Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jan 11, 2023 4:19 pm Hi We built our double house around 2 years ago with metricon. We upgraded our windows to double glazing for the house to be more energy efficient. However without the use of heater and evaporative cooling you wouldn't be able to live in it when it gets hot or cold. I was just wondering how can we check if the Builder actually met the energy rating requirements and if they have not then what are our options to have this rectified. thanks Re: New build energy rating 2Jan 11, 2023 8:59 pm Do you have the energy report or photographed the build during construction? Did you quiz the builder at progress completion stages? Sorry don't like your options for rectification if you've taken possession Contact lawyer Cheers Chris Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: New build energy rating 3Jan 11, 2023 10:42 pm Rezza Hi We built our double house around 2 years ago with metricon. We upgraded our windows to double glazing for the house to be more energy efficient. However without the use of heater and evaporative cooling you wouldn't be able to live in it when it gets hot or cold. I was just wondering how can we check if the Builder actually met the energy rating requirements and if they have not then what are our options to have this rectified. thanks First issue - metricon. Second issue - double glazing doesnt do as much as you think it does. It's a travesty that this is considdered an "upgrade" when other builders who charge LESS than metricon have it as a standard. You can get the energy report from the builder, but the actual inputs are based on what the builder says they did. Verifying it is largley about going through and ticking off the items in the report, but you wont necessarily be able to verify some aspects, like what insulation went In the walls. Hiring a lawyer won't help you verify this either, it will just cost you money. I have an 8 star home that performs thermally worse than my new 6 star home. Energy reports include things that dont actually impact the thermal performance of your home. Things like a water tank, recycled water, a solar hot water system or an outdoor clothesline increase your star rating. So I wouldn't be looking to the report to answer any questions of why your house is too hot or cold. I'd be looking at ways you can adress this now that you've got the issue rather than chasing metricon. Have you got propper window treatments (curtains and pelmets), reflective tint on the western or northern windows, getting some whirly birds in if you don't have them or increasing the number of them if you do have them etc. Those would be my first "cheap" solutions if you don't have them already. Next you can look at awning blinds or shutters etc. Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: New build energy rating 4Jan 12, 2023 7:48 am Noname Rezza Hi We built our double house around 2 years ago with metricon. We upgraded our windows to double glazing for the house to be more energy efficient. However without the use of heater and evaporative cooling you wouldn't be able to live in it when it gets hot or cold. I was just wondering how can we check if the Builder actually met the energy rating requirements and if they have not then what are our options to have this rectified. thanks First issue - metricon. Second issue - double glazing doesnt do as much as you think it does. It's a travesty that this is considdered an "upgrade" when other builders who charge LESS than metricon have it as a standard. You can get the energy report from the builder, but the actual inputs are based on what the builder says they did. Verifying it is largley about going through and ticking off the items in the report, but you wont necessarily be able to verify some aspects, like what insulation went In the walls. Hiring a lawyer won't help you verify this either, it will just cost you money. I have an 8 star home that performs thermally worse than my new 6 star home. Energy reports include things that dont actually impact the thermal performance of your home. Things like a water tank, recycled water, a solar hot water system or an outdoor clothesline increase your star rating. So I wouldn't be looking to the report to answer any questions of why your house is too hot or cold. I'd be looking at ways you can adress this now that you've got the issue rather than chasing metricon. Have you got propper window treatments (curtains and pelmets), reflective tint on the western or northern windows, getting some whirly birds in if you don't have them or increasing the number of them if you do have them etc. Those would be my first "cheap" solutions if you don't have them already. Next you can look at awning blinds or shutters etc. This is all so unbelivably inaccurate....... Re: New build energy rating 5Jan 12, 2023 8:23 am Bimbob Noname Rezza Hi We built our double house around 2 years ago with metricon. We upgraded our windows to double glazing for the house to be more energy efficient. However without the use of heater and evaporative cooling you wouldn't be able to live in it when it gets hot or cold. I was just wondering how can we check if the Builder actually met the energy rating requirements and if they have not then what are our options to have this rectified. thanks First issue - metricon. Second issue - double glazing doesnt do as much as you think it does. It's a travesty that this is considdered an "upgrade" when other builders who charge LESS than metricon have it as a standard. You can get the energy report from the builder, but the actual inputs are based on what the builder says they did. Verifying it is largley about going through and ticking off the items in the report, but you wont necessarily be able to verify some aspects, like what insulation went In the walls. Hiring a lawyer won't help you verify this either, it will just cost you money. I have an 8 star home that performs thermally worse than my new 6 star home. Energy reports include things that dont actually impact the thermal performance of your home. Things like a water tank, recycled water, a solar hot water system or an outdoor clothesline increase your star rating. So I wouldn't be looking to the report to answer any questions of why your house is too hot or cold. I'd be looking at ways you can adress this now that you've got the issue rather than chasing metricon. Have you got propper window treatments (curtains and pelmets), reflective tint on the western or northern windows, getting some whirly birds in if you don't have them or increasing the number of them if you do have them etc. Those would be my first "cheap" solutions if you don't have them already. Next you can look at awning blinds or shutters etc. This is all so unbelivably inaccurate....... its not. Thanks for playing Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: New build energy rating 6Jan 12, 2023 8:51 am one of the big issues is aspect. to prevent heat gain in summer, you need to shade east and west facing windows externally and make sure northern windows have eaves. Then look at glass treatment and internal curtains. to prevent heat loss in winter, and maximise heat gain you need solar access to low northern sun, the east and western sun is welcome so shades up externally. Curtains and pelmets help keep it in. What can you do now? not much in terms on insulation. If the ceiling is accessible then another layer of insulation is a small gain. Maybe phase change material but that does not have much traction yet and is expensive. A lawyer is not much help, unless you have clear evidence they missed something. You could use a infrared camera in summer and winter to look for heat gain and loss and missing insulation. The main mistakes are made in the design phase and insulation and double glazing etc can’t fix poor solar design, just mitigate the effects. Re: New build energy rating 7Jan 12, 2023 9:06 am Noname Bimbob Noname First issue - metricon. Second issue - double glazing doesnt do as much as you think it does. It's a travesty that this is considdered an "upgrade" when other builders who charge LESS than metricon have it as a standard. You can get the energy report from the builder, but the actual inputs are based on what the builder says they did. Verifying it is largley about going through and ticking off the items in the report, but you wont necessarily be able to verify some aspects, like what insulation went In the walls. Hiring a lawyer won't help you verify this either, it will just cost you money. I have an 8 star home that performs thermally worse than my new 6 star home. Energy reports include things that dont actually impact the thermal performance of your home. Things like a water tank, recycled water, a solar hot water system or an outdoor clothesline increase your star rating. So I wouldn't be looking to the report to answer any questions of why your house is too hot or cold. I'd be looking at ways you can adress this now that you've got the issue rather than chasing metricon. Have you got propper window treatments (curtains and pelmets), reflective tint on the western or northern windows, getting some whirly birds in if you don't have them or increasing the number of them if you do have them etc. Those would be my first "cheap" solutions if you don't have them already. Next you can look at awning blinds or shutters etc. This is all so unbelivably inaccurate....... its not. Thanks for playing Let me explain further - The energy rating system is for predicted annual ENERGY LOAD for heating and cooling based on standard occupancy assumptions. Not whether youre comfortable without heating or cooling. One deficiency can be adjusted for with another. Ceiling fans improve the rating, more ceiling penetrations (i.e. more downlights and duct openings) decrease the rating. Its all swings and roundabouts to get to a number which isn't always reflective of the actual comfort of the home. Remember its also based on "standard occupancy assumptions" The people that are preparing the report do not go to the site and count the number of penetrations, finger the bats in the walls or ceiling to make sure that they are the stated R values etc. The builder gives them plans, the person prepares the report. So there is always a chance that the report doesn't reflect the items in it. Its unlikley and wouldnt be my first port of call if the house is uncomfortable. in any case as i mentioned before, I have an 8 star home that just doesnt perform as well as my current 6 star home. while this is anecdotal, its enough to cement in my mind that its all a bit of meh. As pulse said, Aspect plays a huge part and that is factored into the energy ratings, but again teh rating isnt about the comfort of teh home, but the energy loads required to heat/cool Dark matter scientist, can breathe underwater, mind reader and can freeze matter just by willing it. Trust me, its in my sig. Re: New build energy rating 8Jan 17, 2023 11:54 am Rezza Hi We built our double house around 2 years ago with metricon. We upgraded our windows to double glazing for the house to be more energy efficient. However without the use of heater and evaporative cooling you wouldn't be able to live in it when it gets hot or cold. I was just wondering how can we check if the Builder actually met the energy rating requirements and if they have not then what are our options to have this rectified. thanks go through your paperwork. we had our energy efficiency report/certificate along with all the paperwork that came from certifiers when the building approval was granted. but yeah, as others mentioned, just because the house complies, it doesn't mean it's going to be comfortable to live in. all it means is that given all the inputs they bothered to enter into their system, the energy requirements for heating and cooling will land in a certain range. it doesn't mean that you can avoid using aircond or heater. here's an example of the pretty picture that came with our paperwork to illustrate what that rating actually means: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 10 years ago was a different software than we use now. it has had a lot of changes over the past years. Improvments to the software and changes to how Nathers models need… 8 14456 It depends on how much load coming on the wall framing. However you can use more top and bottom plates and studs and/or higher timber grade if required to maintain the 70mm frame. 4 9846 Also had a look at your website and can see you also assist with this 3 9872 |