Review Category : Hiring

The Benefits of Installing an EV Charging Station at Home

One constant pain point among electric vehicle owners is the task of searching for and waiting in line at a charging station. You may have been thinking about installing an EV charging station at your home, strata, apartment complex or office building.     

If you are not sure about whether you should take the plunge and install a charging station, talk to electrical services Sydney for an in-depth understanding of the benefits, costs and other details regarding installation to help you decide. 

Here are some benefits worth considering.

Convenient

It is reported that a majority of EV drivers charge their vehicles overnight at home. Charging the vehicle overnight is down to a routine task for those who have an EV charging station installed at home which means the vehicle is fully charged and ready to go in the morning with no stopovers necessary along the way for charging. Depending on the distances you will be covering on a regular day an overnight charge may be all you require for your regular day-to-day vehicle travel.

Cost-Effective

Charging your vehicle on a home EV charging station has the additional benefit of taking advantage of reduced electricity charges that apply overnight. If on the other hand, you change your vehicle during morning hours on your way to work or during the day or even evening on your way back from work, higher electricity tariffs apply making charging that much more expensive for you. Besides the higher electricity tariff, public charging stations factor in a service cost which means you are paying an additional amount for accessing the convenience of a public EV charging station. You are also paying premium prices when you access a Level 2 or Level 3 charging station to have your vehicle charged faster compared to a base Level 2 charging station.

Predictable

Another advantage of having your EV charging station at home is that you can plan your daily commute and any extra travel without worrying about not having enough range or having to think about a top-up at a public EV charging station not knowing how long you have to wait in line to have your vehicle charged. Although your EV would have come with a Level 1 charger that can be easily plugged into any home electric outlet the disadvantage of charging your EV this way is that even if you have it plugged in all night it won’t adequately fill your battery, only adding about 8 kilometres of charging per hour. However, if you install a Level 2 charging station at home an overnight charge will give you about 400 kilometres.

Increase Property Value

Having an EV charging station installed in your home or apartment, will add to the perceived value of your property because it is an amenity that is gaining popularity. The demand for EVs will only increase in the years to come and catering to demand will be an expectation by potential owners and tenants of homes and apartments.

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5 Must-Have Tools for Every Concrete Contractor

If you’ve ever worked with concrete before, then you know how demanding it is. Once the material is poured and allowed to harden, then there’s not much that can be done. Hence, every contractor that works with concrete must have the essential tools for the job.

Should You Own Or Rent These Tools?

Fortunately, you don’t need to shell out a lot of cash for most of these tools. Hence, it makes more sense to own them. Plus you’ll save more money in the long run when you avoid rental fees. Furthermore, you don’t have to waste precious time picking them up and returning them.

However, there are a couple of equipments that could be too expensive for the average contractor to afford. So unless you’re using them regularly, then it’s best to just rent them whenever needed.

So without further ado, here are five tools that every concrete contractor should own:

Screeds

These are long, straight tubes or boards that are utilized to smoothen out wet concrete, not long after it has been poured. For simple tasks such as paving a driveway or a small floor space, you can simply cut out a 2 X 4 wooden board and use it as a screed.  If you can’t be bothered to do that, you can always buy a commercial screed. These are usually made out of aluminium and available in a variety of lengths, starting from 6 feet. 

You can even buy screeds that are custom-made for different projects such as building a bridge.

Rebar Benders

If you’re working with concrete, then there’s most likely rebar involved. In most scenarios, you’ll have to cut and even bend rebar, to meet structural specifications. Hence, we highly recommend that you keep the highest quality rebar bender you can find handy.

Safety Gear

When taking on any form of construction job, there’s bound to be some danger involved. Hence, it’s a must for all contractors and their crews to wear safety equipment at all times. The three most important pieces of gear are:

  • Eyewear – certain types of concrete can irritate and even burn your eyes.
  • Hearing Protection – this is to protect your ears from the noise output by heavy power tools.
  • Masks – these prevent you from inhaling dust and other debris.
  • Concrete-Grade Rubber Gloves – there are certain chemicals in concrete that can suck out moisture from your skin. As a result, your skin can suffer serious damage. In fact, there are reports of construction workers having to undergo amputations due to chemical damage.

Wheelbarrows

Usually you’ll have to transport small amounts of concrete or even equipment around the construction site. Usually, there’s no better tool for this than the wheelbarrow. However, you must make sure that it’s a very sturdy wheelbarrow, with pneumatic tires and a tray made of a durable material like steel.

Buckets

Buckets are indispensable when you’re working with concrete. You need them to carry water which can splash on the concrete to keep them from drying too fast. This makes it easier to add the finishing touches.

These five tools need to be present at every construction site where concrete work is taking place.

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Advantages of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist

Today’s businesses are reliant heavily on being flexible, available and of course cost efficient. Your customers will need to get whatever they want, anywhere that they want at a price that they can afford which is why you as a business needs to stay creative if you want to stay ahead of your competition. The receptionist services that are available today is exactly what the global marketplace needs and that explains why many businesses are now turning to them for their services. In fact, having their services can open up an entirely new world of opportunities and possibilities for both you and your clients. So if you are still considering making this investment, here are some great advantages that will help you make up your mind.

It Can Save You Money

If you hire somebody in-house to answer your calls you will end up paying them an hourly salary, benefits, taxes and of course, there will be overhead expenses too. When you add up all of these costs the bills that you have to pay at the end of the month are going to accumulate pretty fast. But if you hire an Australian virtual receptionist company you will be able to save money because you have no overhead costs for facilities and don’t have to pay them an hourly wage, taxes or benefits. In fact, you will only need to pay when somebody in that service answers your calls and you can choose a plan get billed based on the call volume or the time. Even then you can actually get them to answer calls all day every day as opposed to just eight hours a day.

You Get Better Flexibility

If you were to handle all your calls by yourself you would have your hands full and then some. But with a service like this, you will be able to handle everything seamlessly through peak hours, times that are not office hours, while you are away on holiday, at meetings or anything in between. This makes your business immediately so much more approachable and flexible to customers that they will give your business.

You Don’t Have To Worry About the Training

In any case that you hire professional services to handle your calls, they will be well trained and there is no doubt about that. Just make sure that you choose the right service though with a good track record of what they have done before for other businesses. You could argue that you can actually hire somebody with a lot of experience in-house too and that is true. But in a service all agents are not just experienced. They are constantly trained, evaluated after the calls that they take and are given the knowledge on the latest tricks of the trade that make them so much more impactful when they speak with a customer. These are just a handful of the advantages that you can enjoy really but there are so much more benefits than just this to hiring a professional service to virtually man your reception.

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How Can Small Businesses Benefit From SEO?

SEO is something that can help small businesses create efficient and user friendly sites that can rank higher in the search engines. This will in turn help these businesses attract more potential customers into the sites and will eventually increase the conversion rate as well. If you are a small business your targets should include building a good site with great SEO presence so that you keep attracting customers. If you want to know why you should invest in this, here are some of the main benefits that you can expect with really good SEO.

You Will Have a User-Friendly Website

You will be able to create a much faster and smoother website that is also very user-friendly with the help of good SEO. The old terminology was only restricted to helping the brands gain more visibility but today, SEO has become a powerful tool that also drives a better user experience. If your site is well laid out and has no clutter, visitors will stay on it for longer and could potentially even end up buying from you. It is a great way to decrease your bounce rate and increase the page view numbers. Look for a good search engine optimisation Melbourne provider or in any other location based on where you are and you will see that your page performs better. Also target to have relevant content only that can help customers go through the process faster and answers their inquiries.

You Will Be Bringing In More Customers

What is the main reason to have a website? To bring in more business and to make sure that you are not getting overcrowded by your competition. If that was not the case why would companies want to invest their money in a process? Having a site with great SEO will help you do just that and will get you more customers than a company that does not have one. It is also one of the most efficient and cost-effective advertising strategies that are there today. It is also very accurate since it will only bring in customers who are exactly looking for the product that you offer. Therefore know that whatever time, money and effort that you invest in this, will bring you returns always.

You Will Have Better Conversion Rates on the Site

The best part about having good SEO is that they will help your pages load faster and they will also be extra easy to read and surf through. They will also be easily accessible across a range of devices like laptops, smart phones and tablets. When you pages are easy to read and navigate through they will keep your customers there for longer than they would otherwise. Customers who stay will go on to subscribe and be loyal to your brand. At the very least they will be returning visitors, and the more visitors you get the better you will sell. These are just a few of the benefits that you can enjoy by implementing good SEO to your website.

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Performing High Risk Work in Australia

In Australia, some forms of work are categorised as “high risk” and requires additional training and license to undertake. For example, scaffolding, rigging, boiler or crane operation is considered high risk work. All workers engaged in high risk work must complete training set according to the National Standards, in addition to various state or local standards if any are applicable. Here are several facts about getting trained and licensed to perform high risk work in the stats you live in:

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Applying for Qualifications

High risk workers must apply for qualifications issued by state agencies under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations Act. Basically speaking, if your work requires operating dangerous equipment or getting into dangerous places, such as heights, you will most likely need to get the qualifications you need. The number of classes could vary depending on the work you want to do. Once you do get the qualifications, it will be valid up to 5 years. You will be issued a qualifications card with a date of expiration printed.

Attending Classes

You will have to attend classes to get the qualifications legally required to perform high risk work. You will need to find an accredited institution that provides lesions to get licensing. For example, if you want a crane licence to work at heights, find an accredited institution that provides classes in the construction area. There are many excellent training programs to choose from. The lessons are the same regardless of which state you want to get the qualification from. Each qualification card is valid in any state or territory in Australia. Therefore, focus on finding a good, affordable institution instead of where to sit for the testing.

Fees

There are two types of fees associated with getting your accreditation. First, you will need to pay a fee to the government for the actual qualifying test and the card. In addition, you will have to pay for the classes from the institution of your choosing. Later, if you want to renew your card, you will need to pay another fee. Overall fees are not costly and are well worth as an investment in your career.

Transferring Certificates

The Australian government used to issue competency certificates for performing certain tasks. These certificates are no longer eligible to be transferred for high risk work. Workers need to apply for the new credentials and go through lessons and the testing process to be approves for high risk work.

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Going for the Test

You will have to arrange for the testing with a local assessment provider. Your institutions that offers the lessons may have a list of testing services to obtain the certification. Do make sure the testing centre is authorised by the state to make the assessments as needed. Otherwise, you will have to pay again to get tested.

The approval process for engaging in high risk work in the country is relatively straightforward. The application and approval processes are speedy and you won’t have to spend months or years studying. Make sure you hire the right trainer and assessor that is actually accredited by your state.

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