QUESTION: This time of the year, I water my lawn and garden almost every day, yet they still look bad. I will hate to see my next water bill. Am I doing something wrong and what are the best sprinklers to use?ANSWER: It sounds as though you might be watering too often, yet not thoroughly enough. There are right and wrong ways to water plants and using the proper type of sprinklers can make a significant difference.Overwatering or watering too often can be as detrimental as a drought.First, take an inventory of the plants you have and draw a rough layout of where they are in your yard. An expert at a local garden store can tell you how much water (often in inches per week) each plant type needs. You may want to relocate some plants to group them according to their water needs.If you are using hand-held sprinklers, which can be effective, it is important to know how much water you are laying down. The best method is to use one of the new sprinkler designs that have a built-in water meter. They cost only a couple of dollars more than a regular sprinkler.They can easily save the extra cost many times over in lower water bills.Another option is to install a water meter on the faucet and then attach your hose to it. Some operate on battery power. They have digital readouts and automatically shut off the water when it reaches the desired volume. A tiny, inexpensive (about $8) mechanical water meter can be screwed onto the hose end. Its rotating dial indicates the gallons of water sprayed.If your budget is too limited for an underground sprinkler system and you would rather watch baseball than move a sprinkler around the lawn, use a traveling rotary sprinkler. It slowly moves across your yard automatically. One cute design looks similar to a red fire truck with a sprinkler on top.Inexpensive oscillating sprinklers are good for medium to large areas.They distribute a lot of water, about one-quarter inch every hour.Adjustable ones are best. Since they spray the water high in the air, some water is lost to evaporation, especially in dry climates, before it reaches the ground.If the sound does not bother you, impulse sprinklers can be very effective and efficient. They spray the water out radially and relatively low to the ground. Look for better ones with a deflector to control the spray distance and an adjustable diffuser pin to break up the jet spray into a coarse mist.The best sprinkler method uses electronic controls and manifolds to control the water volume individually for different areas. The feed lines can be under or above-ground for easy installation. You will likely use a combination of pop-up lawn, shrub and rotary sprinklers to do your entire yard.---

QUESTION: I need to replace my old refrigerator/freezer with a more modern and efficient one. I have plenty of room in my kitchen, but I am not sure what configuration to get. Which ones are most convenient and efficient?ANSWER: Any new refrigerator/freezer you purchase will use less than half as much electricity as your old one, but some designs are inherently better than others. To get an Energy Star rating (www.energystar.gov), new refrigerators must now use 15 percent (it used to be 10 percent) less electricity than the federal energy efficiency standards.Your budget will be the primary factor in determining what design of refrigerator you select. For a typical size model, prices can range from about $500 for a top-freezer model to more than $5,000 for a built-in model with all the bells and whistles. The difference in annual electricity usage is about $20.A top-freezer model is the most popular and efficient configuration. The primary advantage is easy access to the freezer and the highest percentage of usable interior space. These use a single compressor for lower cost and the cold freezer air naturally drops to keep the refrigerator portion cool.Other configurations, such as a side-by-side, require more exterior space for the same interior space. To make things worse, the usable interior space may be considerably less than the advertised amount. Much space may be used for hardware, shelf brackets and unusable corners.Side-by-side models are convenient to use and the narrower doors require less space when opened.If you do not often use frozen items, a bottom-freezer model raises the refrigerator portion up higher for easier access. Some new designs use a side-by-side refrigerator with narrow doors above the freezer compartment.Built-in models are the most attractive, but also the most expensive.They are tall to match the cabinet height and to provide adequate capacity since they are more shallow to match the cabinet depth. The newest refrigerator designs are freestanding "cabinet-depth" models to simulate the built-in appearance at about half the cost.To maintain the proper refrigerator (37 degrees) and freezer (0 degrees) temperatures, a two-compressor model is best. It has two totally independent cooling systems for precise temperature control in each compartment. In a one-compressor model, the compartments are connected.Digital temperature controls and readouts are more convenient than just turning a knob and waiting to see if the orange juice freezes.New glass door models are also convenient and allow you to graze without having to hold the door open and waste electricity. Through-the-door water and ice dispensers are a plus, but they are a frequent cause of service calls.The following companies offer refrigerator/freezers: Elmira Stove Works (800-295-8498 www.elmirastoveworks.com), Equator Corp. (800-776-3538 www.equatorappliances.com), Heartland Appliances (800-361-1517 www.heartlandapp.com), Maytag (800-688-9900 www.maytag.com), and Sub-Zero Freezer (800-222-7820 www.subzero.com).Send inquiries to James Dulley, Butler Eagle, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45244 or visit www.dulley.com.

QUESTION: I have some bedroom doors that don't seem to stay open without a doorstop. I would like to find some more convenient method to keep them open. Will I have to remove the door frames and realign them?ANSWER: Realigning the door frames is one method to solve the problem, but there are simpler solutions. You can install spring hinges, often called Stanley hinges, will exert just enough force to keep them open.If the doors swing closed very slowly on their own, you may be able to increase the friction in the hinge enough to stop them. Try removing the hinge pin and bending it just slightly with a hammer to increase friction.