Household gadget of the week this week is this uber funky and quite handy six part toaster. The toaster design by Matt Gossington rotates and heats the toast in single compartments. You can then remove the compartments from the main appliance and swing open to allow toast to keep warm and crisp on its hot plates.

The toaster would be ideal for large families who have lots of mouths to feed during the weekly early morning rush. It is also toast lovers dream, for those who just cant have enough toast.  Despite the amount you make all in one go, this appliance it does have a contemporary and functional design making an inspiring centre piece in any kitchen.

Cleaning the freezer can be a lengthy and messy job but at the same time it’s a very necessary job. You probably have noticed and are well aware that over time a nice big thick layer of ice can build up on the inside your freezer. Not only does this make it hard to open and close freezer drawers but the ice reduces the efficiency of the appliance adding to your electricity bill.

So how to clean a freezer without too much torture?

1. First off you will need to unload the freezer of any food items you might currently have inside! If you don’t have a second freezer where you can put the food during the cleaning process one hand tip from Videojug is to wrap your frozen foods in newspaper and put them in a cooler bag which should be stored in the coldest part of your house.
2. Turn off your freezer and remove any drawers and ice trays from the freezer. Place newspaper or old towels around the base of the freezer to soak up the water as the ice melts.
3. To help the melting process along, dip a cloth in the hot water and dab it onto the ice covered shelves. Placing a bowl of warm water at the base of the freezer or underneath stubborn chunks of ice will also speed up the job.
4. While waiting for the ice to melt wash all the freezer drawers and ice cube trays with hot water and a small bit of detergent; rinse and leave to dry.
5. Check the freezers defrosting progress. Remove and discard any lose lumps of ice and damp newspaper and lay out a dry layer of newspaper or towels. 
6. Leave the freezer until it has completely defrosted; this could take a few hours. 
7. Once defrosted, wipe the inside of the freezer with warm water. Ensure that you don’t forget to clean the door jam as this where food from the fridge can gather! 
8. Now you are ready to replace your freezer drawers and all frozen food.
9. All done!

To celebrate the launch of MyHome.ie's new shopping network Littlewoods Ireland, Ireland's Leading Online Department Store is giving you the chance to win a whopping €1,000 shopping spree to spend on anything you choose from the huge range available on LittlewoodsIreland.ie!

With MyHome's new shopping network and with the help of Littlewoods Ireland you can now browse over 20,000 products online where you'll find something for you and your family from fashion and footwear to interiors and electrical goods.

To be in with a chance to win this fabulous prize all you have to do is answer this simple question:  How many days does it take for your Littlewoods Ireland purchases to be delivered to you? If you’re not too sure you can find a hint… here!

Enter Competition >>>

First off what is bleeding a radiator and why do you need to do it? Radiator bleeding is a term giving to the 'act' of removing air that has accidentally gotten into the radiator's coils. When air gets in the radiator, it rises to the top and displaces some of the water. Air doesn't conduct heat as efficiently as water; therefore it is both costly and wasteful to run your radiator with air trapped inside. All radiators must be bled on a regular basis, as the heating and cooling of water naturally releases air bubbles.

So how do you bleed a radiator?

1. Before you begin, you should switch off the boiler, so you avoid the chance of getting splashed! To avoid mess, you should have small container and a couple of cloths to catch any water that might come spurting out of the radiator valve. Last but not least, find your radiator bleed key i.e. the bleed key is a specific key used to open the value. If you can’t find it, don’t worry as they are easy enough to buy at any DIY shop.


2. Once you are all prepared, open the bleed valve at the top of the radiator with the radiators bleed key. The bleed valve is identifiable by a square bit in the middle of the round plug. Use the key to turn the valve anticlockwise about a quarter of a turn. It shouldn't be necessary to turn it further. You should now hear a hissing sound i.e. the trapped air escaping through the valve. Keep the key on the valve and when the hissing stops and the first dribble of water appears, close the valve tightly.


3. Job done!

This nifty gadget is for the coffee lovers. The Handpresso, which is said to a revolutionary concept and the talking point of design, is a small size Espresso machine that you can take with you on the go!  “Wherever you go and whenever you move, an espresso is always close to hand!”

How does it work? You pump (it’s kind of like a bicycle pump!) the handpresso machine to "16 bar", add hot water from a kettle or from a flask if out and about, and an E.S.E. (Easy Serving Espresso) pod. Then, serve yourself a quality cup of coffee with the simple push of a button!

What’s the catch? The Handpresso is made by a French company, which means their E.S.E. (Easy Serving Espresso) pods, similar idea to nepresso pods, are not easily found on Irish supermarket shelves.  However you can buy direct from them online.

• Take a closer look at the Handpresso

While may say that Limescale is not harmful to us, it can be a nuisance. The build up of calcium in your kettle can cause it to take longer to boil, therefore using more energy and adding little extra to your electricity bill. Not only that but if Limescale is left untreated / not removed or not cleaned for a lengthy period of time, the element can burn out therefore you’ll end up have to throw it out and buy a new one!

The descaling process of your kettle is fairly easy. You can buy descaling cleaners in most supermarkets but there is an argument that they can be corrosive and emit chemical odours – which probably wouldn’t make for a nice tasting cuppa tea when the cleaning process is over! But not to worry, there are a few key ingredients found in most household Kitchen cupboards that when used in the right way will help remove limescale from your kettle! What you need is:

• White vinegar
• Lemon Juice & Lemons
• Water

Start by half-filling the kettle with a 50:50 ratio of vinegar and water and leave for an hour. Then, leaving in the acid, top up the kettle with lemon juice and boil it. Once cool pour away the boiled water and half fill the kettle with water. Chop up some fresh lemons and put into the half kettle of water and boil. Once cooled, rinse your kettle with several changes of cold water to remove any traces of vinegar or lemon juice (not a good taste with tea or coffee!).

Vola, you should now have a sparkling and limescale free kettle.

House and Home magazine; Ireland's beloved and best selling interiors magazine with an accessible mix of Irish ideas for Irish interiors, are carrying out a consumer survey this month and would love to hear your opinions and feedback on their mag.

In return for taking a few minutes to complete their questionnaire and to make it worth your while they will give you a FREE copy of the House and Home magazine in return!  How brilliant is that?!

It’ll only take you a few minutes, so why not complete the questionnaire and get your hands on a free copy of their mag (Oh and it'll be delivered straight to your door too!).

Start Questionnaire

February has arrived and so the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom i.e. spring cleaning is soon to get underway. Spring cleaning time is a prime opportunity to get rid of unwanted and used items in the house. We all have items lying around the house, garden shed or workplace that we don’t need, be it a piece of furniture, a fridge, a bicycle, gardening tools or clothes. However, sometimes the task of parting with some items is not easy. The key though is to be ruthless. The following which are really ‘Excuses for keeping things’ should definitely be on the get-rid list.

• Stacks or old letters, magazines or books that you were going to read.
• Things people have given you that no longer fit into your life.
• Things you have been hanging onto in case you need them.
• Things you have kept because it would be a waste to let them go.

However what you should know and remember is that you do not need to throw out all the items you plan to get rid of. Most of the items are probable reusable. As they say “What you may no longer want could be someone else’s treasure”.

There are many companies and organisations that will take and /or swap your unwanted items such as the St. Vincent de Paul, Dublinwaste.ie, Jumbletown.ie.

Reusing your unwanted goods is better than simply throwing things away and helps protect the environment. It’s also a very simple, yet efficient way to relieve clutter and provide valuable items for those in need.

With stubborn gunk, 'burnty' bits and who knows what else, cleaning your oven isn't the most exciting or attractive job. However the job at hand isn't as difficult as it sounds and it is possible to restore your oven back to squeaky clean order pretty quickly.

They are many ways to clean the oven. My preference is the eco friendly and homemade way i.e. a mixture of ingredients from your kitchen. So where to start? What you need is:

• 5 tablespoons of baking soda
• 4 of white vinegar
• And 2 or 3 drops of washing up liquid

Mix all the ingredients together into a thick paste, then use a sponge to apply your new home oven cleaner remedy to the inside of your oven. When you have that done its time for some elbow grease i.e. scrub your oven with a ‘green scrubby’. Once you are happy you have scrubbed enough, make sure to rinse thoroughly and wipe the oven clean.

If you don’t have time or the ingredients you can buy oven cleaner! Check out the video to follow the steps on what to do (it’s not that hard, spray it on, clean it off!)

With all that in mind, now all you have to do is roll up the sleeves and get to it!

While we may have a year to prepare before a property tax and water charges are introduced and in full swing by the end of 2011, 2010 is not immune and householders will not escape the brunt of more charges.

The Revenue Commissioners have asked all local authorities for a list of all goods and services they provide to the public or to businesses at a cost, so they can be assessed for VAT at either 13.5 or 21%.

This means householders in all parts of the State who use local authority services for their waste collection are likely to face an increase in charges of up to 21%. Also included on the line up to face a hike are car parks, swimming pools, sports grounds and commercial water use.

The VAT changes are due to be included in the Finance Bill 2010 published next March or April and reports suggest that the changes are likely to be implemented by July.

Have your say

• More Household charges: Are these proposed VAT charges on local authority services fair? 

A pretty nifty and handy ‘gadget’ to have especially in the current water shortage is a water butt. What is it?  It is a barrel-like tank that can collect rainwater from your roof's drainpipes after rain. This rainwater can then be used for watering plants in your garden, for washing you car and at times, like now when water pressure is low it might be handy for filling up your cistern.

A small sized water butt has a capacity of about 190 litres and is made from 100% recycled plastic. It is designed to fit a standard plastic drainpipe (not recommended for cast iron pipes!) and are designed so that they will not overflow. When the water level reaches a certain level water will flow straight through the down pipe instead of into the water butt.

The price of water butts can vary depending on the size you want, small sized tanks can start at €40 and can be purchased from the many local county councils and some garden centres. 

Dublin City Council.ie provide a list of suppliers in the Dublin area.

As water supplies across the country remain at critically low levels, authorities last night warned that water supplies in some parts of the country may not be back to normal for several months.

It’s no secret that Ireland has one of the highest water availability rates in Europe and according to Met Éireann annual rainfall totals in 2009 were well above normal for the second successive year. However Irish rivers which are the source for much of the Irish water supply are just not able to keep up with the demand. 

The water shortages came as Chambers Ireland said the issue highlighted the need for water meters and charges for all users to be introduced as a matter of urgency. The body’s deputy chief executive Seán Murphy said "Water shortages simply would not happen if people were paying for these scarce resources."

However one TD said "The latest water shortage crisis was entirely predictable given the shambolic state of the country’s water network and the Government’s failure to fix it, especially when 43% of the supply was already leaking into the ground,"

Have your say:

• Would the introduction of water meters and charges prevent future water shortages and rationing?
• Or should there be better monitoring and reserving of our water use by authorities throughout the year and not just when supplies run low?

It is said that the average person uses 148 litres of water a day; this is the equivalent of nearly two full baths of water! Minor adjustments in our daily activities at home and in the garden can help make a difference. It doesn't have to cost money; it just takes a little bit of time and effort.

1. Have a shower instead of a bath. A bath can use over 100 litres of water whereas a regular shower uses about 35 litres of water (in 5 minutes.)
2. Turn off the tap. Don't leave the tap running while brushing your teeth. Turning the tap off can save over 7,000 litres of water per year.
3. Fix Leaks. Mending your dripping tap washer could prevent the waste of up to 5,500 litres of water which is enough to fill a paddling pool every week for the whole summer.
4. Avoid half loads. When using your washing machine and dishwasher is better to only use them when they are full: A full load uses less water than two half loads; so, not only will you save water but you’ll also save money on energy too.
5. Toilets. Older toilets can use up to 9-11 litres in a single flush can! If you have a single flush toilet you can reduce this amount by inserting a water displacement device into your tank. You can purchase these or place a plastic bottle filled with water in the cistern (make sure it doesn’t obstruct the mechanism.) You can also get a plumber adjust the flush volume of your cistern.
6. Outside: Invest in a water butt. A water butt is a barrel-like tank that collects rainwater from your roof's drainpipes. This rainwater can then be used to water your garden, house plants or even wash your car.
7. Use a watering can instead of a hose. A hose can emit as much as 18 litres of water a minute. Using a watering can in your garden you can significantly reduce the amount of water wasted and if you must use a hose fit it with a trigger gun to control the flow.

Why get one? Draught excluders are a quick, easy and a cost effective method to reduce heat loss and help to retain heat in the rooms of your house. They stop the cold air from the outside creeping in and a help prevent those draughts circulating.

Draught excluders can also be considered eco friendly. By using draught excluders at the bottom of your doors they increase energy efficiency in the home by acting as an additional insulator. Excluding draughts will improve heat loss, lower your energy bill and reduce your CO2 footprint.

In the past draught excluders were sometimes drab and 'uncool' but with the cold weather sticking around draught excluders have made a huge comeback and with style. Not only add a touch of funky retro styling to your home, they also work hard at banishing cold draughts and help keep you nice and comfy during the winter months.

Our favourites:

• Snake Draught Excluders made from vintage fabric from Eco Outlet
• Sir Lily Pad the frog draught excluder from Ideal Moments

By now the Christmas decorations should be packed away back into their boxes but if you didn’t manage to get out of the house last week with all the snow, problem now is what to do with your old Christmas tree? Although it just might be a bit too big to fit in your green bin, Christmas Trees can be recycled and used for mulching and compost purposes.

So how and where can you recycle your tree? Most, if not, all County Councils around the country allow you to recycle your Christmas tree free of charge. All you have to do is bring your tree to a specified / selected drop off point or recycling centre. To find out where your nearest drop off location is check out your local County Council website.

There are also a number of “kerb side” collections. These are mainly provided by private companies for a small fee. Depending on your location and the company, prices can vary between €5 and €10. If you haven’t a Christmas tree collection point nearby, this service is great as your tree will be collected at your home; you don’t have to do anything except have the tree ready and stripped of it's decorations and they’ll do all the moving!

Two such companies are:

1. Christmas Tree Collection.ie who provide a kerb side collection for €9.99 in Urban areas of Cork City, namely Ballinlough, Douglas, Frankfield, Rochestown, Passage West, Carrigaline, Bishopstown and Ballincollig.
2. Garden Express Landscaping also provide a Christmas tree collection service in Dublin, again for only €9.

If you are unsure if you are in or within a collection area you can contact the company explaining where you live and they'll let you know!

Many reports have surfaced that taxis and buses will not travel into certain residential areas, estates or driveways due to the snow and icy conditions which make for unsafe driving; and who would blame them? No one wants to risk or endanger lives or their vehicle.

But surely it doesn’t take much to clear the roads and pathways but the question is; whose responsibility is it? Should residential management companies and local authorities clear away the snow and ice around residential complexes and estate footpaths and roadways? If not, is it our responsibility to go out with a shovel, sand and salt to clear the way?

In America, the rules are strict; it is your responsibility (and in most places the law) to remove snow from your property within 24 hours as if somebody slips outside your door, you might be held liable. If the pavements are not cleared, the local crews will do the job and the home owners will be sent the bill! However, they are given free “sidewalk sand” to do the job.

The New Year Snow: Who should be clearing the way?

• Has there been a lack of responsibility and flexible planning from management companies and authorities to clear the way and make footpaths and roads safe?

• Or should we take the onus and play our part to get our estates and pathways to a safe and useable order?

Well, whether you like outdoor Christmas lights or not, you can’t not like the display given by the former Disney “Imagineer” and special effects expert Ric Turner. He has come up with a pretty creative way to display his outdoor Christmas lights by hooking up and syncing his 21,268-bulb-strong lights with the Wii’s Guitar Hero.

What am I talking about? In short Ric Turner has programmed his Christmas lights set-up to play Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover." The whole thing is played with a wireless guitar controller for the Wii. Pretty cool.

Turner does over the top displays every Christmas and even puts on displays at Halloween. Why not check out his You Tube page.

With the Christmas festive season well underway, the decoration process both inside and outside of the house is in full swing. With a massive range of lights on the market, from modest icicle sequences to 12ft illuminated sets of Santa and his reindeers, it’s fair to say that Christmas has gone all bling bling. Only a hand full of years ago it was hard to find outdoor lights without going to a specialist but now that they are available in every garden centre, hardware store and shop corner more and more people are catching the outdoor decorating bug.

Some go for a minimised reserved look of a few clear or coloured fairly lights that border part of the house or highlight a tree in the front garden while on the total extreme opposite some people go to extraordinary lengths to make sure their houses are the brightest lit, adorning their house with thousands of lights which nearly offer an alternative sun source.

Every year the debate arises as to whether outside Christmas lights are first-rate or just plain naff. Some houses could be compared to Clark Griswold’s in the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation while many believe they promote a great sense of Christmas spirit and celebration.

Outdoor Christmas Lights: Have your say

• Do you love them? Are they attractive, magical and an essential part of the festive season?
• Or are they cheap, tacky, distasteful and vulgar?

We have scoured the internet, magazines and newspapers to find the perfect gifts this Christmas for you and your home… here’s our favourite top five.

At number 5 is the considerate radio alarm clock. If you or someone you know finds rolling out of bed a little bit of a struggle especially on the cold dark winter mornings then the Sunrise Nature Sounds Alarm Clock is a great gift solution. This little gem starts to light up gradually, 30 minutes before alarm time, to simulate sunrise in your room. Then instead of a deafening alarm, you can choose from a range of nature sounds to calmly wake you from your deep sleep. How nice.

At number 4, which would defiantly be a conversation starter at the Christmas table, is the Rain Main Decanter. If you are entertaining this year and looking to impress your guests then look no further than this funky decanter which pours wine from eight small holes on the side of the vessel, producing a showerhead-like effect. Wacky, but it gets our vote!

At number 3 are rugs with a difference. Rugs to Love turn pictures / drawings into a real rug! So if you are thinking of buying a new rug and have a budding young artist in the house, why not turn one of their pieces into a new mat or rug for the hall or sitting room? Pretty nifty, check out Rugs to Love:

Number two is the Glass Pool table! If you are looking for the ultimate boys toy for the house then this glass top pool table would only be ideal!

And a number one is the brilliant HiCan bed! If you need a new bed this Christmas then you look no further than the HiCan bed which combines luxury with technology to the extreme i.e. a fancy wide screen flat TV integrated into the bed frame. I want one of these.

Be in with a chance to win a €1,000 home and living shopping spree with Littlewoods Ireland and make your home look even more amazing this Christmas! The home & living collection from Littlewoods Ireland is Ireland’s leading online department store has everything you need to inspire, design and furnish every room in your house!

To enter the competition all you have to do is answer this simple question: Which of the following brands is exclusive to Littlewoods Ireland? McCord, McDavid or McDermond? If none of them ring a bell, you can find a hint… here!

• Enter Competition >>>

Should a database of all Sales Prices be made available to the public? Or should such information remain private to the persons involved in the transaction?

The latest findings of the MyHome.ie Property Barometer show that nationally, asking prices have fallen 22% since the peak of the market yet plenty of sketchy evidence exists showing that actual sales prices have fallen far in excess of this amount, upwards of 40% and more in some cases.

During the boom, asking prices acted as a starting point for negotiations, with sales being done at prices in excess of the asking price. More recently, asking prices have become something more of an aspiration for sellers, with many sales being concluded below asking price in this buyers’ market.

So taking all this into account, is it time for a publicly accessible database detailing accurate information on all residential sales transactions in the State, similar to the system operated by the Land Registry in England & Wales? Or should such information remain private, as it currently is under the Data Protection Acts?

Have Your Say:

• Would the availability of such price information provide for more transparency in the property market?
• Or would it simply hinder the efforts of sellers in trying to achieve the maximum price possible for their property, which they are entitled to do?
• Should the general public have a right to know how much a person paid for, or received for, a house they bought or sold in what is essentially a private sales transaction?

So far the main focus of NAMA has been what impact it will have on the banks. But probably the greatest impact will be the change it will have is on the Property Market. So are the possible outcomes of NAMA?

Scenario 1:
The Government takes on developer loans; Irish banks get cash and start lending money to house buyers, who get 90% mortgages and buy house(s). A new property boom starts and in five years time with back in a familiar place with X billion in bad property loans – albeit bad mortgages, rather than developer loans – but more debt none the less

Scenario 2:
Banks will have to repay international lenders and bond holders with the money they receive from the Government. With jobs losses, increased taxation and a possible NAMA levy, housing finance availability will be reduced and fewer people will be in a position to take out mortgage. Although it may be a slow road back to recovery this should help and result in stabilising the property market.

Have your Say

• Will NAMA just reflate the bubble? Or will it stabilise the property market?
• Should we support or reject NAMA?

Since we gave you a few tips and pointers on how to unblock a drain indoors we decided to move outdoors and help you out with how to tackle and clean your house gutters. This again isn’t the nicest job but since it is summer it would be a great time and chance to give them a clean. What you’ll need;

• Ladder, Gloves - preferably heavy duty gloves, Stiff brush, Garden trowel, A bucket  / bin /  bin liners, A hose, Wire Coat hanger

So where so start?

1. First off you will have to remove all debris and dirt from the gutter. Use the garden trowel to scoop out silt, grit, dirt etc then use a the stiff brush to loosen and gather debris. To minimize cleanup later scoop the debris into a bucket of even a rubbish bag / bin liner. Tip: It is best to work away from the drain outlet / downpipes i.e. do not sweep dirt down the drain pipe as this might / possible would cause
2. When all the dirt has been removed from the gutter you then wash out the length of the gutter using a hose. At this stage if there is any remaining dirt stuck to the gutter now is the time to try and scrub it off with the help of the water, your brush & some elbow grease. Tip: This part can be messy i.e. dirt and water = possible splashing! Be conscious that you don’t madly splash and ruin the paint work of your house!
3. Last but not least – the downpipe! From time to time the downpipe can block up.   You can use a wire coat hanger to to pull any dirt out, but if it is unreachable try using a high pressure hose to flush out the dirt!

This gadget has been dubbed the ideal gift for dirty hand haters and anyone who lives in a garden-free flat. What am I talking about? - The Power Plant growing machine!

So we live in a world of technology so we shouldn’t be overly surprised by new and wacky inventions. The power plant growing machine is a device that allows you to grow plants indoors, all year round without the need of soil! They use a bit of techno blabber but to summarise how it works – You plant seeds into a sponge type thing which are constantly sprayed with oxygenated, nutrient rich water which not only helps your crops to grow but also helps them to grow bigger and stronger.

What can you plant? Herbs, fruit, vegetables and even flowers. The power plant growing machine can be used over and over which is quite handy but only draw back is that being a ‘machine’ it has to be powered all the time! So while you are saving money by growing your own herbs, fruit and veg you’re also running up the electricity bill at the same time!

Read more about the Power Plant growing machine

Explaining and detailing the steps on how to unblock a drain is not a pretty subject! But when you have parents, boyfriends, partners etc complaining that the shower is slowly turning into a bath because of (possibly your) hair is blocking the pipe then you know something has got to be done.

There are a few methods to unblock a pipe;

1. You could use an off the shelf product e.g. Drain Clear. With a product like this you usually pour a certain quantity of the liquid down the drain and leave for anything from 15 minutes to 24 hours (this will depend on the product you buy) before you can use the shower / bath again.
2. You could make you own home mixture. The good old reliable vinegar and baking soda will do the trick. What you need to do is remove the drain cover, pour approx a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by two cups of plain, white vinegar.  When combined the mixture will really foam and bubble and will help loosen materials that are stuck in your drain and cause them to move freely down your pipes. After the mixture has stopped foaming run cold water down the drain to help remove the remains of any material in your pipe!
3. Last but not least if you have a very blocked drain you could use a hanger i.e. remove the drain cover and proceed to use a hanger to pull any unwanted contents out of the drain – this would be a last resort for me! Ugh.