Furnace Filter As A Holiday Gift

We use furnaces when the weather calls for it. It seems obvious that we follow a seasonal pattern when looking for furnaces and related services. In general this is true, but Google reveals a few interesting details within this seasonal pattern that are anything but obvious.

Google can show search trends throughout the year for each furnace-related key word and the month when the search peaked. That peak is what we are after in this article. Unfortunately, this article's format does not us allow to insert pictures. Please follow the link at bottom of this article to see the page with all the charts and details.

At the time it was written, the available Google report covered the months from August 2006 through July 2007, so we are starting from the month of August.

There isn't a single furnace-related search peak in August, which is no surprise - everybody is still enjoying summer.

September does bring a surprise. There are search peaks for furnaces, but not gas, oil, or electric ones. Instead, people are looking for all kinds of wood and corn furnaces.

Most of the keywords peak in October. People search for the following:

•Furnace, best furnace, and new furnace

•Furnace ratings, furnace reviews, and furnace comparison

•Furnace sales, furnace installation, gas furnace, and gas furnace prices

•Gas furnace parts, gas furnace repair, gas furnace troubleshooting, furnace service, furnace maintenance, furnace repair, furnace parts

November has nothing to brag about. There isn't a single furnace-related search peak in this month.

December is a month of partying and gift buying. Only three searches peaked in this month, but all three are worth mentioning. Two of them - furnace filters and furnace humidifiers - we will return to in February. For now, just remember these two plurals.

The last search is for “THE furnace.” When does “furnace” become “THE furnace”? When it breaks in the last week of December?

By January, furnaces have been working hard, and the focus of queries shifts toward repairs. Numerous part names peak in searches, as well as words like "furnace troubleshooting" and "furnace problem(s)." It’s understandable - the longer furnaces run, the more of them are in need of repair. This trend will continue in February.

February is a month of several interesting queries.

Do you remember “furnace filters” and “furnace humidifiers” in December? Well, now they've turned singular. February maxed-out searches for “furnace air filter,” “furnace filter,” and “furnace humidifier.” Is it just a coincidence, or were people buying multiple furnace filters for Holiday gifts and Google just uncovered it? It may have something to do with New Year's resolutions as well.

On a serious note. All of a sudden, searches on “furnace efficiency” and “high-efficiency furnace” peak. Have high winter gas bills started coming?

The last, but not the least interesting, search for the keywords “out of this furnace” peaks in February, but before that also spikes in October. What information are these people searching for? Perhaps:

Do I get another winter “out of this furnace”?-- in October.

Do I get another month “out of this furnace”? -- in February.

How can Google be sure?

Nothing special happens between March and August. The only peak is in July in searches for “furnace prices.” Not much furnace buying goes in July, but everybody wants to know the price. Could be some tug of war going on between the vacation budget and the renovation budget.

And in August we are back to our starting point, with the same seasonal pattern.

A link to the web page with charts.Boris Sherman is a heating and air conditioning contractor His company Cozy World installs furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps in the Greater Toronto Area

Stoke Your Body's Furnace With Low Carbohydrate Food

Though there are many different low carbohydrate diet plans, they are based on the same principles. When carbohydrates (such as starches and sugars) are consumed, the body's blood sugar level rises. To counteract high blood sugar levels, the body releases insulin, which in turn increases fat storage and decreases the body's ability to burn fat.

When a low carb dieter restricts carbohydrates, his or her blood sugar is only slightly raised, thus preventing excess insulin production. But many low carbohydrate dieters’ hopes are ruined by uncontrollable sweet cravings, hypoglycaemic mood swings, hunger urges and lethargy.

The truth about carbohydrate is that too much carbohydrate provides too many Calories and probably also has certain negative effects on blood glucose and insulin levels. Despite this however, the body must still have a minimum amount of carbohydrate (as glucose) to stay alive.

Although the brain and nervous system normally want the most glucose, these organs can get along without it in a pinch. But that's not true for certain blood cells and other types of cells. They must have a steady supply of glucose, because without it they'll quickly die.

For this reason, glucose is so important that your body will begin to make the glucose it needs for these cells out of muscle protein if it doesn't get enough carbohydrate from food. But, although possible, this is a stressful emergency reaction (called ketosis), which also makes you miserable with hunger, cravings, and many other unpleasant sensations. Obviously, dieting would be much more successful if we could avoid all that.

When your body runs low on any nutrient it needs to stay healthy, it naturally triggers hunger to make you go get it some more of that thing. But if you habitually eat foods that have too little of whatever it's running low on and too many Calories, you're going to get fat from this reaction.

Fortunately you can lose the weight again by simply reversing the process. To do so, you learn to eat things that have lots of what your body needs but not many Calories. When you succeed at this your body has no reason to trigger hunger and food cravings even when you're eating very few Calories and it's burning excess fat (stored Calories) to make up for this.

This reaction is as true for carbohydrate as it is for each of the other nutrients. If you eat too little carbohydrate, your body will trigger hunger because it needs a minimum amount of glucose every day to supply the cells that can't use anything else.

If you eat too much carbohydrate, you'll get fat because too much carbohydrate has both too many Calories and the aforementioned negative effects on blood glucose and insulin levels. So how much is "enough but not too much"? That amount is probably highly variable depending on your lifestyle. A stressful "go-go" day can require a lot of carbohydrate while a relaxed day probably won't. However, most scientists put the minimum amount of carbohydrate that most people will need in the range of 50-100 grams per day (which is 200-400 Calories from carbohydrate). This is the amount that prevents your body from starting to make glucose out of muscle protein.

Since most food labels list the amount of carbohydrate in the food you eat, tracking and controlling amounts is not difficult. Try to eat in the range of 400 Calories from carbohydrate per day. This will usually prevent the hunger and cravings that are triggered by too little glucose.

There are several other nutrients that also trigger hunger and cravings when you get too little of them - and which must therefore also be managed similarly.

Lo carb diets are all the rage and you can easily see why. While lowering your carbohydrate intake you thusly have to burn less calories, which means less exercise