Sunday, December 13, 2009

Wooden houses

A house is built basically of bricks, stones, chips, cement and of wood .yes there also exists wooden houses. Like the regular brick and cement houses wooden houses are also built on a laid plan but are not as concrete as the former one.

Wooden houses are generally found in the hills and in the cooler climates. Tropical or rainy climate is not suitable for the construction of wooden houses. In cold and dry weather countries wooden houses are more common than in tropical countries where wooden houses will be a mere waste of money. Wooden houses are built with planks of wood joined together. Their plan and layout is technically different from that of the brick houses. Their floorings and walls are also done up of wood .The cost of maintenance wooden houses is much higher than the maintenance of concrete houses.

Wooden houses are generally built in the area which are prone to earth quakes and land slides. That is because wooden houses cause less damage to life and property if a natural calamity strikes than the concrete houses. Therefore one is more likely to find wooden houses in the earth quake belts of the world.

In the cold countries we are more likely to find wooden houses. The climate of such countries is suitable for building wooden houses. The dry and cold climate does not weather wood much and thus the longevity of the house is maintained. Wooden houses are also warmer compared to the brick houses. Thus in cold climates it keeps people warmer as wood does not easily become cold and heat is trapped in the house.

Wooden houses are expensive and have become a possession of the rich and famous who build wooden castles for them selves. People buy expensive wooden houses and farm houses which become the symbol of their aristocracy. No matter what the houses are made of when they are filled with the laughter of people it becomes a heaven for the family.

For more information concerning the types of skylights for homes available to day check out our website at: http://skylightsforhomes.com

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Skylights for Homes

While skylights for homes is a relatively new concept, the see-through glass roof has a much longer history. In 1782 the first large-scale roof construction, almost entirely in glass, was completed in Paris at the Halle au Ble. In 1851 the Crystal Palace was constructed in London's Hyde Park to house the "Great Exhibition of 1851". In the United States the original Penn Station, built in New York City in 1910, had an expansive concourse roof made almost entirely of glass and steel.

The large-scale glass roof eventually gave rise to the idea of skylights for homes which begin slowly in the early 1940s. Before that time the main concern, from the homeowners point of view, was to keep the home safe from the environment—heat, cold, and rain—with little or no concern for any other functions; however, V. Kann Rasmussen, from Denmark, saw things differently.

Rasmussen earned a civil engineering degree in 1932 and established the V. Kann Rasmussen & Co. in 1941. One of his desires was "…to develop a roof window which in every respect was as good as the best vertical window." So, in 1942, skylights for homes became a reality when the first Velux roof window was produced and Velux was registered as a trademark.

Over the years the roof window, or skylight, went through numerous transformations. At one time the skylight, if opened, had to be propped up with a pole but new hinges soon made this system obsolete. In the 1960s insulating glass was first used as an energy saving feature; since that time the changes and improvements are almost too many to list.

Today, with energy conservation a hot issue, every skylight manufacturer has to devote much time and energy into the design and development of "energy friendly" products. Insulated glass, double or triple dome skylights, and tempered Low E glass are common. At present it is not unusual to find skylights with gas injected between the glass panes to reduce summer heat gain and winter heat loss. There are two main types of gas used, argon and krypton--argon is cheaper than krypton, but krypton is a better insulator. Both are odorless, colorless, and non-toxic, and both provide increased insulation and energy savings.

If that’s not enough to confuse the average buyer, there are more considerations to take into account: whole-unit U-factor—a measure of the efficiency of insulation, and SHGCs, Solar Heat Gain Coefficients, a measure of how well the heat from the sun is blocked.

Skylights for homes have come a long way since their inception only a few years ago. If you are considering installing a skylight in your home it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the options and choices that are available today. While the initial purpose of allowing more light into the home remains the same, many additional features and functions have found their way into the modern day skylight. Regardless of these options, just remember that it is basically a “roof window” and everything else associated with a skylight is just an “extra”.

In order to learn more about skylights check out our web site, Skylights for Homes. If you are interested in learning about dome skylights we have some in-depth information on the site.