With January over and the excitement of Christmas over, here at GT Refrigeration we thought we would give you something to look forward to so we are giving away John Lewis vouchers worth £50 on our Twitter page.
All you have to do is follow us on Twitter @GTRefrigeration and retweet the competition using the hashtag #GTRVoucher to be in with a chance of winning.
There are many stores in the UK so there is sure to be one near you! ON top of this the vouchers can also be spent in Waitrose too. This is the perfect prize for beating the January (well now February) blues. You can spruce up your home or even put it towards a new fridge! The competition will close on Sunday 27th of February and the winner will be announced shortly after once all the entrants have been considered.
Good Luck!
Terms and Conditions
Entrants must be based within the UK and aged 18 years or over at the time of entering.
The closing date for each competition is the 27th of February 2013 at midnight and the winners will be announced once all the entries are in.
Over the weekend and much of the week we have been disrupted by the snow. Just when we thought the worst was behind us, it looks like there are more disruptions ahead. Even though the snow is slowly disappearing, this means it is thawing and with the heavy rainfall that is expected around most of the country, it means there are more risks of flooding again.
50 flood warnings have been issued around the UK as the ice begins to melt and on top of this in some areas ice warnings are still in place. According to forecasters there will be one more final heavy snowfall and hopefully the weather will warm up slightly, don’t go putting your air conditioning units on yet, it won’ be that warm! Temperatures are expected to reach 10C in the south on Sunday. It is believed that the north of England could see 15cm of snow and the south may see up to 5cm.
A spokesman from the Environment Agency, Roy Stokes has some up with a creative and fun way for those who will need to be making preparations for the floods; “Ideally if everybody built themselves a snowman it will slow the thaw down a bit.
“If you notice when people clear their drive the snow thaws away but the compacted piles stay.
“That would give a balanced thaw which would be helpful.” However, after this comment the Environment Agency has said this will make little difference, although it is a nice idea.
In a previous blog post we talked about the Big Freeze of 2012. Well this weekend there is expected to be the biggest snow fall since then! It is estimated that there is not going to be much f the country that is left untouched by these snow storms in the next few days. Time to get the hat and scarf out and keep the air conditioningoff!
Wales has already seen snowfall and next is going to be the South West before these icy conditions hit the rest of Britain. Forecasters say that the worst of the snowfall will hit on Friday with up to 10 inches falling on higher ground. On lower ground there is expected to be between three and five inches. Airports and schools are expected to be closed and train services could be cancelled.
For most parts of the UK temperatures will be below zero which means it will be unbelievably cold especially with blizzard conditions. The Met Office has issued weather warnings in the East Midlands, North West and South West England, Wales, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.
Temperatures in East Anglia last night dropped to -11C. Jo Wheeler is a Sky News weather presenter and she has said, “As evening approaches, temperatures will drop, fog thickening in the east and there’ll be a widespread frost.
“As the rain spreads across Wales and the South West, it will give significant snowfall, potentially up to 25cm over exposed uplands.
“There’ll also be strong winds, with gusts of between 50mph and 60mph which will give blizzard conditions for a while.
“All in all, the travel situation will be quite atrocious for tomorrow’s commute or school run. The snow will push eastwards during the day, and is expected to reach London around the middle of the day, and eastern coasts by the evening.”
When we think of air conditioning we think of the cool air but since a new refrigerant has entered the market, things are starting to heat up! The European Union are pushing for refrigerants in cars made from this year onward to be switched from R-134a to the new R-1234yf. Daimler, the car manufacturer is not happy about this and is standing their ground.
DuPont and Honeywell developed the new refrigerant and spent many years and millions of investment creating it as they believe that it is 99.7% more environmentally friendly that the refrigerant that is currently used, the R-134a. It has passed all the protocols enforced by the EU and they like it so much that they have announced all cars made in 2013 should be using it.
Daimler is refusing this and is still using the former refrigerant. They have conducted a series of tests using the new refrigerant and they believe it is far more dangerous. The most recent test they conducted was a head on collision with B class at the Sindelfingen track. They conducted 20 tests and from the 20 results the discovered that when the coolant hits the heated engine it catches fire. Also, R-1234yf became hydrogen fluoride in the tests. This is very dangerous to humans especially in high amounts.
Apparently the results of the tests showed that there was enough hydrogen fluoride produced to the windshield white. After they had conducted these tests Daimler recalled all the vehicles they had produced with the new refrigerant.
A report by Bloomberg also reported that Volkswagen had similar complaints. On top of this there are some fire fighter organisations in Germany and Australia that are protesting against the new refrigerant as well as some testing agencies who are lobbying to get the coolant banned. After the results of the Daimler tests there are also thirteen other car companies that are now conducting their own tests.
However, on contrast to this, Toyota completed their own tests and they had no such results and they are currently supporting the new change to the new very eco-friendly refrigerant. Chevrolet and GMC are among others who are also supporting the change.
DuPont and Honeywell have announced that the refrigerant is completely safe to be used in vehicles. They claim that a reason why Daimler might be against the new chemical is because it is more expensive than the R-134a.
So it is official, 2012 was the second wettest year here in the UK since records began back in 1910. Over the last few years we have seen our fair share of unpredictable weather; 2006 saw a heat wave in July, huge floods in 2009 and in 2010 we experienced “the big freeze”.
At the beginning of this year there were worries and concerns as to what was going to happen to crops as a result of two dry winters. There was a drought warning and farmers, water industry officials and politicians attended a water summit.
There was a hosepipe ban introduced in April of last year in the South and South East of England as a result of the dry winters. By July these were lifted due to the huge rain fall. After the two years of dry winters, spring and summer ended up being the wettest in 100 years.
After a desperately wet summer, things were not looking good for winter and once again there was more rainfall. With the weather continuing in this fashion farmers around the country struggled with their crops. On top of this, rivers overflowed causing unthinkable damage to thousands of properties.
In contrast though, the previous year, 2011, was the second warmest in the UK on record. We had the hottest April and spring, the second hottest autumn and the hottest day in October since records started.
As there is no real pattern to what weather we will experience it is best to make sure your air conditioning units are serviced and well maintained all year round, even if it is as wet as 2012! With this much unpredictable weather who knows what 2013 will hold for us weather wise. Let’s hope it is a hot one!
We have probably all gotten our hopes up for a white Christmas this year. The early snow fall did indicate this is the way the weather was going to turn out. Well unfortunately we will just be subjected to even more rain (if this is possible!) Christmas is going to be a soggy one.
The weather warnings that have come as a result of heavy rainfall mean that the transatlantic mild fronts have been sent on their way and our chances or snow are dwindling.
In areas such as Cornwall and Devon there have been amber weather warnings. This mean anyone in this area needs to be prepared for potential flooding. When the time comes this means all furniture and white goods such as refrigeration units should be moved or protected. There has been a yellow weather warning issued in the Midlands for when this bad weather moves from Cornwall upwards. By Thursday, those in Yorkshire will also have a yellow weather warning.
Things aren’t going to improve over the weekend either, there is yet more rainfall pushing its way through the country. The Met Office has said this, “Very unsettled and windy, with occasionally heavy train pushing north-eastwards.
“Further locally heavy rain is likely midweek separated by drier showery interludes, with the best drier weather likely to be in the east. Strong to gale-force winds are also likely in places, but especially in the north-west. Temperatures will mostly near or perhaps a little above normal, although patchy overnight frost remains likely, a pattern that should continue in the run up to the New Year, with similarly unsettled conditions likely to prevail.”
Want your chance to win a wine cooler and celebrate the New Year in style? Simply go onto our Twitter page @GTRefrigeration, follow us and then retweet the competition to be in with the chance.
The competition will be running from Wednesday the 12th of December till Monday 1st January and all entrants must be aged 18 or over. This means you can carry on celebrating well into the New Year with this great new gadget.
With the Waterfall Wine Cooler all you need to do is put the wine, programme in what type of wine it is and the cooler will choose the temperature. It is called the Waterfall Wine Cooler because the wine is cooled by water falling over the bottle to cool it evenly.
So once again after a small amount of snow, Britain has come to a standstill. 50 flights were cancelled in the early hours of this morning. Trains have stopped running and there have already been accidents on the road caused by the dangerous conditions. Looks like we can say goodbye to our air conditioning units for the year and find the thermal jumpers!
Stansted airport was shut for two hours and meant that 30 departures and 20 arrivals were cancelled. In Luton the airport was also closed to clear snow although they don’t expect too many more delays.
A passenger whose flight had been cancelled at Stansted said, “I’m must surprised that such a small amount of snow can cause these problems. It only snowed for half an hour. And the snow started to melt shortly after it started snowing. I can’t imagine the airport has no forecast for this.”
A spokeswoman at the airport said, “The snow fell at a very busy period for us and it was extremely heavy for a short period of time.
“Heavy snow was falling on frozen ground and we have to make sure the airport is safe and secure so aircraft can stop, take-off and land. That is why we had to ose the runway so we could clear it of snow and make sure it was properly de-iced.
Today was the first day we saw snow for the season and it is predicted to continue until at least Friday. Overnight Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire were worst hit by seeing an inch of snow fall.
Between Watford Junction and Harrow and Wealdstone no trains were running till 10am this morning. There were many more delays in and around London as well.
Schools in Essex were closed, as many as 20 and appointments at Broomfield hospital were cancelled.
The Met Office are warning about ice and snow across Britain and to be careful whilst driving.
Regulatory authorities have announced that a new meningitis vaccine, MenAfiVac, can be stored without refrigeration for up to four days in what is being hailed as a significant breakthrough for Africa’s “Meningitis belt.”
Whilst such a short amount of time may seem trivial to some, one of the biggest obstacles in providing vaccination courses in Third World countries is keeping vaccines cold when transporting it from electrified cities to villages without power. Using antipolio drives as an example, the freezers, generators and fuel necessary to make ice for the shoulder bags of vaccinators is more costly than the actual vaccine.
Previous meningitis epidemics had cost countless lives in Africa, the hot hattman winds contributing to the deaths of 25,000 Africans and leaving 50,000 disabled during the worst years.
MenAfriVac, produced in India, was originally introduced in 2010 and in Chad this year, the vaccination campaign cut cases to near zero in the districts where it was used whereas other nearby districts suffered serious outbreaks.
Experts now say it is safe for four days, provided it stays below 104 degrees.
Though temperatures in Africa do exceed that, Dr Godwin Enwere, medical director for the Meningitis Vaccine Project, ensures teams will typically remove the vaccine from the coolers before sunrise and distribute the vaccine to villages before the afternoon hours when temperatures peak.
Two weeks ago we spoke about air conditioning in Nigerian market. Well now there has been another unit produce with Nigeria in mind. Again the company who has designed it is LG.
The air conditioning unit was specifically designed to fight against malaria. Ok so I can already hear you saying how is this possible? Well it turns out, it is. It is called Anti Mosquito and it works by using ultrasonic wave technology. This acts as a mosquito repellent; this will then in turn prevent any causes of malaria in the building it is operating in.
The unit has been tested and LG has said that in 24 hours it will repel 64 per cent of Anopheles mosquito’s that are carrying the deadly disease. Overall they say it will have a success rate of 82 per cent.
This is not just an air conditioning that can cool down spaces and repel mosquitos. Oh no! It has been designed to function even with the ever changing power supplies in countries where it isn’t as stable as it is here. LG have done this by including the units with a super automatic voltage switcher which means if there is a blackout or a surge no damage will occur to any of the components.
With January over and the excitement of Christmas over, here at GT Refrigeration we thought we would give you something to look forward to so we are giving away John Lewis vouchers worth £50 on our Twitter page.
All you have to do is follow us on Twitter @GTRefrigeration and retweet the competition using the hashtag #GTRVoucher to be in with a chance of winning.
There are many stores in the UK so there is sure to be one near you! ON top of this the vouchers can also be spent in Waitrose too. This is the perfect prize for beating the January (well now February) blues. You can spruce up your home or even put it towards a new fridge! The competition will close on Sunday 27th of February and the winner will be announced shortly after once all the entrants have been considered.
Good Luck!
Terms and Conditions
Entrants must be based within the UK and aged 18 years or over at the time of entering.
The closing date for each competition is the 27th of February 2013 at midnight and the winners will be announced once all the entries are in.
More Snowfall Followed by Potential Flooding
Over the weekend and much of the week we have been disrupted by the snow. Just when we thought the worst was behind us, it looks like there are more disruptions ahead. Even though the snow is slowly disappearing, this means it is thawing and with the heavy rainfall that is expected around most of the country, it means there are more risks of flooding again.
50 flood warnings have been issued around the UK as the ice begins to melt and on top of this in some areas ice warnings are still in place. According to forecasters there will be one more final heavy snowfall and hopefully the weather will warm up slightly, don’t go putting your air conditioning units on yet, it won’ be that warm! Temperatures are expected to reach 10C in the south on Sunday. It is believed that the north of England could see 15cm of snow and the south may see up to 5cm.
A spokesman from the Environment Agency, Roy Stokes has some up with a creative and fun way for those who will need to be making preparations for the floods; “Ideally if everybody built themselves a snowman it will slow the thaw down a bit.
“If you notice when people clear their drive the snow thaws away but the compacted piles stay.
“That would give a balanced thaw which would be helpful.” However, after this comment the Environment Agency has said this will make little difference, although it is a nice idea.
Snow and Blizzard Conditions Coming this Weekend
In a previous blog post we talked about the Big Freeze of 2012. Well this weekend there is expected to be the biggest snow fall since then! It is estimated that there is not going to be much f the country that is left untouched by these snow storms in the next few days. Time to get the hat and scarf out and keep the air conditioningoff!
Wales has already seen snowfall and next is going to be the South West before these icy conditions hit the rest of Britain. Forecasters say that the worst of the snowfall will hit on Friday with up to 10 inches falling on higher ground. On lower ground there is expected to be between three and five inches. Airports and schools are expected to be closed and train services could be cancelled.
For most parts of the UK temperatures will be below zero which means it will be unbelievably cold especially with blizzard conditions. The Met Office has issued weather warnings in the East Midlands, North West and South West England, Wales, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.
Temperatures in East Anglia last night dropped to -11C. Jo Wheeler is a Sky News weather presenter and she has said, “As evening approaches, temperatures will drop, fog thickening in the east and there’ll be a widespread frost.
“As the rain spreads across Wales and the South West, it will give significant snowfall, potentially up to 25cm over exposed uplands.
“There’ll also be strong winds, with gusts of between 50mph and 60mph which will give blizzard conditions for a while.
“All in all, the travel situation will be quite atrocious for tomorrow’s commute or school run. The snow will push eastwards during the day, and is expected to reach London around the middle of the day, and eastern coasts by the evening.”
New Refrigerant Causing Controversy
When we think of air conditioning we think of the cool air but since a new refrigerant has entered the market, things are starting to heat up! The European Union are pushing for refrigerants in cars made from this year onward to be switched from R-134a to the new R-1234yf. Daimler, the car manufacturer is not happy about this and is standing their ground.
DuPont and Honeywell developed the new refrigerant and spent many years and millions of investment creating it as they believe that it is 99.7% more environmentally friendly that the refrigerant that is currently used, the R-134a. It has passed all the protocols enforced by the EU and they like it so much that they have announced all cars made in 2013 should be using it.
Daimler is refusing this and is still using the former refrigerant. They have conducted a series of tests using the new refrigerant and they believe it is far more dangerous. The most recent test they conducted was a head on collision with B class at the Sindelfingen track. They conducted 20 tests and from the 20 results the discovered that when the coolant hits the heated engine it catches fire. Also, R-1234yf became hydrogen fluoride in the tests. This is very dangerous to humans especially in high amounts.
Apparently the results of the tests showed that there was enough hydrogen fluoride produced to the windshield white. After they had conducted these tests Daimler recalled all the vehicles they had produced with the new refrigerant.
A report by Bloomberg also reported that Volkswagen had similar complaints. On top of this there are some fire fighter organisations in Germany and Australia that are protesting against the new refrigerant as well as some testing agencies who are lobbying to get the coolant banned. After the results of the Daimler tests there are also thirteen other car companies that are now conducting their own tests.
However, on contrast to this, Toyota completed their own tests and they had no such results and they are currently supporting the new change to the new very eco-friendly refrigerant. Chevrolet and GMC are among others who are also supporting the change.
DuPont and Honeywell have announced that the refrigerant is completely safe to be used in vehicles. They claim that a reason why Daimler might be against the new chemical is because it is more expensive than the R-134a.
Our Year of Unpredictable Weather!
So it is official, 2012 was the second wettest year here in the UK since records began back in 1910. Over the last few years we have seen our fair share of unpredictable weather; 2006 saw a heat wave in July, huge floods in 2009 and in 2010 we experienced “the big freeze”.
At the beginning of this year there were worries and concerns as to what was going to happen to crops as a result of two dry winters. There was a drought warning and farmers, water industry officials and politicians attended a water summit.
There was a hosepipe ban introduced in April of last year in the South and South East of England as a result of the dry winters. By July these were lifted due to the huge rain fall. After the two years of dry winters, spring and summer ended up being the wettest in 100 years.
After a desperately wet summer, things were not looking good for winter and once again there was more rainfall. With the weather continuing in this fashion farmers around the country struggled with their crops. On top of this, rivers overflowed causing unthinkable damage to thousands of properties.
In contrast though, the previous year, 2011, was the second warmest in the UK on record. We had the hottest April and spring, the second hottest autumn and the hottest day in October since records started.
As there is no real pattern to what weather we will experience it is best to make sure your air conditioning units are serviced and well maintained all year round, even if it is as wet as 2012! With this much unpredictable weather who knows what 2013 will hold for us weather wise. Let’s hope it is a hot one!
White Christmas or More Weather Warnings?
We have probably all gotten our hopes up for a white Christmas this year. The early snow fall did indicate this is the way the weather was going to turn out. Well unfortunately we will just be subjected to even more rain (if this is possible!) Christmas is going to be a soggy one.
The weather warnings that have come as a result of heavy rainfall mean that the transatlantic mild fronts have been sent on their way and our chances or snow are dwindling.
In areas such as Cornwall and Devon there have been amber weather warnings. This mean anyone in this area needs to be prepared for potential flooding. When the time comes this means all furniture and white goods such as refrigeration units should be moved or protected. There has been a yellow weather warning issued in the Midlands for when this bad weather moves from Cornwall upwards. By Thursday, those in Yorkshire will also have a yellow weather warning.
Things aren’t going to improve over the weekend either, there is yet more rainfall pushing its way through the country. The Met Office has said this, “Very unsettled and windy, with occasionally heavy train pushing north-eastwards.
“Further locally heavy rain is likely midweek separated by drier showery interludes, with the best drier weather likely to be in the east. Strong to gale-force winds are also likely in places, but especially in the north-west. Temperatures will mostly near or perhaps a little above normal, although patchy overnight frost remains likely, a pattern that should continue in the run up to the New Year, with similarly unsettled conditions likely to prevail.”
Competition Time, Enter to Win a Wine Cooler
Want your chance to win a wine cooler and celebrate the New Year in style? Simply go onto our Twitter page @GTRefrigeration, follow us and then retweet the competition to be in with the chance.
The competition will be running from Wednesday the 12th of December till Monday 1st January and all entrants must be aged 18 or over. This means you can carry on celebrating well into the New Year with this great new gadget.
With the Waterfall Wine Cooler all you need to do is put the wine, programme in what type of wine it is and the cooler will choose the temperature. It is called the Waterfall Wine Cooler because the wine is cooled by water falling over the bottle to cool it evenly.
Snow this Morning Causes Chaos
So once again after a small amount of snow, Britain has come to a standstill. 50 flights were cancelled in the early hours of this morning. Trains have stopped running and there have already been accidents on the road caused by the dangerous conditions. Looks like we can say goodbye to our air conditioning units for the year and find the thermal jumpers!
Stansted airport was shut for two hours and meant that 30 departures and 20 arrivals were cancelled. In Luton the airport was also closed to clear snow although they don’t expect too many more delays.
A passenger whose flight had been cancelled at Stansted said, “I’m must surprised that such a small amount of snow can cause these problems. It only snowed for half an hour. And the snow started to melt shortly after it started snowing. I can’t imagine the airport has no forecast for this.”
A spokeswoman at the airport said, “The snow fell at a very busy period for us and it was extremely heavy for a short period of time.
“Heavy snow was falling on frozen ground and we have to make sure the airport is safe and secure so aircraft can stop, take-off and land. That is why we had to ose the runway so we could clear it of snow and make sure it was properly de-iced.
Today was the first day we saw snow for the season and it is predicted to continue until at least Friday. Overnight Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire were worst hit by seeing an inch of snow fall.
Between Watford Junction and Harrow and Wealdstone no trains were running till 10am this morning. There were many more delays in and around London as well.
Schools in Essex were closed, as many as 20 and appointments at Broomfield hospital were cancelled.
The Met Office are warning about ice and snow across Britain and to be careful whilst driving.
Longer window without refrigeration for Meningitis vaccine
Regulatory authorities have announced that a new meningitis vaccine, MenAfiVac, can be stored without refrigeration for up to four days in what is being hailed as a significant breakthrough for Africa’s “Meningitis belt.”
Whilst such a short amount of time may seem trivial to some, one of the biggest obstacles in providing vaccination courses in Third World countries is keeping vaccines cold when transporting it from electrified cities to villages without power. Using antipolio drives as an example, the freezers, generators and fuel necessary to make ice for the shoulder bags of vaccinators is more costly than the actual vaccine.
Previous meningitis epidemics had cost countless lives in Africa, the hot hattman winds contributing to the deaths of 25,000 Africans and leaving 50,000 disabled during the worst years.
MenAfriVac, produced in India, was originally introduced in 2010 and in Chad this year, the vaccination campaign cut cases to near zero in the districts where it was used whereas other nearby districts suffered serious outbreaks.
Experts now say it is safe for four days, provided it stays below 104 degrees.
Though temperatures in Africa do exceed that, Dr Godwin Enwere, medical director for the Meningitis Vaccine Project, ensures teams will typically remove the vaccine from the coolers before sunrise and distribute the vaccine to villages before the afternoon hours when temperatures peak.
Air Conditioning Units that Prevent Malaria
Two weeks ago we spoke about air conditioning in Nigerian market. Well now there has been another unit produce with Nigeria in mind. Again the company who has designed it is LG.
The air conditioning unit was specifically designed to fight against malaria. Ok so I can already hear you saying how is this possible? Well it turns out, it is. It is called Anti Mosquito and it works by using ultrasonic wave technology. This acts as a mosquito repellent; this will then in turn prevent any causes of malaria in the building it is operating in.
The unit has been tested and LG has said that in 24 hours it will repel 64 per cent of Anopheles mosquito’s that are carrying the deadly disease. Overall they say it will have a success rate of 82 per cent.
This is not just an air conditioning that can cool down spaces and repel mosquitos. Oh no! It has been designed to function even with the ever changing power supplies in countries where it isn’t as stable as it is here. LG have done this by including the units with a super automatic voltage switcher which means if there is a blackout or a surge no damage will occur to any of the components.