Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 21Aug 29, 2010 4:10 pm wow, what an answer. that is what i wanted to know, so basically a hot water unit is not going to be used much in the normal house hold. and solar power? does solar hydronics add to an energy rating ? or is it comparable to a similar rated gas heating system? Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 22Aug 29, 2010 8:35 pm I am not sure what you mean. You will save between 50-66% in hot water energy. This might save about $300 in electricity or $150 in natural gas. The average Australian household uses 33000 kWh per year (less in mild climates, more in extreme ones). If you had a massive solar collector, you could use it for hydronics without backup. It might set you back 25-30K. House energy ratings are usually based on heating/cooling energy required. Not on appliances. You need to combine all these factors to see how much you house will save. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 23Sep 01, 2010 10:37 am Anyone wanting to improve the efficiency of their home in any climate should start with windows. I do design work in 3 states (VIC, NSW & WA) and bascically a 5-star home is easily achievable with std glazing. A 6 star home is easily achievable with std glazing and good orientation and eaves (or even in some instances with no eaves in a smaller home) or even upgrading the glass a little to low-e or compfort plus which is surprisingly cheap these days. If you do no more than add double glazing to a home you can lift its rating by 1 or 1.5 stars so a house that is orientated well with eaves that rates at 6 stars would likely jump to at least 7 maybe 7.5 stars just by adding double glazing. Obviously I am speaking generally and different homes may have different results and also the new generation energy efficiency software gives an advantage to smaller homes but the bottom line is upgrade glass and upgrade insulation. I have had poorly orientated homes with large glass area's (ie taking advantage of west facing views) achieve 6 stars just by adding double glazing. In NSW and VIC double glazing is relatively affordable especially if you use the (free plug here) Ecoclassic windows. In WA you have a big problem as they are HORRIBLY expensive. Someone really needs to address this in WA. Anyone wanting any more specific tips I am happy to help just PM me. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 24Sep 01, 2010 10:47 am And just to clarify the star ratings relate to the amount of energy required to keep a home at a comfortable temperature year round so applies mainly to the thermal efficiency of the home and is not necessarily an indicator of the emisions level. A home with high star ratings could still have a high level of emisions if the owner doesn't use it efficiently or later installs a reverse cycle aircon because they like to be so cold in summer that they need to wear a jumper inside:) At the same time a house that rates very poorly on the star rating could be very low or even zero emission if the owner has heaps of PV panels installed and produces more electricity than they use. So you have to ask yourself what your priorities are - if it is emissions then there are other (proably cheaper) ways of getting to near zero emisions than building a 9 star efficent home but if you are after comfort and quality (and more than likely reducing emissions as well) lifting the rating is a sure thing. For instance double glazing is great for thermal efficiency in ANY climate but people often don't realise other benefits it has like cutting down noise and eliminating condensation. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 25Sep 01, 2010 10:55 am Wow now that is some help full infomation, What size solar cell for electricty would you suggest in regards to making the cost of electricty cheaper, im actually looking at getting dbl glazed windows, good insulation, plenty of water on site and solar water and elec, but i want refrigerated air con, (cant have dumpes in our estate) so by my thoughts the house will be pretty energy efficient Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 26Sep 01, 2010 1:00 pm This illustrates the relative contributions of heat loss in your house: viewtopic.php?p=278870#p278870 This gives an idea of the capital investment versus savings made each year. viewtopic.php?p=280294#p280294 Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 27Sep 01, 2010 1:13 pm You could just buy Greenpower and your emissions will be zero. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 28Sep 01, 2010 3:29 pm dymonite69 You could just buy Greenpower and your emissions will be zero. That's assuming the electricity company really is doing the right thing with their electriciy purchases. What if every customer signed up for Greenpower? There is clearly not enough green power in the grid to serve every customer. I remain to be convinced that paying a premium for Green power on your electricity bill is much more than making yourself feel better about your usage. Also what about Gas? This also produces emissions. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 29Sep 01, 2010 3:35 pm schultzie Wow now that is some help full infomation, What size solar cell for electricty would you suggest in regards to making the cost of electricty cheaper, im actually looking at getting dbl glazed windows, good insulation, plenty of water on site and solar water and elec, but i want refrigerated air con, (cant have dumpes in our estate) so by my thoughts the house will be pretty energy efficient By 'dumpes' do you mean the evap cooling? Evap cooling is far more efficient than refrigerated cooling and works well in most area's (other than really humid tropical area's) especially if you have double glazing. If your estate won't let you have evap cooling that is a shame and is really an indicator that many property developers still don't get it. SOlar systems start around 1.5kwh and will offset quite a bit but you can go much higher - talk to a reseller about options. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 30Sep 01, 2010 11:32 pm If the right legislation is applied then buying Greenpower forces utilities to increase their renewable plant rather than just trading carbon credits around. The best way is to increase the MRET obligation constantly. Energy companies either have to put more investment in green energy directly or subsidise domestic or commercial projects that do. Origin Energy in SA has full accredited Greenpower and one of the largest wind farms in the country. Re: 6+ Star Energy Rated Homes 31Oct 07, 2010 1:54 pm I agree with you Dymonite about increasing pressure for plant increases rather than trading credits. The other good thing about green power is that the price alone forces you to think twice about turning up the heater! We have 100% green (wind) power in the awfully cold rental unit we're in now, and it ain't cheap. One disclaimer though: Green Power is the only form of offsetting I feel okay about. My partner has elderly parents in Perth and rather than 'offset' our flights, we pay a decent price per tonne of CO2 emitted to Friends of the Earth for climate activism. For everything else, we are trying moderately hard to just keep our emissions down in the first place. e. go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110215 Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74219 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105129 |