Condenser Effective

Be Green and Save Money: Heat Your Home With a Condensing Gas Boiler!

As of April 2005 all new and replacement gas fired boilers were required to be the new energy efficient condensing type.

Condensing boilers produce up to 30% less Carbon Dioxide than conventional boilers and can even cut heating bills by up to 40%. Here we answer some of the most common questions about energy efficient condensing boilers:

What are the benefits of Condensing Boilers?

Condensing boilers work by converting a greater proportion of gas into useable heat. This leads to three main benefits:

1. Lower Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions
2. Increased boiler efficiency
3. Reduced operating costs

Just how much more efficient is a condensing boiler compared to a conventional gas boiler?

Conventional boilers offer around 70-80% efficiency whereas a condensing boiler will be up to 91% efficient.

New condensing boilers can be up to 91% efficient compared to 70-80% efficiency for conventional, non-condensing boilers. This is because the flues of the new style boilers are fitted with heat exchangers that effectively capture waste heat and re-use it.

Are condensing boilers expensive?

New style boilers do tend to be more expensive than their previous counterparts but because they can reduce fuel bills the added expense can quickly be recovered.

Here is an example showing the additional savings that can be made by investing in a condensing boiler:

You have £10 to spend on heating and a traditional boiler operating at 75% efficiency. Within that £10, you have just wasted £2.50 having only achieved £7.50 worth of heat.

You have £10 to spend on heating and a condensing boiler operating at 90% efficiency. For your £10, you have achieved £9 worth of heat and only wasted £1 as opposed to the £2.50 lost in the first example. Imagine how those savings clock up over the course of a month or a year!

Are there different types of Condensing Boilers?

There are three types of condensing boilers to choose from and various factors need to be taken into consideration when making your choice.

A Combi Boiler heats water on demand. It is not as efficient as the other two choices but cost-wise it is at the lower end of the scale. It is the better choice where space is limited such as a flat, or there are a number of people needing to make use of the hot water at various times of the day.

A Regular Boiler works with a hot water tank which will need to be placed in the loft space. It helps where water pressure is low or the property has more than two bathrooms so demand is higher.

A System Boiler is similar to a Regular boiler but because it contains an expansion vessel it eliminates the need to place the water tank in the loft space.

Your boiler engineer will advise you on the best choice of boiler for your property and you should always follow their expert advice. A boiler is an important investment so make sure you find an engineer you can trust, one that has preferably been recommended to you and of course is CORGI registered.

A condensing boiler offers both environmental and cost saving benefits so if you haven’t switched yet, don’t leave it too long; the sooner you install a condensing boiler, the sooner you can start reaping the rewards of your investment.

About the Author

Ivor Bates is the director of Bates Heating and Plumbing Limited, a plumbing and heating company established in 2001 and covering all areas of London, Docklands and Essex. Bates Heating is CORGI registered and all engineers are fully qualified and specially selected for their experience and range of skills. A 24 hour emergency plumbing service is also offered. For more information visit http://www.batesheating.co.uk or telephone 020 8924 3558.

KSM44 Condenser Mic

The fact is that your music is only good as the signal chain you used to make that music and there is no more important element in your signal chain when capturing an acoustic source than the mic that you use. Here you will learn about a condenser mic that will definitely get the job done and which isn't too pricey (although it is not cheap.)

The Shure KSM44 is the condenser mic that I'm talking about. I have plenty of personal experience with this mic because it has been the principle mic in my home recording studio for 7 years and I've used it to record a lot of different instruments and voices.

The KSM44 is a large diaphragm condenser microphone and it's a "multipattern" mic. What does multipattern mean? Well there are three different patterns that microphones can record in (and the KSM44 can be switched between all three.) Those directional patterns are omnidirectional, figure-8, and cardioid.

Cardioid means that it only picks up what is coming from the front while rejecting all of the sound coming from the back and most of the sound coming from the sides. A figure-8 pattern picks up sound from the front and the back while rejecting everything coming in the sides of the mic. An omni pattern picks up sound from all around. All of these recording patterns can be useful in different situations and this is why it's so cool that this particular microphone can be used with any of these patterns.

Many microphones boost certain frequencies in order to "color" the recording in some way. While this "color" can be great in certain situations, having a mic that has a more neutral (or "flat") frequency response will give you a lot more versatility. The KSM44 Condenser Microphone is well known for it's flat response and this is one of the biggest reasons why it is such a versatile mic.

Just like every other condenser, this microphone requires a mic preamp in order to function. The preamp can significantly change the quality of the sound you record and investing in a good quality mic preamp should probably be your next move after ordering a quality microphone.

what is the most effective way to record drums with only 2 condenser mics?

They should be away from the kit and at different levels. You are going to have to experiment with the placement, but one should be floor level for the lows and one above the kit for the highs. Perhaps one straight out from the kit toward what would be the dance floor aimed at the kick drum, and one above the drummer aimed downward.

Japan shows off world's largest glasses-free 3D display (cnet)

The gigantic 200-inch screen delivers a full-HD resolution in 3D with 57
effective viewing angles. Japan's National Institute of Information and
Communications (NICT) and JVC Kenwood recently demonstrated a 200-inch
glasses-free 3D display, which is touted as the world's largest auto-
stereoscopic 3D screen. Aside from the enormous size, the system also offers a
full-HD resolution with 57 effective viewing angles for users to look at 3D
images from different perspectives without 3D goggles. Hardware-wise, 57
projectors were deployed to render the 3D visuals and these have to be
individually tuned to maintain a uniform brightness and color consistency. The
hefty 500kg screen is far from ordinary, too, and features a condenser lens
and a diffuser film to smoothen the transition between different viewing
angles. An improved version of this glasses-free 3D system with 200 viewpoints
is in the pipeline as well. However, there's no indication that this
technology will be implemented in consumer electronics as it was originally
conceived for design and digital signage applications, according to Akihabara
News.Via Akihabara News

cnet

Recording for beginners using a condenser mic. What to buy?