. Remember to
keep the fire extinguisher up-right while
using it too. When you use a fire
extinguisher you are trying to remove the
heat and the oxygen from the fire
which are 2 of the 3 items from the fire
triangle that maintain the fire
(the 3rd is to remove the combustible
material). If you have a fire
extinguisher make sure you maintain it and
if you don't then consider
getting one (or two) for your home.
New Hot
Water Heaters
There are lots of new innovations in water
heaters and to learn
about the latest in hot water we went to the
water heater king,
George Morlan
Plumbing (503-224-7000).
You may not think you need to worry about
your water heater, but in the
Northwest the average water heater lasts
about 12 years, so you will have to
worry about replacing yours soon. The
conventional water heaters come in 2
main styles, one for natural gas where a
flame heats the water and an
electric water heater which uses two heating
coils to heat the water for
your home.
Next, we moved to the new 'Cadillac's' of
energy efficiency in
water heating. First was the Rheem Marathon
water heater. The main cause
of failure for most heaters is a leak in the
tank. This new model from
Rheem is guaranteed to never leak. Next we
saw the GE Hybrid water heater.
This one uses a heat pump to pull heat from
the surrounding air to
complement the normal heating process. That
extra heat from the heat pump
can lower your water heating costs by half.
The final model we saw was a
'heat on demand' water heater. This one only
heats water when you turn on
the faucet so you don't have to pay money to
keep a tank of water hot, even
if you are not using it, like a normal water
heater. You can even get an
on-demand electric water heater for those
hard to reach areas in your shed
or garage. The thing to remember when you
are choosing a new water heater
is to figure out the water needs of your
family and then find the right unit
to meet those needs.
No matter which type of heater you use,
remember you have to
secure it to keep it safe in case of
earthquakes. Also, for most areas you
may need a permit to install a new water
heater. Be sure to check with your
local municipality. For any of your hot
water needs, check with your local
'Water Heater Kings' at George Morlan.
Quick Tip - Replacing Filters
Did you know that you could be losing a ton
of money due to an
inefficient furnace? Having a dirty air
filter in your furnace restricts
the airflow and makes it work harder to get
the same amount of heat or
cooling in your home. You should check your
filter once a month and replace
it every 3 months to get the most out of
your heating and cooling system.
For answers to all your heating questions
check with
Roth Heating and
Cooling.