Search

Month: October 2021

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Electric Vehicles

Posted on by Baptiste Lessard

Electric cars are much cleaner than traditional cars because they don’t emit a cocktail of environmental pollutants. By driving an electric car, you, therefore, contribute to a better environment. Keep in mind the current with which the car is charged. The greener the electricity, the more environmentally friendly the car. Saving for a few solar panels and charging the car with this energy is, therefore, a very good idea. The production and recycling of batteries in particular do have an impact on the environment.

Many manufacturers are taking care of their processes, making sure that they are not leaving a huge impact on the environment. Businesses like Hugo and Sons promote environment-friendly products like upholstered coffee table footstools to help protect the environment and minimize pollution. In the same manner, businesses that promote electric cars make sure that their products don’t emit environmental pollutants.

Fewer maintenance costs

Also nice: with an electric car you have much lower maintenance costs. That has everything to do with the electric motor. Compared to an internal combustion engine, an electric motor has far fewer moving parts. This reduces the chance of wear and tear. Time will tell whether an electric motor is still cheaper in the long run.

Electric cars are whisper quiet

The familiar roaring sound of the traditional car is produced by the internal combustion engine. An electric car is powered by electricity, which means much less noise. The fact that these environmentally friendly cars are whisper-quiet is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is nice and quiet for motorists and for people who live close to a (highway) road, but dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.

Driving on electricity is cheaper

You fill the tank and are a few tens poorer. With an electric car, that is a thing of the past. Electricity is cheaper than petrol, diesel, and LPG. Charging the car at home or at work is about half the cost of driving on regular fuel. Public charging points are more expensive, even their the electricity is still cheaper than petrol, diesel or LPG.

It is tax attractive

Electric drivers now have a number of tax benefits. For example, an addition of 4% applies to electric lease cars, instead of the usual 22% for petrol and diesel cars. It also makes a difference that you do not have to pay motor vehicle tax (road tax) and purchase tax (BPM) for electric cars.

You can lease electric cars

The hefty price tag and the uncertain residual value are important arguments not to buy an electric car. With a private lease, you don’t have to worry about that. You pay a fixed monthly amount that is based on the number of kilometers, the contract duration, the price, and the residual value of the car.

The disadvantages of electric cars

Electric cars are more expensive. Electric cars are more expensive than fossil fuel cars. It is actually quite logical that you can’t buy an electric car for next to nothing. They are not yet mass-produced and the batteries are expensive. Also, few electric cars are offered second-hand. If the demand for electric cars continues to rise, this will of course change.

The range is limited

The range of electric cars is getting better, but it still lags behind the traditional car. An electric car can get on average between 100 and 500 kilometers with a full battery. For example, a petrol car with a tank capacity of 50 liters and average fuel consumption of 1 in 15 has a range of 750 kilometers. That’s still a difference. The limited range can cause ‘range anxiety’: the fear of not reaching your destination. That is anything but relaxing driving.

Electric charging takes time

A petrol tank is filled within a few minutes, an electric car takes much longer to charge. At home, you can count on up to 8 hours. At a charging point 1 to 2 hours and at a fast-charging station for 30 minutes. Filling up super fast and driving away is therefore not possible. A plug-in hybrid takes 1 to 4 hours to charge the battery. Driving longer distances, therefore, requires the necessary planning and arrangements.

There are too few charging points

The number of electric cars is increasing faster than the number of charging stations. As a result, charging stations are scarce and it is not always possible to charge the battery. Buying your own charging station is of course an option.

A towbar is missing

A caravan and an electric car usually do not go well together. Many electric cars do not have a towbar. Mounting one is unfortunately not an option. The battery pack is often in the way or the cooling capacity of the battery and motor cannot handle it. Something to keep in mind when buying a car.

It drives something different

One finds driving an electric car a world of difference, while the other does not turn his hand around. The big difference is that you don’t have to shift gears, because there are no gears in the car. This makes acceleration so smooth that you drive too fast.

Technology For Painting Wooden Doors

Posted on by Baptiste Lessard

How to paint a wooden front door. Technology for painting wooden doors. The choice of paint, video instructions. At where you can choose what types of paints or brushes for painting interior doors to paint high-quality wooden doors, you need to understand that this procedure does not save time and material. All work must initially be carried out correctly, in accordance with all stages. Only in this position you can transform an old canvas or give the desired look to new details. All the nuances should be calculated in advance to exclude unpleasant consequences. To obtain the desired result, as well as to create a reliable and durable coating, it is necessary to choose the right paint for wooden doors. It should be noted that there are two main compositions used for such work – varnish and paint. In this case, both substances can be used together.

Varnish

Currently, there are several main varieties of this material: colored, glossy and matte. It should be borne in mind that such compositions do not allow to hide surface defects. This means that the structure of the wood remains visible, which considerably limits the scope. Varnish is an excellent option when it comes to new elements that have no traces of preparation (putty, putty). If it is assumed that work is being done on finishing old doors, then varnish is used as a protective coating, but not as a base. It is important to pay attention to the composition of the material: it can be solvent-based or oil-based. For woodworking it is better not to use the first option, it can cause damage to the wood.

Pigment

This composition is distinguished by the fact that you can choose the desired shade that is suitable for a particular interior. It is important to remember that painting a wooden door can be done with materials that give a glossy, matte, and translucent effect. When choosing a paint, you should immediately decide on the composition of the material: the base should be oil or alcohol. A good solution can be considered nitro paint, which has excellent properties and makes it possible to paint the door white. But it is important to take into account that this composition has a pungent smell that disappears within a few days. There is another interesting substance – washing oil. With this product, you can give the surface a very interesting glossy (silk) shade. Troop-based oil formulations have different shades, which allow them to be successfully combined.

Preparatory phase

How to paint wooden doors efficiently? In order to obtain the really desired coverage, special attention must be paid to the preparation process.

Painting a wood door with paint

After the previous manipulations are completely completed, you can proceed to the main procedures. They are as follows: Every owner has started repairs in their home and is trying to save money or make it cheaper. So it is possible to postpone the replacement of doors but to qualitatively restore the old ones. You can master the secrets of this simple skill and learn some subtleties yourself!

Actions and Technologies Used by Saudi Arabia in Solving the Country’s Water Problems

Posted on by Alexandrin Charette

As water consumption continues to overwhelm Saudi Arabia’s water resources, management of water use has become a challenge for both the government and citizens. While the challenge of supply has been hurdled, the continuous supply of good quality water to Saudi citizens at a minimum cost still has to be resolved. The availability of adequate supply of clean water has for long been affected significantly by aging infrastructure and in recent years, by the effects of climate change.

Statistically, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consumes 263 liters per capita everyday, but with great potential to constantly increase at twice the average on a per person (per capita) basis on a global scale. Obviously this is troublesome for an arid country like Saudi in which the adverse impact of climate change has been straining water reserves.

The KSA Launched the Qatrah Program to Curb Water Usage

The country launched the Qatrah program in March 2019 as a way to mandate citizens to greatly reduce their water use based on goals. Such goals include reducing the citizens’ daily per capita consumption of water to 200 liters by the year 2020; down to 150 liters by the end of year 2030. The program also launched campaigns to raise awareness of the water crisis faced by the country; and of the need to protect not only the natural resources but also the infrastructures and industries that rely greatly on adequate supply of water.

Although the KSA has been successful in providing water throughout the entire country by investing in desalination technologies and storage tanks, water demand continues to increase to which consumption has been projected to 12.3 MCM per day in 2040. As it is, the agriculture sector takes up a huge part of the water supply, while the process of desalination is expensive.

As the Kingdom’s water issues are becoming more persistent, the country’s National Water Corporation has to consider the emerging innovative technologies and creative solutions for producing, distributing, managing and regulating water usage.
One such technology recommended is the Smart Water Management System, which can be used in buildings where water is temporarily stored in huge underground tanks of the buildings

How Does the Smart Water Management System Work?

Many of Saudi Arabia’s large buildings already have mechanically controlled water system that makes use of the Smart Water Management tech. The system allows the regulation of water flowing to water tanks located at the top of the buildings coming from the huge underground tanks below.
Through the utilization of LoRa communication technology, the smart water management system is able to control the above ground tanks’ water levels.

The LoRaWAN sensors gather and relay the data just in minutes to the building administration in charge of the water systems inside the area. If the said sensors found any malfunctions in the mechanism that affect water flow like a defective pump, or if there is a shortage in water, it immediately sends an emergency signal.

The system can also measure specific important quality metrics constantly and sends a warning signal to the building’s manager if something exceeds safe levels affecting the quality of water. The smart system records all water quality parameters for long periods of time, and any persistent irregularity in quality could cause the system to automatically stop the water distribution system of the building.

The automated texhnology sends out an emergency signal  automatically signifying that the water pump was intentionally disconnected due to quality issues. Once the problem has been solved, it can be reconnected to resume the building’s water distribution operations.

In most cases in Jeddah, building administrators call a reliable tank cleaning company like to inspect and clean water tanks to remove the elements affecting the quality of water.

>
𐌢