If you are considering installing Underfloor Heating and looking for the best possible information and its suitability for your property. Then you will be delighted to know that Excelsior Information Systems (the owner of UK Home Ideas) has now launched www.AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk.

The website offers a wealth of in depth information, to provide solutions to your queries, so that you are not only well equipped to select the best system for your property, but also to achieve the best deal for this very significant

Once you start doing research on the web, you’re likely to discover, as Excelsior did, that there is very little independent first-class information and advice on the subject out there.

Most sites belong to product manufacturers, trade bodies or other organisations with an agenda to promote.
So Excelsior embarked on a mission to generate the finest underfloor heating website in the UK, to provide an independent source of information for the underfloor heating buyer – and AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk is the result.

Quenton Fyfe, Excelsior’s MD commented, “Because we are a publishing company rather than an underfloor heating supplier, we have no agenda, or partiality, so we can offer you an honest synopsis of the whole market, with no hidden plan, and no strings attached.”
“We have spent many months, and invested heavily in commissioning extensive, original research into the Underfloor Heating market in the UK, to enable us to bring you detailed, independent information to help inform your buying decisions.”

“Our aim is to create the highest quality, most informative websites in the UK, in each market we enter.”

AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk offers the following articles about the product, such as “Wet Underfloor Heating” and “Saving Money With Underfloor Heating”, as well as consumer advice articles like “Choosing the right Underfloor Heating” and “Installing Underfloor Heating”.

There are many more articles in development, to ensure that AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk becomes the most comprehensive underfloor heating website available on the web.

So before making that important decision to buy a system in the UK underfloor heating market, why not prepare yourself, by reading the detailed articles on AboutUnderfloorHeating.co.uk ?

As an informed consumer, you’ll be well prepared to make the best choice, and get the best deal on your underfloor heating system!
We hope you enjoy this site, and find it helpful.

If you have any comments or suggestions, Excelsior will be pleased to hear from you.

NHBC, the UK’s leading warranty provider and standards setting body for new build homes, is offering the following tips to keep your home watertight and draught free for the coming winter:

There are many things we can and should do to protect our homes from the effects of harsh weather and good planning also helps to reduce maintenance and utility costs.

Gutters: Gutters should be cleaned out at least once a year to remove leaves and debris. Wet patches on the walls below (both external and internal) may indicate that gutters or downpipes are blocked.

Paintwork: External finishes will become dirty over time and, where appropriate should be washed on a regular basis. Owners of new homes should consider repainting after two years. You may need to repaint more often if you live by the sea or in an exposed area.

Drainage access: Inspection chambers and rodding eyes are there to provide access to the drainage system below ground – so it’s important that these are not covered by soil, turf or paving.

Flat roofs: Flat roofs should be inspected once a year, to ensure that they remain in sound condition and rainwater outlets checked to ensure that they are not blocked.

Heating Systems: Central heating boilers should be checked and serviced at least once a year by a registered competent maintenance engineer, to check they remain safe.

ChimneysShould be swept at least once a year (unless the notice plate suggests alternative maintenance arrangements) to prevent chimney fires and the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Bleeding radiators: If you notice that a radiator is warm at the bottom but cool at the top, this indicates that there is air in the system, which prevents the warm circulating water from reaching the top of the radiator. If this is noticed, the radiator will require bleeding.

Cold Spots: An important job as winter creeps in, is to make sure that the house is free of draughts. Look for potential cold spots, and take the necessary cheap and simple measures to eliminate them, to keep the heating down and the home comfortably warm.

If your home is covered by NHBC’s 10 year Buildmark warranty and you spot any problems within the first two years after the home is finished, you should notify the builder in the first instance (keeping a copy of any correspondence) telling them about the damage or defects to your home.

If the builder fails to meet his obligations or it is after the two-year period (years 3-10), contact NHBC on 0844 633 1000, or visit http://www.nhbc.co.uk for further advice.

Thinking about buying Double Glazing and looking for the most comprehensive information possible?

Then look no further, as Excelsior Information Systems (the owner of UK Home Ideas) has just launched www.AboutDoubleGlazing.co.uk, to provide high quality information, to answer all of your questions and ensure that you are well prepared to make the best choice and get the best deal for this all important purchase:

• Researching double glazing on the web, Excelsior found that there are very few sites giving first-class information and independent advice on the subject.

• So Excelsior set out with a mission to create the best double glazing website in the UK, offering an independent source of information for the double glazing buyer – and AboutDoubleGlazing.co.uk is the result.

Quenton Fyfe, Excelsior’s MD commented, “Because we are a publishing company rather than a double glazing company, we have no agenda, or bias, and we can give you an honest overview of the whole market, with no hidden agendas, and no strings attached.”

“We’ve spent many months, and invested heavily in commissioning extensive, original research into the UK Double Glazing market, to enable us to bring you detailed, independent information to help inform your buying decisions.”

AboutDoubleGlazing.co.uk offers articles about the product itself, such as “How Double Glazing Works” and “Self Cleaning Glass”, as well as consumer advice articles such as “How To Save Money And Get A Great Deal” and “Your Legal Rights”.

There are many more articles in development to ensure that AboutDoubleGlazing.co.uk becomes the most comprehensive Double Glazing site on the subject.

So before you jump into the (sometimes shark-infested) waters of the UK Double Glazing market, why not prepare yourself, by reading the detailed articles on AboutDoubleGlazing.co.uk ?

As an informed consumer, you’ll be well prepared to make the best choice, and get the best deal on your Double Glazing!

The Playhouse Company is offering some really attractive seasonal discounts on some of their playhouses, with guaranteed delivery and installation before Christmas, if ordered before the 30th of October.

The Company’s workshops are busy all year round, creating wonderful playhouses to delight children and parents alike. (Just like Santa and his elves)

The Christmas offer applies to four of their standard and most popular playhouse designs and will ensure endless hours of healthy play and pleasure that will last way beyond Christmas day:

Offer 1 SAVE £600 on the 6’ x 4’ Cottage (pictured here), which features cedar shingle roof, window boxes, stable door with diamond shaped window, letter box, two shutter windows and is fully painted. Normal price £2,100 down to £1,500.

Offer 2 SAVE £800 on the 7’ x 5’ Cottage, which features cedar shingle roof, scalloped fascia, window boxes, standard door with diamond shaped window, letterbox, two shutter windows and is fully painted.
Normal price £2,800 down to £2,000.

Offer 3. SAVE £200 on the 5’ x 3’ Cottage, which features cedar shingle roof, straight fascia, window boxes, standard door with heart shaped window, two windows and is fully painted.
Normal price £1,100 down to £900.

Offer 4. SAVE £1,500 on the 5’ x 5’ Double Platform Play Den,
which features four windows, cedar shingle roof, stable door with heart shaped window and is fully painted.
All on a double platform with steps and a slide.
Normal price £6,500 down to £5,000.

The Playhouse Company’s expert staff has over 20 years experience in designing and building bespoke children’s playhouses.

Their playhouses, castles, tree houses and play equipment are all individually designed, built and installed to the highest standards by their craftsmen.

To view the Playhouse Company’s extensive ranges of children’s playhouses, please visit the website.

One of the UK’s leading home improvements companies Anglian Home Improvements, has launched a ground-breaking way to help consumers understand and choose the best energy efficient windows for their home.

Anglian’s ‘EcoGain’ windows are designed principally to decrease energy usage, while their ‘EcoRetain’ windows keep heat loss to a minimum.

The difference between the two is how ‘EcoGain’ lets in more sunlight, which importantly acts as free heat.
Both of these products have been planned to throw light on the complex conventional windows energy rating system that baffles consumers.

Traditionally window energy ratings have been calculated based on the BFRC rating equation, concentrating on thermal transmittance, solar factor and air leakage, to calculate the energy efficiency of a window on a scale of A to G.

Anglian Home Improvements and YouGov research reveals that half of those surveyed (47%) did not fully understand the A-G rating scale on the windows energy rating label, and only 19% of people (one in every five) were able to correctly state that an A-Rated window gains energy and also keeps in heat making it the most efficient.

As a result of this research, Anglian Home Improvements have launched ‘EcoGain’ windows (A-Rated on the traditional scale) to demonstrate clearly to consumers that this type of window ‘gains’ energy making it the highest performing window due to its extremely efficient solar factor.

EcoRetain’, (Anglian’s best-selling B-rated windows on the traditional scale) provide zero effective air leakage, meaning they are completely draught-free when closed and ensure minimum heat loss through the window.

Martin Troughton, Marketing Director at Anglian Home Improvements explains:
“There are three key performance factors that affect a window’s energy efficiency: Thermal Transmittance, which measures how good a window is at preventing heat escaping from inside the building; Solar Factor, which measures the amount of heat gained from sunlight passing through the glass; and Air Leakage, which measures how air-tight the window is.

“Our research shows that consumers find these energy rating factors confusing.
“By taking away the complexities of the A-G BFRC rating equation, Anglian Home Improvements hope homeowners will be able to identify the most energy efficient products for their home and quickly and simply understand that EcoGain gains energy and keeps heat, which should mean more to a UK consumer than simply labelling a window A-Rated.”

For more detailed information about Anglian Home Improvements’ EcoGain and EcoRetain windows, please visit the website.
Tel: 0800 500600

Research shows that today’s families would prefer to create additional rooms, rather than demolish walls to make open plan living areas, which was a popular trend in the nineties.

Spaceslide UK surveyed more than half of UK parents (with children under 18), who said that they would prefer to have an additional room in the house for kids toys, home working, games consoles and students’ study. This survey is supported by a 36% increase in sales of room dividers in the last 12 months.

Construct a home office, family study room or playroom in under three hours for less cost.
Spaceslide, the online supplier of DIY Room Dividers, has also compared the cost of creating an additional room using its room divider system, versus employing builders.

It found that using a room divider system could cost around six times less than installing a stud wall, with room divider costing just £250, whereas the average builder’s quote for the same job was £1,500.

Furthermore there is no mess involved with installing of a room divider - no plastering or painting required.

Trend in Room Dividers Being Driven By New Technology and Changes to Family Life in 2011.

Jon Gough of Spaceslide said: “We have experienced a major uplift in sales of Room Divider systems during the past 12 months. So we set about researching what was driving this trend and whether there was a backlash to open plan living – which we believe there is.

“Compared to 10 years ago, there is increased home-working, more teenagers having bigger and better entertainment systems, comprising large screens, games consoles and computers that benefit from being set up separate to the TV viewing family area, and more students living at home – all major new ways of life for families that lend themselves to private rooms rather than open plan living.”

Jon added: Room Dividers are an extremely attractive option, as they can be designed and bought online, delivered within a month and easily installed..”

Spaceslide’s Sliding Room Dividers are a cost effective way of creating sub-rooms, en-suites,or the ever popular walk-in-wardrobe.
Prices start from £254.15.

To view Spaceslide’s 33 styles of made-to-measure sliding room divider doors in its Orion collection, visit the website.

Tel: (0800) 980 3499.

TV DIY and gardening guru, Tommy Walsh has launched a fast and competitive shopping comparison website, with an impressive inventory of merchant contributors and a wide array of products; Tradessupermarket.com is aimed at the construction trade and DIY enthusiasts.

As the UK faces its toughest recession since the 1930s, Trades Supermarket launches at a welcome time for tradespeople and consumers, who want to find the best deals for building materials and tools, including drills, kitchens and flooring:

• For consumers who don’t have the skills of tradespeople, but want to ‘have a go’ - a section on-site called ‘Tommy’s Trade Secrets’ provides a portfolio of video diaries by Tommy and his friends undertaking DIY tasks. The footage provides helpful hints and tips and advises about the necessary material and tool requirements.

• Tommy’s Deals is another section on the site, this time dedicated to bestsellers and deals of the week and is categorised by hand-tools, powertools, work-wear and materials.

• In addition to listing the products of the UK’s larger and more well-known merchants including B&Q, Screwfix and Wickes, smaller independents are also included, providing an important balance of materials, tools and prices, from brands such as Makita and Ryobi.

Commenting, Tommy Walsh, said: “In Tradessupermarket.com we have a site, which not only stores a large catalogue of products, but can also be used as a resource for DIYers who need practical help at home, be it a lesson on how to plaster a wall or hang a door.

“Cost and value has never been more important than it is today and so we hope the site will become a valuable tool for consumers and businesses looking for the best deals, without the hassle of searching through endless shopping sites.

A hard landscaper by trade, Tommy shot to fame in the 1990s, alongside Charlie Dimmock and Alan Titchmarsh in Groundforce.

Please visit the Trades Supermarket website for more details

Everest, one of the UK’s leading home improvement companies, has launched a new business arm, Everest Energy.

The business will initially operate in the Meridian television region across the South of England prior to a national roll-out, and will focus exclusively on selling and installing boilers and central heating systems, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which generate cheap green electricity from sunlight, and a selection of other energy efficiency products for the home.

Simon Jarman, Everest’s Managing Director, said: “Everest has been improving homes for many years with its energy efficient windows and we feel that the time is now right to move into energy generation.

As with its home improvements business, Everest Energy will only install the highest quality and most efficient products on the market. It will therefore only fit highly energy efficient ‘A’ rated boilers.

It is estimated that approximately 4 million homes in England are fitted with the least efficient types of boilers, which are potentially costing households hundreds of pounds annually in higher energy bills and are more harmful to the environment.

Everest’s Solar PV panels can save the average household up to 40%5 off a household’s electricity costs, meaning UK households could save up to £5 billion a year collectively – or £186.40 each - on their energy bills by having these panels installed.

In addition, in April 2010 the Government launched the Feed-in Tariff (‘FIT’) scheme, which means that energy suppliers have to make regular payments to householders and communities, who generate their own electricity from renewable or low carbon sources, such as Solar PV or wind turbines.

Homeowners with Solar PV panels can earn 41.3 pence for every kWh produced regardless of whether it is sent back into the grid, which could equate to £1,200 per year or over £30,000 over 25 years with a 2.88kWp system.

The full range of products available from Everest Energy includes:

• High efficiency boilers; Passive heating monitoring; Solar PV panels;

• Solar Thermal panels Loft insulation; Cavity wall insulation; Voltage optimisation.

Everest Energy will not be providing an emergency boiler repair service.

For further information on the Everest new energy products, please visit the website.

Tel: (0800) 008 7167

Either clogged up with clutter or jam-packed with junk, garages are frequently overlooked or can remain ignored and unloved.But now GarageFurniture has introduced a cost-effective and stylish solution, for reclaiming your space and transforming this often neglected zone, into a spacious and functional new room:A clever system of modular work-benches, storage cabinets and tidy units, has specifically been designed to endure tough conditions and create a safe and stylish work area.Six popular combinations of garage storage and workbench solutions are available to order, starting from just £550, or single cabinets can be purchased individually allowing customers to personalise and tailor the system to meet their own requirements.Tall towers with the shelving and base cabinets offer an ideal DIY solution and these are complemented by the drawer cabinets, which double the size of the workbench space.Whether you need a tool tidy, garage organiser or a general home workshop, GarageFurniture is the perfect storage solution.All of the units are made of high density MDF, both heat and moisture resistant, to ensure resilience in a normal garage or storage environment.Cabinet doors are wrapped in vinyl for extra durability and adjustable heavy duty stainless steel support legs and industrial locking castors, allow tools to be moved around easily, providing the sturdiness and flexibility required in a working environment.Tough 32mm MDF workbenches, roll out cabinets and aluminium alloy handles mean GarageFurniture offers a hard-wearing storage solution that is both practical and smart.Featured here is the Storage Cabinet & Workbench Combo 1.A really neat and clever storage solution if you only have limited space available.The floor space of this solution is 2.4m. With both wall and base cabinets there is plenty of storage space and with both base cabinets on castors, your workbench area increases to 2.25 square metres once rolled out.Priced at £550 Exc. VAT.GarageFurniture also has distinguished ‘green’ credentials:Carcasses are 100 per cent reusable and the packaging is all made ofrecyclable materials.Products are supplied flat-packed to maximise shipping efficiencies and minimise packaging.To find out more about GarageFurniture’s products please visit the website.Tel:  (0208) 953 9988.

TimberWindows.com is pleased to announce the launch of The English Glasshouse.

The company, which produces bespoke timber orangeries and conservatories, as well as roof lanterns and pool houses, is already setting new standards for the industry.

With each building constructed individually to suit not only the style of house, but also to take into account the preferences and style of the Owner - the fact that there is nothing mass-produced is obvious.

The honest charm and character that shines through is unmistakable.
Whether you’re looking for something contemporary or traditional and whatever size your home, The English Glasshouse can create a garden room for you that will not only add value to your property, but will also change the way you live at home.

Giles Henman, Conservatory Director of TimberWindows.com, says: “Our mission, with The English Glasshouse, has been to bring 21st century standards of insulation and security, while not compromising on design and ensuring each English Glasshouse requires little maintenance and is built to last.

“We have taken the very best American, Scandinavian and European technology and married it with peerless British design, to create glass buildings that are both beautiful and a joy to live with.”

Conservatories and orangeries by The English Glasshouse are the only ones in the UK to be manufactured exclusively from engineered hardwood (multi-layered timber sections laid out at opposing grains) and oak, ensuring many problems usually associated with wood, such as warping and twisting, have been eliminated.

The English Glasshouse offers a unique guarantee of up to 30 years and prides itself on building strong relationships and offering the very best customer service.

To view the stunning range of bespoke glasshouses and orangeries, please visit the English Glasshouse website.

Tel: (0845) 652 7365.