Home Improvement

How to Use Patio Furniture in the Office

Blog provided by Wicker Paradise

We live in a world where many products and goods can be repurposed to meet new needs whenever they arise. From garden tools to cardboard boxes, many objects can have more than one use. With this in mind, patio furniture can be used as office furniture in the right context.

There appears to be an unspoken rule that office furniture has to be modern, rigid, and angular. The most popular office furniture styles don’t seem to leave room for more elegant, aesthetically pleasing styles such as wicker furniture. However, there are good reasons to add some variety to your office furniture.

A recent study has shown that an aesthetically pleasing workplace is one of the traits employees value the most in a workplace. Having attractive office furniture may help you retain and recruit employees, and it can also help present a good first impression for potential business partners who are visiting your office.

Patio furniture is often designed to be elegant and relaxing, as opposed to the rigid professionalism of most modern office furniture. It is also often designed to withstand undesirable weather conditions such as sunrays and rain. This makes it ideal for outdoor work areas. The right set of furniture can add an extra dimension to your outdoor work area, reception room, or communal dining area.

At Wicker Paradise, you can find many outdoor wicker furniture sets that will fit on your patio or in your workplace. You can also find replacement cushions for patio furniture and Treasure Garden umbrellas for all your furniture needs. Contact them today for more information.

Simple Ways to Reinvigorate Your Office Design

Blog provided by Wicker Paradise

Does your office design need some updating? You might be wondering how you can bring new life to an old, tired, worn office. Here are a few ideas that you can use to reinvigorate your office design.

Add Art to the Walls

A 2004 survey conducted by the Business Committee for the Arts (BCA) revealed that being exposed to art in the workplace actually reduced stress and increased productivity and creativity. Decorate your office with paintings or non-distracting sculptures that blend well with your office furniture.

Add Plants to Your Surroundings

A UK study published by the APA showed that plants in a work area can also increase worker’s quality of life and productivity by as much as 15%. Nature-inspired scenery is a good way to help your workers feel more refreshed, creative, and healthy. You might also consider adding an outdoor work area to your office for this reason.

Replace Your Old Furniture Cushions

On a more practical level, replacement cushions can revitalize the way your office furniture pieces look and feel. If your break area or reception room furniture’s cushions are old, saggy, and misshapen, they’ll leave a poor impression on your employees and the others who visit your office building. Replacing your cushions will ensure they remain fresh, comfortable, and presentable to the people who see them.

Wicker Paradise is one place you can find high-quality custom furniture replacement cushions. Measure your chairs or sofas, then order a cushion replacement based on your exact specifications today. Don’t forget to also check out Wicker Paradise’s exquisite collection of wicker, rattan, and seagrass furniture.

Data center cooling best practices

Data center cooling and temperature management standards changed recently that set the recommended maximum temperature at 24 degrees. By increasing the maximum temperature for a data center, operators are now free to use a wider range of cooling systems. Here is a high-level look at some data center best practices

Baselines

Take stock of the total load in kilowatts of equipment in the data center. Also, measure and record the temperature at the point of intake and exhaust of the middle and top of each rack. Indicate the location and the time of day of each measurement. The temperature and cooling load we record will form the baseline for future comparison. Note the RPM and the internal temperature of servers and other equipment that proves that information.

Improve airflow

Improving the air flow from the cold to the hot aisle should take priority over any immediate temperature changes. Racks without any electrical load should have sealed plates in front, while racks with running equipment should have perforated tiles in front of the rack. Seal any cable holes in the raised floor and use blanking plates to prevent cold air escaping to the hot aisle.

Cooling

With the proper baselines and optimized airflow, adjust the temperature of the cooling units. Increase the temperature one degree every week and monitor how it affects the intake temperature. As a contingency for hot days, keep portable air conditioners ready to assist the primary cooling systems. Once the data center reaches the target temperature, check the fan RPM to ensure that the reduce cooling does not result in increased power draw from internal fans.

A Guide to Finding the Right Portable AC Unit

When purchasing a portable air conditioning unit for your home, there are several factors that you have to consider in regards to your home and personal preferences. Here are some tips that you should consider when you are buying your first unit.

A unit of measurement that you need to consider when you are shopping is the British Thermal Units (BTU) per hour. The higher the numerical value designated the more cooling power that it will produce. Therefore, the size of your room works hand-in-hand with this number. Don’t waste your money on an AC unit that isn’t designed to handle a larger room. 8,000 BTU’s covers about 1,600 cubic feet and 14,000 BTU’s can handle up to 4,000 cubic feet.  If you need a computer room air conditioner, you’re more likely to look for an AC with a BTU on the lower end.

Many portable air conditioners require a hose to filter out the hot air, this means that they must be placed near a window or anywhere that has access to the outside. To prevent your unit from outdoor cooling, it must be attached at a point where it can filter out without any blockage points.

When it comes to maintenance, their upkeep is relatively simple. When your AC unit collects the moisture out of the air, it collects in a duct that is either manually removed or gravity-drained to a different location. Each unit has its own system of flushing the water out.

Air conditioners vary in the amount of noise emitted. You can check each unit’s decibel level and compare them to find the most subtle one fit for your room. Most specialty stores will carry noise-dampening air conditioners as a pricier option, but by purchasing these you won’t need to worry about having to deal with the constant whirring of the gears.

Energy efficiency is huge. Not only do you want to save energy, but your monthly bill will be much lower using an energy efficient unit. There is an energy efficiency ratio compares the amount of watts to the BTUs. The higher the ratio, the more energy-efficient your AC unit is.

By incorporating these tips into your search, you can pinpoint which air conditioner is right for your home. Not every home is built the same and weather conditions vary all over the globe. Factor in things like humidity and changing temperatures to make sure that what you are buying is worth your money.

The PowerBehind Your Favorite Tech

Most people don’t fully understand how amazing the technology they rely on truly is. We all know that the app on our phones or the computer on our desk but have no idea the sort of computing power behind them.

Servers power everything we use in the digital world. They are high powered computers that are the backend of nearly everything we do online. They power everything from loading a web page, sending a receiving mail or executing a search query. Data centers use tens of thousands of densely packed servers for a wide variety of applications. Google for example has 27 plus data centers with up to a 100,000 servers per data center.

As you can imagine, these servers consume a lot of power. This process, in turn, creates a lot of heat. With such high server counts, without active cooling severs will fail. Whenever there is an air conditioning failure at a data center or in a small server room, there is a very high chance of equipment failure within hours.

That’s why cooling is so important. A portable cooling system can be used to cool servers when the standard units fail. Rather than purchasing any equipment, look to get a rental portable air conditioner. Use a portable cooling system until the normal systems are restored.