Rectangular wooden digital LED alarm clock with humidity and temperature display

I have bought this rectangular wooden digital LED alarm clock with humidity and temperature display during the recent 12.12 online sale fiesta, at the price of slightly below RM40.

You can use it as a normal desktop clock (with the alarm function switched off) and also as your bedside alarm clock (with up to 3 different alarm time settings).

It is pretty feature-rich. Other than displaying the time (in either 12-hour or 24-hour format), it also displays the humidity (in RH percentage) and room temperature (in either degree Celsius or Fahrenheit). In DP-1 display mode, it can even show the date of today.

When your air-cond is turned off, and the humidity is above 75%, there is a high possibility that it is going to rain.

In normal days, the humidity level should be between 35%-65%. Higher than that, you should consider using dehumidifier to prevent the growth of mold and pests. Lower than that, you should consider using humidifier instead to safeguard the lifespan of your wooden floorings and furniture.

When your air-cond is turned on, both the humidity and temperature should drop. The room temperature should stay at the level that you set for your air-cond, otherwise you might need to service your air-cond as it no longer able to condition your room temperature according to your setting.

There are 3 power sources for this alarm clock:

• Internal CR2032 battery, used as emergency power source to memorize your clock settings and to keep the time running when there is no other power sources available.
• 4x AAA batteries, used as emergency power source for the alarm clock to function as normal, in the event of electricity blackout. Without the USB power source, the AAA batteries will be used up within 24 hours.
• DC 5V 300mA USB power source, which is the main power source for this alarm clock. Note that the alarm clock only comes with a USB cable, and you need to prepare your own wall charger to supply the DC 5V 300mA power supply to the clock.

There are only 3 buttons at the back of the clock (Set, Up and Down), making it a little bit tricky to set up the clock. Anyhow, it comes with a comprehensive multilingual instruction manual for you to refer to when setting up the clock.

There are 3 brightness levels for its LED display. During 6.00pm to 6.59am, the brightness level will be automatically switched to the lowest. This is a nice feature so that its LED display will not be too bright at night until it might disturb your sleep.

The LED display even has a "power saving" mode that will turn it off after 15 seconds of display. You can either touch the clock with your hand, or make some noise by clapping your hands near the clock, to bring up the display. You can also turn off this "power saving" mode for the LED display to stay on.

This clock has altogether 3 alarms, which you can set up to 3 different time of the day for it to chime. In addition, it also has a setting for the alarm function to only work during weekdays, and it won't wake you up during weekends.

All in all, I find this alarm clock elegant looking, feature rich and practical to use. It is inexpensive too, either for own use or as a presentable gift.

Gas stove heat diffuser metal plate

 I bought this 28cm heat diffuser aluminium plate for gas stove at the price of RM28.80.

It works by placing it on top of gas burner, so that:

• To distribute heat from the underneath fire evenly, and avoid scorching. This also keeps the base of your cooking utensil clean and anew.
• To support cooking utensils with smaller base, so that they can sit stably on top of the burner.
• There is less mess in the event of soup overflow and spillage, as the plate will hold the spilled liquid, preventing it from dropping into the fire and burner.

This plate has 2 sizes available in the market: 24cm and 28cm. If you are in doubt, get the larger 28cm one. If your gas burner is small, you can get the 24cm one, as it will heat up faster and therefore able to save some cooking gas.

This plate also has several different thickness available in the market: 4mm, 6mm, and some even 8mm.

4mm one is just nice. Thicker plates are more heavy-duty to support heavier weight on top of it without deformation. However, they will need more time to diffuse and heat up, and will use up more cooking gas.

There is a chuck that comes together with the plate, for you to move the plate without worrying about burning your hand when accidentally holding a hot plate.

Replaced my instant shower heater from Alpha Smart 18EP to Joven SL30iP

Recently, the "Line Fault" indicator of my 6 years old Alpha Smart 18EP instant shower water heater in one of my bathrooms had changed from its usual green light to red light. This is the same shower heater that was repaired in 2017 before.

I have replaced it with a new Joven SL30iP shower heater with DC inverter pump.

I bought the model without rain shower head for a cheaper price at around RM440, and managed to use back the rain shower head of the replaced Alpha Smart 18EP.

I have chosen Joven SL30iP this time, because:

• It has a very high performance/cost ratio, even higher than Alpha Smart 18EP.
• While the Alpha Smart 18EP has an AC pump, this Joven SL30iP has a DC inverter pump, which is much silent and saves electricity. More importantly, DC pump is less prone to electric shocks than AC pump.
• It has a built-in double poles Electronic Earth Leakage Sensor (EELS) with a very good 10mA sensitivity.
• It supports a lower minimum water pressure at 10kPa / 1.45 psi / 0.1 bar.
• It supports a lower minimum water flow at 2 litres per minute.

The only thing I don't like about this Joven SL30iP instant shower water heater is that its pump on/off switch, EELS test switch and EELS reset switch are located at its side instead of its front, making it harder to locate the right switch you want to press on.

Note that the water inlet and outlet of this Joven SL30iP are on the opposite side compared with the Alpha Smart 18EP. If you connect its water inlet and/or outlet on the wrong side, the water heater will not operate.

Same with Alpha Smart 18EP, the casing of this Joven SL30iP is IP25 splash proof.

If you are surveying on your new instant shower water heater, perhaps you can consider this one.