Shower heater in bathroom

You might probably notice about the shower heater in the photo of my recent post about the tempered glass shower screen. It is the Alpha brand Shower Plus SH-88EP.

We did consider between this electrical shower heater and the roof top solar water heater. We found that the price of the solar water heater was too high, and the electrical shower heater is easier to control the water temperature according to our need.

When purchasing shower heater, here are some of the considerations:

• Must come with Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) and lightning protector as safety measure.
• Auto thermal cut-out feature to prevent over heating.
• Water pump that can be switched on and off. The pump will be used when several places in my house are using water at the same time, affecting the water pressure upstairs.
• Acceptable noise level of water pump.
• Pump speed can be controlled.
• Easy to control showering water temperature.
• Anti leaking tank.
• Can work with water pressure as low as 2 psi only.
• Several modes of shower jet spray option.

Tempered glass shower screen in bathroom

This is the 10mm frameless clear tempered glass shower screen with stainless steel header. It costed RM11xx and come with 2 years warranty. It is clear because adding pattern to its surface will cost additional price.

The shower screen will prevent water from splashing all over the bathroom. We had chosen shower screen with this kind of door because:

• Sliding or folding door requires a rail on the floor, which is more tedious to install, will gather dirts on the rail, and subjected to wear-and-tear over time.
• The horizontal external door handle can be used to hang towel.

LCD vs Plasma TV - 2008 1st quarter update

The market warfare between LCD and Plasma TV continues. Lets do some comparison between them based on today's technology.

Viewing angle:

Plasma used to win on this, but today both of them are equally having viewing angle close to 180 degree.


Pixel response time:

Plasma used to win on this, but LCD is catching up fast, coming up with new models that have response time as low as 5ms only.


Contrast:

Plasma has higher contrast ratio, and LCD is catching up with "dynamic contrast ratio".


Screen resolution:

LCD of same size usually able to produce higher screen resolution. This is important if the TV were to connect to a computer and act as monitor (eg. for playing games).


Burn-in image:

Plasma used to suffer from this weaknesses. Today's technology such as "pixel orbitor" has been used to address this problem. LCD doesn't have burn-in problem.


Product lifespan:

New generations of plasma are catching up with the LCD's lifespan of 60,000 hours.


Glare:

Plasma screen surface still reflect glare. LCD never has this problem because its screen surface reflects very little light.


Weight:

Plasma of same size is still heavier than LCD.


Power consumption:

Plasma still consumes more power than LCD.


Price:

The price gap between LCD and Plasma of same size is getting closer and closer, while LCD still cost cheaper in smaller size models, especially below 40".