Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jul 29, 2016 3:54 pm Hi all, I'm keen for some tips from the brains trust as I'm about to finalise our 2 storey custom build plans! I've avidly read all the passive heating and cooling tips on yourhome.gov.au, but despite best intentions most of our rooms have ended up completely opposite to the recommended aspects The kitchen, bathrooms and laundry are all north-facing, our living areas upstairs and downstairs are south-facing, and the double garage and master bedroom are west-facing. The small asymmetrical block (400m2) dictated position of the garage and kitchen, and every other aspect of the design followed suit. We've wrestled with the plan but we just can't see any way to change the aspects without severely compromising our dream layout. In SA we're fortunate to have moderate weather most of the year but we still have the odd 10-day heatwaves. To try and counteract those passively we've designed in 600mm eaves, R2.5 external wall insulation, R5.0 ceiling/floor insulation, and as light-coloured a roof as possible. I've also been told that we can insulate the garage door for a negligible cost and that'll help prevent it from turning into an oven and baking the master bedroom above it. Furthermore I would love to build in roller shutters on our west-facing master bedroom, and enough flyscreens all around so that we can set up cross breezes to "reset" the house temperature each night, but I'm getting significant pushback from my SO on both of these as they spoil the clean look of the windows. I'm also considering active remedy; the north roof is over 70m2 tilted at 25 degrees so it'll soak up all the solar panels we care to bolt on, and I hope to find a mechanism where the R/C heating or cooling will attempt to maintain a set temp when we're out during the day for as long as there's free energy to spare. This seems a better use of solar than the pittance I would get from feeding the power back into the grid all day. Despite taking all of the above steps I'm still deeply worried about our master bedroom getting too hot in the summer, and that our living areas in the winter are just not going to get any direct sun at all and may be cold and dark on cloudy days. Given the premise that we can't change the actual plans, does anyone have any other ideas or tips we could employ? Re: Compensating for bad aspects on small block 2Jul 29, 2016 4:39 pm It's a pity that the orientation will be all wrong, nothing beats northern sunshine in winter. A western window in the master if far from ideal. Is it a corner room, any chance of a window on a different aspect, or flipping part of the plan? Who designed the plans? Someone skilled in passive design may come up with some inventive approaches to your blocks limitations. Good call on the solar. I was going to recommend installing a large solar PV system. If you run your AC when the sun's up (heating/cooling), & have some internal thermal mass (but not too much), to absorb that heat/coolth. The thermal mass will release the heat/coolth slowly over a few hours to stabilize the internal temperature. If you have upstairs living areas, a skillion roofline, with clerestory windows down the central spine may be an option to allow northern sunlight in south facing rooms. Re: Compensating for bad aspects on small block 3Aug 03, 2016 3:53 pm Thanks for responding. I appreciate the tips you've given. Unfortunately our plan has gone to council for approval and we can't change or abort it, but we have started playing with a flipped plan and it may be achievable after all - if so we may make another council application. If we're stuck with the original plan we'll definitely try to incorporate all the tips. In particular I'm looking for ways to ventilate the garage - perhaps set up a crossflow with a grille in the lift door and another in the back door, or install some kind of roof vent (only half the garage roof is covered by the second story). Anyone tried these things? Did they help? Re: Compensating for bad aspects on small block 4Aug 19, 2016 9:25 am Good news ... I was able to redesign the house and we are making another council submission. The exposed garage wall and laundry still face north, but now all the living areas face north and the kitchen & all bathrooms face south. I'm much happier. I'll post a plan somewhere on the forums soon Re: Compensating for bad aspects on small block 5Mar 26, 2017 6:01 am mykro Good news ... I was able to redesign the house and we are making another council submission. The exposed garage wall and laundry still face north, but now all the living areas face north and the kitchen & all bathrooms face south. I'm much happier. I'll post a plan somewhere on the forums soon Hi mykro we are in the same situation. Im wondering would you be able to post your first plan and the one you redesigned? You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. In NSW you would contact a Water services co-ordinator and they would give you advice as to whether or not… 1 16127 do not pay until you are satisfied with workmanship windows require flashing over the head archithrave and up under weatherboards 3 28245 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place - Iām new to the property/building journey (trying to buy my first home) so not sure where/who to go with these sorts of… 0 19120 |