Did you know there are new government regulations to the type of fluorescent light bulbs you can use http://ping.fm/5v9ks

Did you know there are new regulations for the bulbs you can use in your fluorscent light fixtures http://ping.fm/r0nXO

New Regulations to Fluorescent Lamps

You may not have read or heard, but if you have fluorescent light fixtures in your house or business you may be in for a big surprise.  Just recently the Federal Government has passed new Regulations for all Fluorscent lamps.  Basically all T12 (larger) 4' and 8' Fluorescent bulbs will be eliminated, you must change over to the T8 (smaller) bulbs.  The process is not as easy as changing the bulbs, ballast must also be changed to an electronic ballast.  Check out our website for a chart of the new standards and some additional tips.  http://www.richlandacehardware.com/

Check out GAC tonight at 8 pm central, for an interview with Country Singer Easton Corbin done at our Richland store, Ace is the Place!!

Bag sale this weekend, BYOB (Bring your own Bag) get 20% off everything* you put in it. www.richlandacehardware.com

Want to remove oil stains from your concrete driveway with no scrubbing or pressure washing, www.acehardwarehelpfultips.blogspot.com

Getting Rid of Oil Stains in your Driveway

Do you have oil stains on your concrete driveway or maybe in your garage?  I am sure you have tried scrubbing and pressure washing and haven't had any luck.  Check out this product, Pour-n-Restore.
 

Pour-N-Restore Oil Stain Remover lifts and absorbs embedded oil stains as it dries from a liquid to a powder. This is made possible by combining a powerful citrus degreaser with a non-leaching absorbent. To restore concrete and masonry, just apply Pour-N-Restore Oil Stain Remover, let it dry from a liquid to a powder, and sweep it up. No scrubbing. No rinsing. No mess.

It is completely biodegradable, phosphate-free, and has a fresh orange fragrance.  One Gallon Covers 24 square feet.  You will  be amazed how will it works. 
Click here to see it work

http://www.richlandacehardware.com/

Warm weather this weekend, it is a great time to get down a pre-emergent on your lawns, check this out for tips www.acehardwarehelpfultips.blogspot.com

Prevent Crabgrass before its to late

It's that time of year for you to start thinking about your lawn.  You probalbly have't had to do anything to your yard in a few months, but an early start will keep you from getting frustrated this summer with a lawn full of weeds.   It's time to prevent crabgrass from coming up this year.  Crabgrass gets its name because it sprawls from a central root low across the ground.  It can become a problem quickly because it is able to grow vigorously in hot, dry, conditions.  Before dying in the fall, a single weed can distribute thousands of seeds which will be ready to germinate in spring.  Crabgrass is a problem, but can be taken care of easily with the right products.

Turf Builder with Halts Crabgrass Preventer

• Prevents crabgrass all season
• Feeds and greens for fast green up after winter
• Water Smart improves lawn's ability to absorb water and nutrients.
• Apply in early spring.

You only have a small window to apply this product before the weeds start to sprout.  Take advantage of this weekend with the warm weather we will be having.  If you have any questions please stop by the store. 

Snow is falling Ace is your Place for Sleds, Salt, Ice Melt, and Snow Shovels. www.richlandacehardware.com

Looking to reduce energy cost this year here are some tips, www.acehardwarehelpfultips.blogspot.com or stop by our store for more ideas!

Money Saving Tips!

Save Money with Help from Ace!

With most of the nation facing tough economic times, there are plenty of ways that you gave save $$ in your home by just doing a few things.  Here are some examples:

• Add weather stripping around windows and doors.  Use of door thresholds, window caulking and plastic window film can go far in saving your money this winter. If you live in a drafty home, you could save up to 20 percent with an investment of as little as $25.
• Check furniture arrangement in your rooms.  Are you unknowingly blocking vents and radiators with a big sofa or armchair? If so, you're restricting the airflow in your home, resulting in higher output from your furnace or boiler. Rearranging the furniture can save your units from having to work overtime.
• Install a programmable thermostat. A recent study revealed that only 24 percent of Americans have installed this handy device - for shame! Well-insulated homes can save up to 30 percent on heating costs with one. You can program these thermostats to automatically lower temperatures when at work or while sleeping, thereby saving energy hours at a time. Prices for programmable thermostats range from $40 to $100, and will quickly pay for themselves.
• Adjust your water heater settings.  Your water heater may be working harder than it needs to, costing you precious dollars. Reduce the temperature on the unit to about 120 degrees - the water doesn't need to be any hotter. If the unit is older than 12 years, you may want to look into replacing it with a new, more energy-efficient model. Average Savings: $20 - $50 per year.
• Inspect your toilet.  A constantly-running toilet can use up to 8,000 gallons of water each year. Fix the problem by installing a toilet repair kit that features a new valve, flapper and other devices that will conserve water. Average Savings: $25 - $100 per year.

For more helpful money saving tips come in our store or visit http://www.richlandacehardware.com/

Now when you buy an Edenpure Heater get a $50 Ace Gift Card for FREE!! www.richlandacehardware.com

Want to save $$ on your lighting bill one bulb at a time. G.E. now has increased their line of CFL bulbs www.acehardwarehelpfultips.blogspot.com

GE Energy Smart™ Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Bulbs

 

Discover the many shapes & sizes of energy-efficient lighting.

 

There's no question that GE Energy Smart bulbs give you the energy-saving benefits you want and the high-quality lighting you expect. With a complete family of different shapes and sizes, you have energy-friendly lighting options for nearly every room in your home – including decorative fixtures.

 

Why Choose GE Energy Smart Bulbs?

• Save money: On energy and bulb replacement costs
• Save energy: Up to 75% less energy
• Last up to 10 times longer
• Turn on flicker free
• Most provide the same light output (lumens) but use lower wattages
• Soft white and daylight color temperature options
• Fit in most common household sockets/fixtures
• Instant-on feature
• Dimmable and 3-way products available
• ENERGY STAR® qualified

Click Here to find out how much you can save on energy costs by using GE Energy Smart CFL bulbs.

Looking for painting tips check out www.acehardwarehelpfultips.blogspot.com, print off the coupon to get a Free Benjamin Moore Wet Sample!

Painting Tips

When it comes to choosing a paint color for your room, start at the top - ceilings need color, too! Learn how color on the ceiling can transform a room.


The Forgotten Fifth Wall

There’s no better time to freshen up the look of your home than now. You can bring the sense of renewal inherent to the season into your own environment with beautiful color. Where to start? Look forward to the season by looking up.

Ceilings are often the Forgotten Fifth Wall in a room. Too often, little thought is given to a ceiling’s contribution to the overall room design, which is typically just coated in some ubiquitous white paint.

Look at your ceilings from a new perspective. Color, sheen, pattern, and texture on the ceiling can transform the entire look and feel of a room. Here are some ideas to consider:

Warm it Up

On the flip side, a large room with high ceilings can feel impersonal or unbalanced sometimes, with furnishings, floor coverings and accessories visually occupying the bottom half of a room, leaving the top bare. Experiment with a deeper color on the ceiling in this case. A rich cocoa, in a soft sheen such as eggshell or pearl immediately cozies up and balances a large open space with style.

Dress it Up


Consider experimenting with glazes on your ceiling, including metallic and pearlescent effects. Benjamin Moore offers a complete line of specialty finishes. Watch videos and learn how-to techniques for glazes here.

Open it Up

Make a small room or room with a low ceiling feel larger by keeping the color contrast between the walls and ceilings to a minimum. A pale yellow ceiling over wheat colored walls allows your eyes to gently travel upward without a stark demarcation of a bright white ceiling (think of how the sky naturally lightens in an ombre effect as it approaches the sun).


Use a flat sheen paint for the best effect. Try Regal Matte or Regal Flat Finish available in all bases. 

Wrap it Up


Ceilings truly are a blank canvas for your creative expression (bonus: you don’t have to worry about smudgy fingerprints or furniture nicks). And painting your ceiling is a budget-friendly way to give any room in your home a new, inviting look. With a stunning ceiling to look at, it’ll be easy to keep your chin up even in a tight economy!

(Article found at Benjamin Moore.com)

Sleds and Ice Melt coming in Friday, don't be one of the ones who misses out next time we get a Winter Storm www.richlandacehardware.com

Check us out on My Space www.myspace.com/generationacehardware give us ideas about what you would like to see us post.

Cold weather is a great time to feed birds, if you want to find out more click here, http://ping.fm/U2iAx

Winter Bird Feeding & Survival For Wild Birds

Surviving the cold weather and finding food poses many challenges for wild birds. Many species of birds will double their amount of feathers during the winter as a ways to reduce their body heat loss.

Birds can regulate body temperature allowing them to survive in a remarkable range of habitats such as tropical, polar, temperate, and oceans.  Metabolic heat production must be repaid balancing the intake of energy with what has been consumed. Also unique circulatory system of arteries and veins reduce the heat loss through their feed. In many birds, arteries and veins in their legs lie in contact with each other in order to exchange heat and maintain temperature. Arterial blood it is normally at body temperature and it is send to the feed trough a series of conducts that run along with the cold returning venous blood. Other small birds such as sparrows, juncos and other ground foraging birds usually drop down covering their legs and feed as a way to transfer body heat.

Birds produce heat during the winter nights and cold storms by shivering (thermogenesis). During this process all winter birds will produce heat by consuming their fat perseveres.  Shivering allows birds to maintain their body temperature up 8- 10 hours depending on the species and their intake of energy from food during the day.  That’s why it is necessary for winter songbirds to find food early in the morning regardless of weather conditions. If the bird doest not find enough food to produce the necessary energy to make it trough the night or a severe storm, the bird will die.

Other songbirds such as Chickadees will enter a state of unconsciousness or torpor. During the torpor state body temperature may drop between 10 to15 degrees during the night or during days of severe cold weather. Early morning Chickadees will decrease their periods of inactivity and will start shivering again, increasing body heat and becoming active. There is a high metabolic cost incurred by awakening from torpor that demands immediate payback in energy from food intake.

During the winter the thermogenic capabilities of some birds such as Goldfinches, House Finches and Redpolls are impressive, in many cases better than the ability of mammals. The same species will become hypothermic during a cold front in the springtime, due to the lower feather cover and the low fat preserves.

Feeding the birds is a rewarding and enjoyable hobby. If you provide food in the winter, keep the feeder full since many birds will rely on it as a regular place to eat. Keep the following tips in mind for a successful winter bird feeding season.

•    Clean off feeders, platforms and perches after each snowfall so seed is easily accessible.
•    Leave fruit and berries on trees, hedges and bushes to provide a natural source of food throughout the winter.
•    Add a heated birdbath to your backyard or place a safe heating element in a regular birdbath to provide birds with liquid water.
•    Stamp or shovel snow around feeders to provide easier access to spilled seed for ground feeding birds.
•    Leave nesting boxes and birdhouses up all year round to provide winter roosting sites.

To maximize the number of species that visit your feeders, you'll want to offer a variety of food in several feeders. Kaytee recommends Black Oil Sunflower, suet, Golden Safflower which has high oil content (Golden Safflower can be found in Kaytee new regional blends), Peanuts, Thistle (for Goldfinches) and at least two
single seed blends.

(Article found at www.kaytee.com)