Month: March 2021

When people start using WordPress they ask “What is SEO on WordPress?”. It is true the WordPress platform gives a lot of SEO help and the best of it is achieved using WordPress SEO Plugins most of which are free to install and use. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on the WordPress CRM is actually no different from the SEO you would need to do for any website to achieve the best results for free natural traffic.

“Natural traffic” is an SEO’s term for people who visit your websites after seeing pages which the search engines have both registered in their databases, and decided they are good enough to be worth showing people. Natural traffic is what new website owners want like nothing else when, like most of us, they are just starting out and have a very low budget. The beauty of natural traffic is that it is usually very well targeted by the search engines so that the people arriving will be interested in what you have to say. Any wise website owner will use feedback from their search engine traffic to find out exactly what their visitors want.

That way, as they test out different monetization methods, they will be most likely to discover what sells and what doesn’t. Having worked that out the website owner can start paying for advertising and scale the profitability of their business.

The WordPress SEO Magic in Their Free Plugins!

WordPress SEO plugins help WordPress sites achieve the highest SEO standards possible, both on a technical and practical level. While WordPress as an established content management system already is very SEO-friendly, there are still things that can be done to optimize your WordPress site for higher search engine rankings. WordPress already has some wonderful built-in SEO available for every user, such as a “permalinks feature”, which enables you to have an SEO optimized page name or “URL” based upon the title of each page. This gives your pages a more professional and logical URL and a better appearance in the address bar.

Featured Images – How WordPress Works in the Background Making Each Blog Visually Interesting

WordPress SEO optimized themes also provide such services as allowing you to have a unique header image for each posting or page.

These are called “featured images”. Featured images show up neatly at full-size above each post, and as thumbnails elsewhere. All the user needs to do is upload those images via a link in the sidebar.

The featured image will normally be set to appear both:

• on each of your blog posts, which improves the visual appeal of your pages and can give them a higher ranking on Google search engines, and
• as thumbnails, which will normally appear on the homepage above a snippet of text which introduces each article in a chronological list of your recent pages. These will also show up on blog “category listing” pages as well.

This clever use of thumbnail images which the WordPress CRM automatically creates in the background saves every user a lot of work creating and making the homepage list of recent articles, and category pages. It leaves WordPress article writers to concentrate on their writing, while automatically building a website structure. A structure is, in effect, built on-autopilot that is well-structured and in which people will be able to find what they want. This ability also has a large SEO benefit, and it happens each time you post an article!

WordPress SEO Increases Any Blog’s Exposure and Traffic

If you want to increase your blog’s exposure and traffic, then WordPress SEO is the solution you’ve been looking for. A good WordPress SEO plugin will increase both your search engine optimization and your visitors’ experience of your blog or website. WordPress SEO is the combination of various small modules that work together to make your web pages as search-engine-friendly as possible. When it comes to SEO in WordPress, theme creators have been playing a big part in setting the standards. Always, look for themes that are described as SEO optimized, before you buy. While the theme you use should do this basic SEO optimization for you, it is just the start. There are some amazing WordPress SEO plug-ins out there that can take WordPress to the next level. By that, we mean bringing it to the level of quality and performance that the top professional bloggers strive for.

What WordPress SEO Plugins Can Do for Website Owners

Some of the most popular WordPress SEO plug-ins out there have to do with the structure of your site. One of the most common problems that amateur bloggers face is not having enough SEO structure on their blog posts. WordPress features like focus keywords, which allow your posts and page titles to focus on a single keyword that is important to the reader. There are a number of amazing free WordPress SEO themes that include all of the best aspects of this type of optimization, so you can choose one of these great plugins and really get the results you want.

Avoidance of Duplicate Content

A common problem that many new bloggers run into is that their WordPress SEO files often inadvertently include a lot of duplicate content. This is especially true if they use the default meta tags. One of the most impressive and advanced WordPress SEO plugins out there is called Schema Pro is able to eliminate the need for creating Meta tags using a text editor. This makes it much easier to create and publish high-quality SEO keyword-rich content. Because Schema Pro includes an advanced search engine optimization checker, your site and posts will show up high on the lists that Google pulls out on their keyword search engines.

Google XML Sitemaps Plugin

One of the most important WordPress SEO plugins out there is also one of the free ones. The Google XML Sitemaps plugin will make sure that when you’re optimizing your site, you’re doing so with the best SEO parameters. This plugin will gather information about your keywords, but it will also automatically figure out which of those keywords are best for your page. This is a huge time saver, and it ensures that your site and content will be as optimized as possible. You’ll find that the time you spend with this plugin will pay off in higher rankings and more traffic.

However, recently the importance of the XML sitemaps plugin has diminished by the incorporation of the sitemaps feature within a WordPress plugin called “YOAST”. Many people have moved over to YOAST as when you use YOAST you don’t need an XML sitemaps plugin. YOAST also performs additional SEO work for you and the free version is good enough for most users. (See more about YOAST below.)

Something else that both the above plugins have in common is that they both have incredibly well-built interfaces. They’re both very user-friendly. If you have some knowledge of how to set up a regular WordPress blog, then you should have no trouble understanding the basic functions of both of these great plugins.

YOAST SEO Plugin for WordPress

YOAST SEO is an advanced search engine optimization plug-in specifically for WordPress. The plugin has over five thousand active installs and has been downloaded over 202 million times. What does it do? It provides three powerful functions to make your site more search engine optimized. Yoast SEO makes your blog rank better on Google, Yahoo and Bing. This plug-in works great for blogs.

When YOAST installs this plugin, it automatically takes care of keyword research for you. After that, Yoast creates a sitemap from the provided list of keywords. The result shows you how to optimize your page for your chosen keywords so that you can get the best possible ranking. If you subscribe to the paid “Pro” version you will also be given suggestions for other keyword combinations that can also bring you good results. The Yoast SEO plugin also provides a detailed report on the state of your site’s readability.

One of the main features of this plugin is the integration with Yoast’s Set Up Wizard. The configuration wizard allows you to set up and if necessary to change various settings related to the plugin such as your URL shortening (paid-for version only), page title, category names, and more. You can also turn off the option to automatically ping every post.

Another major feature is YOAST’s integration with Google Analytics. You will be able to get detailed statistics about the visitors to your blog. By using the standard Google Analytics URL key phrase, you can see the frequency of people coming to your blog. You can also track the number of unique visits and the click-through rate for each post. With the help of the readability reports, you will know how well your blog is translated into any other target language. While all the time you can see how you are doing by the user-friendly use of a colored dot feature that changes color to green when you’ve completed your SEO optimization on each article text.

You can also rely on that SEO plugin to increase your blog’s search engine rankings. This is very helpful for those who want to boost their traffic and improve their natural search engine rankings and it costs nothing to get the traffic once you gain a top ranking. With this type of SEO plugin, you will be able to perform keyword searches that can help you target specific keywords.

With the help of Yoast SEO 2.0 Pro, you will be able to manage several SEO elements including your URL shortening and link building strategies. This makes it easier for you to manage your multiple campaigns. If you have questions about the performance of your website or blog, you can simply log in to the Google search console and select “Yoast Analytics”. From there, you will be able to see which of your SEO efforts are contributing to better visibility. You can also view all your Google Analytics campaign settings and check which factors are influencing your website’s performance.

Why Search Engine Optimization Works So Well in WordPress

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Search engine optimization is basically the art of increasing the volume and quality of site visitors to a particular web page or a site from various search engines like Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, etc. SEO targets unpaid visitors rather than paying visitors or direct traffic.

SEO increases the search engine rankings of a site by utilizing keywords that are frequently searched on the internet. SEO improves the website’s link popularity and improves its placement in search results thereby increasing the site traffic. SEO makes sure that your website’s content is presented well and that the links provided on the website are relevant and useful for the purpose of the website’s content.

One must remember that content is the most important part of SEO. SEO is not just about placing relevant keywords on the website. One has to ensure that the keywords are embedded in strategic places on the website. The links to the home page should be the most relevant and visible links on the whole website. It is also important to make sure that there are no broken links anywhere within the website.

SEO is an important way of promoting the website in order to get noticed by a larger audience. By participating in online discussions, blogs, and forums one can generate more traffic to his site using what is known as off-site SEO. Blogs and discussion pages should be updated with new content on a regular basis, thus providing valuable information to the audience which will keep bringing people back again and again.

The Importance of Links (Also Called Backlinks)

The importance of SEO lies in its ability to raise your website’s “link popularity”. No matter what some SEOs say, links are very important for SEO. The more links to your website from other quality websites, the higher the ranking of the website in the result pages of the various search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. These search engines take the links into consideration while ranking the websites. If you want to read our guide to Google SEO visit https://sybriefing.co.uk/googleseo

In order to increase the number of links, it is important to choose high-ranking websites for your keywords and find ways of getting your link on them. This ensures that the keyword density is maintained at a good level. If there is a high level of competition, the links will have to be purchased manually. This is slow and involves work contacting website owners and asking them to post your articles as “Guest Posts” but doing this is usually a very good use of time and money.

Don’t Like the Sound of WordPress SEO? – Then Outsource It!

There are several aspects that have to be taken care of while choosing a professional SEO company. SEO companies generally charge a very hefty amount for this service. Therefore it is important for the website owners to do a little research before hiring one. The fees charged by the SEO companies vary according to the amount of work involved in the project.

Website owners should keep in mind that they have to spend a lot of money on SEO services. However, this will be beneficial in the long run as it will increase traffic and website ranking. All the top SEO companies are experienced and provide excellent services.

Search engine optimization involves a lot of different procedures. The SEO firm will first conduct a thorough analysis of a website’s structure and content. This will help them determine what type of services they need to provide to the website owners. After this, they will contact the website’s owner and request relevant information.

The main aim of SEO services is to improve the ranking of the website. Many website owners try to achieve a first-page ranking but this is a difficult task to achieve. The best way to achieve a first-page ranking is to make use of “anchor text links”. These links should be placed on the various pages of an SEO’s website.

It is very important for the SEO firm to be able to provide fast access to the links. There is no point in placing a link when the user has to wait for more than 10 seconds for the page to load! This will be a big turn-off for the website visitors. Another important aspect of SEO services is the relevancy of the information posted on the website. The SEO should have a thorough knowledge about the contents of the websites that the SOE links are placed on so that the links are effective.

Any SEO should be experienced enough to know about all the ethical ways of SEO. This will ensure that there is no violation of any rules. Before hiring an SEO, it is important to check if he or she is well-aware of all the ethical ways of SEO. An SEO’s selection of keywords should also be based on the popularity of the keywords on the search engines. If the website owners are aware of these things, then it will be easier for them to choose an SEO.

Conclusion

That’s it! You have now read our article which explains what WordPress SEO is and we have also explained the WordPress SEO plugins that will optimize your content for both search engines and for your readers. You can use them. If you do, you may quickly discover that WordPress SEO can truly help you take your business to the next level! But, should you find all this talk of SEO too complex to tackle yourself for whatever reason, we have also explained what an SEO service can do for you.

The Article What is SEO on WordPress? WordPress SEO Plugins Explained was found on https://limitsofstrategy.com

Furnace vs heat pump. What are the advantages of a heat pump when compared with a furnace? It is clear that a heat pump emits less carbon dioxide per unit of heat produced, but the cost for the initial installation is higher. Is the furnace which uses the fossil which is fuel natural gas really so bad? Does the heat pump really provide cleaner heating? And, why do you say “reducing carbon emissions can’t wait, or it’ll be too late.”

What Goes on in a Heat Pump?

It is not always clear to people who are not familiar with the science and history of heat pumps that they were developed from day 1 to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. It is principally carbon emissions that are proven to be heating up our planet. This will have dire consequences for mankind if it is allowed to continue. A heat pump is an appliance that transfers the heat from one area from one source to another. In other words, it transfers heat from a cooler part of space to a warmer part of space.

Even a Heat Pump is Not Perfect for Our Planet

A heat pump does not currently produce zero carbon emissions because it needs electricity to run the pump. However, as globally all nations reduce their use of fossil fuels in old power stations and electricity generation moves on to renewable sources heat pumps will become “cleaner”. That’s because the power used by heat pumps, running on electricity from the grid, the carbon emissions they reduce will also go down as decarbonization progresses. That’s a point often missed in the Furnace Vs Heat Pump debate.

Heat Pump Was Though to be an “Impossible Invention” When First Sold

The invention of the heat pump was amazing to everyone when the concept was first explained in the 1960s because people said that you cannot take something cold, and pull warmth out of it. “How would you use that heat to make another cold thing warm-up?”; they asked. But it was shown to be perfectly possible to do in a heat pump. During heat pumping that “warmed up thing” becomes warmer than the original cold thing, and can be used to heat homes, offices etc! When people started to use the heat pump to heat up their homes it was not believed that this could be possible. They said entropy is an inviolable principle of nature! Everything in the universe gets cooler and heat dissipates everywhere all the time. The entire universe has been running down since it was created and one day everything will turn cold. As that continues, all reactions, eons into the future will slow down to a stop. But, they forgot that science is clever and can (in this small way) for a while (by expending energy in a particular way) reverse an inviolable Law of Nature, namely “entropy”.

However, we all have refrigerators and inside their systems, they have been quietly reversing “entropy” by pumping heat out of the food in the fridge. The pumped heat warms up the radiator wires on the back of every fridge. Yes, a fridge is a form of heat pump, but nobody quite thought of it that way.

In fact, if the original inventors had not thought outside the box about fridges, we wouldn’t even be having a Furnace Vs Heat Pump debate, because heat pumping would never have been discovered.

Furnaces Which Burn Natural Gas are Damaging Our World – The Truth

The great majority of furnaces in the US and Europe burn natural gas. The name “natural gas” is to a degree deceptive because most people assume that what is natural is also “green” and in harmony with nature. However, natural gas is just as much a fossil fuel as coal and oil, which once burnt releases fresh new carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide from burning natural gas is almost as damaging as that from coal, or oil, and that’s highly relevant to the Furnace Vs Heat Pump debate.

Thankfully though, natural gas is both:

1. warms the globe less than coal and oil from the point of view of the fact that releasing each calorie of heat causes less carbon dioxide when using natural gas, and hence for the same heat output, less carbon is emitted
2. the result of burning it releases far fewer impurities than are emitted from within the coal or oil, when those are burnt. This means that there is far less air pollution from burning natural gas then when using coal or oil.

Furnaces are OK – Except “Not Renewable” Powered By Natural Gas and Oil

Furnaces are damaging simply because the energy source is not renewable. If a renewable replacement was available for natural gas the furnace in your home could be replaced by another when it is worn out, and there would be no need for a heat pump instead. If that was true I doubt we would even be having this Furnace Vs Heat Pump debate. People have been talking for the last 20 years or so of hydrogen as the new fuel and there are plans afoot in Europe to construct a completely new gas grid distribution for hydrogen. In other countries, including the UK the idea is to add hydrogen in with natural gas, and “renewable natural gas” (natural gas made through the use of anaerobic digestion of organic waste – for example from sewage sludge).

Converting Gas Grids to Hydrogen/ Renewables Can’t Happen Any Day Soon

Unfortunately, in all nations, the conversion of gas grid distribution systems to renewable gases and especially hydrogen will take at least 20 years to progress. At the moment solar and wind turbines are used to make renewable electricity. Once enough of those have been built to replace all fossil fuel used to generate electricity for day to day grid supply, a huge quantity of yet more renewable energy will be needed for heating and transport use.  In fact, three or more times more solar and wind sources will need to be built to decarbonize heating, transport, and industry and used to electrolyze water and make hydrogen gas to replace natural gas for heating our living spaces and powering all transport.

While the more permanent renewable solution of hydrogen gas grid distribution is developed, heat pumps plus much-improved heat insulation will tide us over. It is often said that hydrogen is “the future for energy”, and so it most probably is, but it isn’t here yet! Hydrogen is a much better option than batteries as a 24/7 always available power source. Batteries need rare elements in their construction and present major problems for the environment when disposed of.

Furnace vs Heat Pump – How Does a Heat Pump Work?

There are 3 main components to a heat pump:

• a low-grade heat source, such as a fan to collect the ambient air around a building, or a pump and a loop of pipe buried in the ground in the garden. Swimming pools in the home have also been used.
• a compressor and condenser system to do the heat pumping
• a fan or a water pump to convey the pumped heat into the property. If so designed, this system can also cool the property in summer.

It is a closed-loop system. The most common type is an air heat pump. The air heat pump uses a fan to collect low-grade heat from the ambient air outside the property. A compressor is used in a condenser pump system similar to the workings of a fridge in reverse and releases the heat during the process which emanates as very warm (not hot) water. Just don’t get the idea anything particularly high-tech is going on in a heat pump! It is exactly the same principle as a refrigerator. It just works in reverse. The main component is a compressor to compress the gas in the condensing system that will be the energy source to power the system. The heat exchanger is normally a system of warm water pipes laid beneath the floors of the property. An alternative is to provide heat as hot air which flows out via fans into the rooms to be heated. For more information on heat pumps visit: https://sites.google.com/site/groundsourceheatpumpuk/

Air-Source and Ground-Source Heat Pumps

The other basic heat pump in the market is often called a fluid heat exchanger usually fed by water from a ground heat source (Ground Source heat pump). It acts in exactly the same way as an air heat pump. The fluid heat pump will extract the heat from an intermediate fluid, typically water which has passed for example, through buried pipes in the ground, outside the property. This fluid will become cooled as it flows through the heat exchanger, the warmth will then be emitted to heat the property. The cooled water will flow back through the loop into the ground and its temperature will be raised again in a repeating cycle. It is the same principle as for the air heat pump except rather than from the air around the building, the fluid heat pump extracts warmth from the ground. When the heat exchange air is released from a heat pump of both types, it will become warm air.

The Unique Advantage of Heat Pumps Which Double as Air-Conditioners in Summer

Now you might ask, what is cooling and heating? It is when there is a need for both heating in winter, and air conditioning (air cooling) in summer. Heat pumps can do both, although for summer cooling they may need some additional controls. Furnace technology simply can not provide any air-conditioning.

It is important to keep in mind that while heat pump appliances are perfectly easily run in reverse to bring immediate cool relief, there are no guarantees that it will work that way after a long winter if the equipment is not maintained regularly. It is important to make sure that all appliances are kept up to date and maintained. It will give you peace of mind.

Heat Pump Maintenance Versus Furnace Maintenance

Whether you have a heat pump system or a furnace is also important to remember not to panic when you feel that something isn’t right. Heat pumps tend to be more complex than a traditional furnace. There is more to go wrong in a heat pump than for a furnace central heating system. For example, if the fluid of a heat pump is not flowing through properly or the fan is not functioning then your heat pump will not function.

Furnace vs Heat Pump – Heat Pump Air Filter Problems

Another cause could be the air filter. The air filter is what removes the dust and other particles that are floating around in the air outside or the air of the room, depending on your system type. With the air filter clogged, you will not be receiving the cooling effect as well as the heat removal. Make sure that you always change your air filter at least once every few months. If you don’t it is possible that you will be losing the heat as well as the comfort of your home. There are several other causes of heat pump system failure, but the most common ones can cause your house to feel like a furnace during the summer season.

Furnaces Cannot Do Cooling But Heat Pumps Can…

However, as we have said earlier no furnace will ever cool a home or office, so if you have a furnace you will have to buy and maintain a separate air-conditioning system for the summer. That increases the complexity of your home systems and once again raises the chances of things going wrong and costing you money on maintenance and repair.

You may also find it relevant to know, that it is just as possible for you to experience a malfunction when it’s a problem in the furnace. You might feel that the furnace is not bringing you heat, but it is possible that the furnace is not delivering the hot water or air that it is supposed to deliver. This is the main cause for complaint from furnace users, it may also be possible that the furnace water pump is circulating cold water to the radiators when you need hot water for the room heating.

Heat Pumps vs Furnaces and Technical Complexity

On balance, heat pump systems are more complicated than a fossil fuel burning natural gas furnace central heating system. But, as natural gas furnaces have been made to condense for greater efficiency, and gas safety controls applied, furnaces have become more complex and more prone to failures.

When you also take into account that with global warming raising summer temperature more and more people require air conditioning, there is very little benefit in lower maintenance bills from having a furnace. This is because the maintenance costs, including maintenance of a separate air-conditioner, are likely to be very similar.

Heat Pump Materials Used in Manufacture Versus Furnace Construction Material Use

Both heat pump and furnace product can equally be made with eco-friendly, reusable and recycled materials, which can help save the earth and its environment. You can also take note that air conditioner prices vary according to the features they have. However, it is always wise, to pay attention not only to the price you will require, which means that a unit with an additional feature is probably more costly than a unit without the additional feature, both ecologically and in terms of cash expenditure.

Furnace vs Heat Pump – Which is Best for Temperature Control?

There are many reasons for buying an air conditioner, but the primary and major reason is always temperature control. This is the reason why a unit with an additional temperature control summer cooling feature is always more costly than air conditioning without a temperature control feature. If you want to have an air conditioner that controls the temperature with 100% accuracy, you will need to pay around $1,000.00 or more for a unit. There are some air conditioners that can control the temperature with 65% to 75% accuracy. This is less expensive but more complicated to install. A thermostat is a device that is placed in the room to control the temperature.

Why Should I Buy a Heat Pump if I am Not a Green Eco Freak?

There are many reasons for people to buy an air conditioner beyond the intention to be “green”. The main reasons are to have a cool and comfortable room during the summer and winter seasons and to have the protection of the environment. If you want a unit that can control the temperature with 100% accuracy and you want to control the temperature of your room with high accuracy, then you’ll need to pay $800.00 to $1,200.00. The best temperature control units are less complicated to install and are slightly less expensive than the less accurate air conditioners, but more expensive than the units that can control the temperature with 65% to 75% accuracy. These units are less costly to purchase but more expensive to operate and are the most expensive overall.

Comparing Furnace vs Heat Pump Systems – The Verdict

For convenience and minimizing the initial installation cost, there is no doubt that a furnace heating system, even with a separate air-conditioner system in the main rooms, wins. But despite that fact society needs to stop using furnaces and go for heat pumping systems in a big way! That’s due to the rate at which the planet is warming which is exceeding the rate predicted by scientists even a few years ago. The Furnace Vs Heat Pump debate is becoming more urgent every month. The increased risk from a much more variable and volatile climate is there for us all to see, from melting glaciers to forest fires, drought and floods.

Choosing a Heat Pump System in preference to a new Furnace is not all bad news either. Once installed the cost of running it may be as low as just one-third of your past monthly energy bill, even allowing for the cost of the electricity to run the heat pump system. Over a period of 8 to 12 years, the cost of the heat pump will be recouped in lower monthly power bills.

Now, most will say, “that’s too long”.

But if you have children they will tell you 8 to 12 years is nothing to them, because they hope to be around in 50 years and if carbon emissions are not abated now, their lives will be extremely uncomfortable by then…

The verdict:  We all should consider installing heat pumps and stop buying new furnaces. Like it or lump it. Heat pumps ain’t perfect, but they are the best tried and tested technology to decarbonize home and office heating. The climate change reality is that reducing carbon emissions can’t wait, or it’ll be too late.

The Article Furnace vs Heat Pump Systems for Heating Homes and Offices Compared was found on https://limitsofstrategy.com

So, you are just starting out thinking about a home conversion, and you would like to know “What is a Load Bearing Wall?” We know the feeling that maybe if you remove a wall, the house will fall on you. Of course, get it wrong, and you are right! It really might! Never knock down a wall unless you are certain that it is not a loadbearing wall. Read on, and we will do our best to explain how to identify loadbearing and structural walls and how to distinguish them from non-structural walls or living-space partitions.

What Is Load Bearing Wall? A “Load Bearing Wall” Definition

A load-bearing wall or structural wall is a wall that is a structural part of a building, which supports the weight of the parts of the building over it. A loadbearing wall holds up what’s above it by “conducting the force created” by its weight down into a foundation (footing) structure beneath it.

But that’s pretty obvious. When you plan or do a home conversion, what matters is distinguishing between the loadbearing walls and non-load bearing studding. Here are a few ways to assist budding “home converters” to distinguish between load-bearing and non-load-bearing walls that can be demolished. The first step to identification is to understand the design of the building.

Load Bearing Wall Types Used in Construction

Very often, just looking at a wall from within a house won’t provide any evidence to decide if it can be demolished. Architect-designed modern houses and old properties that have already undergone structural alteration, such as having extended floorspace added or rooms added, are tough to interpret. In those cases, the best way to find out is to ask an architect, a structural surveyor, or an engineer before you start putting it under the hammer. (In your location, there may also be restrictions to ensure only qualified technical experts decide for structural walls versus non-structural walls, so contact your local council’s building inspection or building regulations department.)

Timber-framed buildings can be the most difficult to interpret but can be the easiest to strengthen with a strategically placed additional beam or two. However, while that may be possible, care still needs to be taken that any added beam has an adequate strength to support the beam ends where the additional load from the span will be transferred.

Much of the modern timber commercially designed and framed home stock provides an internal space designed so that the developer can partition the space flexibly. In these homes, flats (apartments, etc.), non-lead-bearing partition walls can be erected anywhere within the external walls’ curtilage. For those designs which span the full floor space, all structural loads are (in theory) carried out to the external walls. That means that it may remove virtually any internal wall.

However, removing every wall for a completely open-plan living space may result in a rather “springy” or “lively” upper floor. This happens because, without the restraint of non-load bearing walls, the floor is not as stiff as is normally provided when walls are present. While not dangerous, the occupants may become concerned about floor movement. Hence, once again, the expertise of a structural engineer is advisable. Some risk is also present that heavily loaded areas of upper floors may, over time, settle, causing cracked plaster, creaking floorboards, etc. An example of heavy-loading maybe a library or even a large-double waterbed!

In Europe, most detached and semi-detached homes built since the 1930s have been brick cavity wall designs. However, to keep construction costs low and minimize wood use, internal load-bearing walls may have been used.  Even so, the uppermost floor internal walls are more likely to be non-loadbearing. Meaning that the roof structure spans across the full width, the lower floor(s) may have load-bearing walls usually constructed in brick or breeze blocks with mortar joints.

Homes may look like brick-built cavity-walled homes but may not be. Some houses will be structural steel or wood, framed with heat-insulated, uninsulated, dry-lined plasterboard internal finishes. Less common are wide-variety of proprietary concrete and modular building systems houses, about which the general comments given here will indicate very little.

Returning to traditional forms of construction. Just because an internal wall in a cavity-wall type-construction property is made of wood does not conclusively show it is a non-load-bearing wall. So, let us next consider some basic indications of load-bearing walls:

How To Tell A Loadbearing Wall (LBW) from a Non LBW

However, beware of making judgments on house structural forms without entering the roof-spaces and picking up hints on the structural form using some easy methods that can help distinguish a load-bearing wall from one the is simply a partition.

The following are easy methods to detect a loadbearing wall:

• By Sound: Tap the wall in a way that will not damage plastering or decorations. Even a gentle knock with your fist or knuckles may help here! An engineer may use the rubberized handle of a hammer, for example. Listen. Does the wall sound hollow, or even vibrate? With experience, this provides a good guide for walls that are merely in insubstantial plasterboard dry lined over a wooden studding. In such instances, there can be reasonable confidence a wall being non-load-bearing.
• External Visual Inspection: As the original external walls of a building will normally have been load-bearing and older properties have often been extended so that external walls have become internal walls, always look for telltale signs of building extensions. If you find a wall that you want to demolish was once an external wall, it is usually best to assume that it is load-bearing. Extensions to properties can usually be detected from differences apparent from the roof heights and spans, tile type and color differences, etc. Looking lower down at walls, the brick or plaster types and color may also vary between original construction and extensions and alterations added later. A bit of detective work can raise questions in your mind, which should then be checked in this method’s next step.
• By Loft (Roof) General Space Inspection: Before carrying out a roof space inspection, identify all hazards and ensure that the entry made is with the property owner’s permission and in a safe manner. While taking due care while moving into and around the roof space, look for which walls to roof loadings where rafters or trusses rest upon “wall plates.” Wallplates are usually beams laid horizontally on the top of walls. They rest on the single skin of early stone-built and brick houses. Where there is a cavity wall, they usually rest on the internal leaf of cavity walls. They serve to avoid excessive point loads being placed on small areas of walls that would otherwise exert an excessive “shear force” and crack or distort the wall members’ bricks, blocks, etc., upon which they rest. Wherever rafters and roof beams in general rest on a wall, that wall is load-bearing. However, any wall extending above a wall at one level should also be considered load-bearing because it supports the wall above’s the weight.
• By Loft (Roof) Space Inspection: The way that floor joists run and where they end and rest on internal walls is an important guide to load-bearing that we give it a separate mention here. You may need to lift insulation to see the joist. It is important to do that over the full area above any wall you would like to remove. Don’t damage the insulation material. Take care to avoid inhaling dust and always wear a mask and other suitable PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). Wherever you see joists resting on a wall or wall plate, you have a load-bearing wall. Where joists span over a wall below and have no connection through which they can transfer any loads to the wall below, you don’t have a load-bearing wall immediately below that point.
• Basement Inspection: Basement inspections are vital wherever a building possesses a basement. A good indication that a wall above is probably load-bearing is where that wall extends downward and therefore passes its load on down into the building’s foundations. Conversely, if by inspection from the basement, there is no wall or support column or beam beneath an internal wall above, that can be a good indication that it is a non-load-bearing wall (partition) and can be removed.
• Looking into built-in cupboards, metering cabinets, and space under the stairs: In fact, shining a torch into any space that reveals the building’s structure is always worth doing. It will confirm the building structure, and in older properties also help identify later additions to the structure through differences in construction type and materials used.

Load Bearing Wall (LBW) Design

For a structural engineer, load-bearing wall design is a complex subject in which complex mathematics very soon features heavily. The simple concept of conducting the force created by the load above into a foundation has to be considered with a detailed knowledge of the physical strength, stiffness, and creep under load characteristics of the materials used. Factors of safety, design life and such factors as local wind velocities and earthquake risk may also need to be considered.

Thankfully, in-house building, all this has been rendered down into the standard, tried and tested using bricks, blocks, mortar, etc. As long as the wall height is not excessive and point loads are dispersed using wall plates, standard building details will be all that is needed to design a satisfactory load-bearing wall.

For the person contemplating demolition of a structural wall for a home conversion, we recommend that a non-expert become involved in their design, beyond the normal standard details listed in Building Regulations and accepted “Codes of Practice,” is not feasible. A few hours spent reading up on the requirements will not help. Short of taking training courses and taking professional examinations, lasting years to complete, you will not succeed in creating load-bearing wall designs ready to be approved by most nations’ legal bodies. This is an area where the DIY’er should accept the need for professional help and seek it out.

LBW Removal

Deciding to carry out a load-bearing wall removal is similar to the design of these as walls. Whether it can be done or not, the province of engineers qualified to do structural engineering calculations unless common solutions exist. If a full wall removal is required, the circumstances will be particular to the load, which must be supported. The forces will need to be assessed and loads supported by beams and lintels etc. The loads which will flow through beams, lintels, etc., will also need to be adequately supported at the beam ends. These displaced forces will then need to be considered for the additional weight they load onto the footings in the new support pathways created. Such concepts as stiffness, slenderness ratios (for columns, etc.), and creep over time will also need to be applied.

However, no such professional advice may be needed where only part of a loadbearing wall is removed, say for a door opening. It could equally be for another type of load-bearing wall opening, such as a  window. If a DIYer does this, one method is to ask an online lintel manufacturer to provide a suitable lintel that their structural engineers have designed to perform a stated function to support the brickwork (for example) above a new door opening of a stated width within a larger wall.

How To Replace an LBW With a Beam?

Replacing a load-bearing wall with a beam is a common and effective way to continue to hold up a building after removing a load-bearing wall. All the comments we made previously apply to the need for professional advice. There will be a need to specify and provide dimensions for the beam itself and add whatever plates or reinforcement support at each end of the beam are necessary. The concentrated “beam forces” will be conveyed downward into the foundations.

Load Bearing Wall Removal Cost?

When a loadbearing wall is removed, there are a whole host of factors that affect the price. Not least is the amount of work needed from a qualified structural designer, but other factors will be the:

• ease or complexity of the demolition work needed first to remove the wall
• cost of propping the wall while the new beam or other structural support is provided
• cost of removing the rubble and its reuse or disposal
• cost of the permanent beam or other provision for the permanent support of the structure above.

How to Determine Load Bearing Wall?

Determining whether a wall to be removed by demolition is a load-bearing wall has already been discussed in this article. We covered this subject in the section titled: “How To Tell A Loadbearing Wall.” Please scroll back up to that section above.

Load Bearing Wall Beam

A load-bearing wall beam is any horizontal structural part (beam) to take the distributed and any point loading forces imposed on that part and convey those forces to the ends of the beam where they are thrust onto suitable plates, blocks, or bricks with mortar, or other fixings. This is done without the beam bending or deflecting at a percentage of the total span beyond a maximum permissible within the relevant Codes of Practice in force in any jurisdiction.

Load Bearing Wall Beam Calculator

The purpose of a load-bearing wall beam calculator is to size the required beam to withstand the forces applied to it. Beware of using such a calculator online unless you know what you are doing. Have you been able to fully assess the loads being applied to the wall by the structure above? Unless you have been trained in structural building works to design and are aware of any local legal requirements, you should not do this/ rely on your results.  Regulations may exist which must be applied where you live. We do not recommend the use of a load-bearing wall beam calculator to a novice or DIYer. However, at https://sites.google.com/view/localplumbershrewsbury/home the business owner carries out many home conversions each year and is highly skilled in building work and plumbing; and is anything but a novice!

How Much Of A Load Bearing Wall Can Be Removed?

To say how much of a load-bearing wall can be removed by writing down even the most general advice here is not worthwhile. There are so many variables, any of which will be unique to a particular project home or office building, that rule of thumb guidance here would not be helpful.

The Article What is a Load Bearing Wall? Understanding Structural Home Conversions was found on https://limitsofstrategy.com

What is Nestlé doing to tackle plastic packaging waste?

Environmental Toll Of Plastics In Our Environment: The issue of packaging waste, especially plastic waste, is of particular public interest. However, the packaging is necessary for food safety and quality, protecting food during transport, extending its shelf life, and reducing food waste. This makes food and beverage packaging a unique challenge for Nestlé and our industry. it is necessary to develop solutions that reduce packaging volume and impact without compromising on protection. We envision a future without waste, which means increasing plastic recycling and finding alternatives, whether in the form of dispensing systems or materials.

Tearfund’s report “the burning question” highlights the ongoing challenges we face as a society in addressing packaging and plastic waste. Nestlé is committed to exploring every option to solve the complex challenges of packaging waste. We are committed to multiple solutions that can already have an impact on our consumers and communities. The vision is that none of our packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfills or oceans, lakes, and rivers. To achieve this, we have committed to making 100% of our packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

The ten corporations that produce the most plastic on the planet, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Mars, Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Pepsico, Perfetti van Melle, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever, have formed a well-funded network that has sabotaged government and community efforts to address the plastic pollution crisis for decades, according to a detailed investigative report by the Changing Markets Foundation. The investigation documents how these companies delay and derail legislation to continue to flood consumers with single-use plastic packaging.

Traditionally, their products’ viable recyclability has not necessarily been the priority of brands (something MRF operators often grumble about) but rather cost and appearance. Also, single-use plastics have been driven by consumer preference. Particularly for food packaging, they have several positive environmental benefits, including a potentially lower overall environmental impact when the whole life cycle is considered. But that’s a whole different discussion. Numerous companies have announced targets to reduce plastic waste and packaging or use more recycled material in their products, including Aldi, Starbucks, Walmart and nestlé, to name a few.

The environmental impact of plastics

For many, plastic is a modern marvel: versatile, cost-effective to produce, and long-lasting. To others, it is a problem: a ubiquitous, non-degradable pollutant that threatens to choke the global environment. The world consumes more than 100 million tonnes of plastic annually but recycles less than 5 percent of it. The rest – plastic bags, water bottles, disposable lighters, takeaway food packaging, and the like – ends up in the world’s oceans and on its coasts. Plastic waste also clogs sewers and causes deadly floods, suffocates animals, and contaminates fish with toxic chemicals, which can be dangerous for people who eat the fish.

Redesign, rethink and recycle our packaging.

Many companies are rethinking the design and lifecycle of their plastic products at the business model level and applying the circular model. Shopping platform Loop, for example, is rethinking food and product packaging. The company is pushing the development and use of reusable, returnable packaging of well-known brands; for example, you can buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream in stainless steel containers and Dove deodorant in glass tubes.

Why is the plastic used for your packaging?

Since the development of plastic at the beginning of this century, it has become a popular material used in many different ways. Today, many of the items we buy or use are made of or wrapped in plastic. Problems arise when we no longer want these items, and we have to dispose of them, especially the disposable plastic used for wrapping or packaging.

We have pledged $20 million to support the G7 Innovation Competition to address plastic litter in the ocean. It will incentivize the development of innovative social or technological solutions to manage plastics more sustainably throughout their lifecycle. In support of the g7 innovation challenge, we are investing in innovative Canadian technologies to help small companies across the country find new ways to reduce plastic waste and turn it into valuable resources that support a circular economy. So far, seven Challenges have been launched to provide over $10 million to 18 Canadian small and medium-sized businesses.

The authors said that plastics when produced and used responsibly, can help solve some environmental problems. A study found that packaging beverages in pet (a type of plastic) reduced energy consumption by 52 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent compared to glass or metal. Also, solar water heaters containing plastics can provide up to two-thirds of a household’s annual hot water needs, reducing energy consumption.

ExxonMobil is developing innovative products that help society reduce plastic waste by meeting consumer performance needs with less material, developing new materials for packaging that are easier to recycle, and enabling customers to increase their recycled content. For example, our vistamaxx performance polymers increase our customers’ ability to use recycled materials while improving toughness and tear strength. Our products can be used to make all-polyethylene laminate bags that are easier to recycle and can replace hard-to-recycle traditional multilayer packaging in non-food applications such as laundry detergent and dishwashing pods while maintaining the benefits of packaging performance.

How much plastic packaging did Nestlé use in 2019?

Indonesia is one of the Southeast Asian countries taking action against marine plastic pollution. In January 2019, Nestlé became the first food company to join Project Stop, a community initiative launched in 2017. The project’s main goal is to prevent packaging waste from entering the environment by increasing local recycling efforts. By 2020, the project stop aims to prevent 2000 tonnes from entering the sea each year.

Nestlé’s total plastic packaging consumption (including laminates with different material combinations) was 1.5 million tonnes in 2019. This represents one-third of all packaging used in our shops.

In 2018, 359 million tonnes of plastic were produced globally.
Only a tiny percentage of recycled bottles are used to make new bottles. Coca-Cola sources only 20% of its packaging from recycled material, while Nestlé Waters North America uses just over 16% recycled content.
According to the American chemistry council, more than 60% of Americans have access to various plastic recycling programs.

We will be investing in developing and sourcing a wider range of food-grade recycled plastics. Also, we will increase our target to use recycled content in our water bottles to 50% by 2025. Together with our continued efforts to introduce alternative packaging materials and new delivery models, these two measures will help Nestlé reduce the use of virgin plastics by a third by 2025.

How is Nestlé reducing its plastic usage?

If you’re like most people, it’s difficult to get through the day without acquiring some form of plastic! This is where reuse comes into play. Once the plastic is in your possession, it’s your chance to be creative and find different uses for it. Use plastic bags for sandwiches, plastic bags for small rubbish bags, and reuse your plastic cutlery! If you can’t find a use for something, donate it! By doing so, you not only reduce waste but also help others. Most people skip this step and go straight to recycling, but reusing plastics can reduce the demand for new plastics to be manufactured.

We support the design and implementation of affordable and effective mandatory extended producer responsibility programs and are actively engaged in many markets. We have identified 20 countries 1 that account for more than 50% of our plastic consumption and where we will first work to improve recycling rates and infrastructure. This is likely to be a long-term task. In the meantime, we have identified a number of countries that are important to Nestlé and where waste is currently escaping into the oceans. These 12 countries account for more than 10% of Nestlé’s plastic consumption.

Research into the global production of plastics and the associated pollution has shown that plastic waste is a major environmental problem. The impact of plastic waste on marine organisms, humans, and the environment, in general, is of public concern and requires saving ecosystems and the life within them. Despite the fact that plastics are very useful in daily life, the toxic chemicals used in their manufacture need to be thoroughly monitored to ensure environmental and health safety. Reducing the population’s exposure to toxins from plastic waste increases the chances of a clean environment and a healthy society.

How do you eliminate non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle plastics?

We eliminate unnecessary packaging and exclude materials that are not recyclable or difficult to recycle. We are also investing more in the development of single-material packaging and alternative materials such as paper and bio-based plastics and new refill/reuse systems.

Our Fractured research found disturbing evidence that fracking pollution is seeping into our bodies. Readers responded.

Plastics have value throughout their life cycle, including at the end of their life. Traditional and advanced recycling methods are needed to help society maximize the value derived from plastic waste, but there are some limitations to traditional recycling as it is currently configured. Traditional mechanical recycling – shredding discarded plastic and melting it together with new plastic – is an efficient approach when the waste is well sorted and for waste products predominantly one type of plastic. But every time plastic is recycled via traditional processes, and it loses some of its performance benefits.

Globally, plastic production was estimated at 380 million tonnes in 2018. From 1950 to 2018, approximately 6.3 billion tonnes of plastics have been produced globally, of which 9% and 12% were recycled and incinerated, respectively. In the UK alone, about 5 million tonnes of plastics are consumed annually, of which only about a quarter are recycled and the rest landfilled. Researchers suggest that by 2050 the oceans could contain more plastics by weight than fish. About 500 billion plastic bags are used incredibly annually, of which an estimated 13 million tonnes end up in the ocean, killing about 100,000 marine animals.

EPA measures the generation, recycling, composting, incineration with energy recovery, and landfilling plastics in municipal waste. The primary data source for plastics generation is the American Chemistry Council. In 2018, the plastics generation was 35—7million tonnes in the united states, representing 12. 2 percent of MSW generation. Epa used data from the American chemistry council and the national association for pet container resources to measure plastics’ recycling. While the total amount of plastics recycled is relatively small – three million tonnes for 8.

Canada is a driving action within the federal government and taking practical steps to manage plastics’ use and disposal within our own operations. In 2018, we set targets to also:

Reroute at least 75% of plastic waste from federal operations by 2030. Eliminate the not always necessary use of single-use plastic in organizations, meetings, and events and also purchase more sustainable plastic products that can be reused, recycled, repaired, or repurposed.

The Article Environmental Toll Of Plastics In Our Environment was found on https://limitsofstrategy.com

On This Page

1. Exterior House Painting Prep
2. Why Exterior Paint Prep is Important
3. Here are the Most Common Steps for How to Prep to Paint the Exterior of a House
4. Wear the Right Clothing & Safety Gear
5. Remove Contaminants
6. Comprehensive Cleaning for the Exterior Surfaces of Your House
7. Exterior House Paint Prep & Preparing Your Home’s Exterior to Ensure Proper Paint Adhesion
8. Remove Old & Peeling Paint
9. Caulking, Sealing & Repair
10. Prime the Exterior Surfaces to be Painted
11. What To Look For In An Exterior Primer
12. Tape, Cover & Protect