Extractor Fan Review

I just bought a new bathroom extractor fan. Finding an independent review of the marketplace to allow me to select a good one has proved very interesting and quite difficult. I have struggled to find anything on the Internet. There are a wide range of manufacturers and many different product features but no decent review website for consumers to pick products. I ended up buying a Vent-Axia (despite being 3 times the price of its competitor) because it has a Royal Warrant which suggested that they made good machines.

Not even Which magazine has done a review. Really surprising.

The level and kinds in innovation in the domestic extractor fan area make it quite interesing, new low noise levels, lower energy consumption, slimmer designs. There is a lot going on....

Sustainable Tropical House Design

I've just been to Ghana, an up and coming country in West Africa. As part of its development people of course want better housing. And it is coming quickly, I noticed however that people are building US style McMansions. These buildings require huge amounts of air conditioning to make them remotely livable due to the high humidity and local temperatures. I was surprised how few people were designing buildings more in keeping with local conditions and thereby reducing the energy bills from the 24-7 use of air conditioning. Judging by the number of electricity cuts I experienced while I was there a reduction in energy output would not go amiss....

Jean Prouve's Tropical House Design from the 50's might be a good pointer.