Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Ceiling height 21May 30, 2007 10:47 am I think the homestead higher ceilings were done as both a sign of wealth, (it cost more so it showed you had wealth) as well as it worked to get the hot summer air up above the living space (no insulation back then) which kept the rooms cooler in summer.
Check it out, note the period and type of houses that have higher ceiling and you will see some trends appearing. Steve Re: Ceiling height 22May 30, 2007 11:03 am When you do these sort of jobs they don't care about energy efficiency etc.The house in the picture probably cost them over $1.5 million and if they need to spend another forty or fifty on heating and cooling,on going energy bills,they just don't care.I'd say the sandstone on that particuliar house would have cost them about $600,000 supplied and layed.We layed approx 75000 bricks and 8000 blocks there and still have things out there to do for them(swimming pool area etc).They ran an irrigation line about two Klm's from the river to their front gate to drip feed a line of trees.We did another house in town a couple of years ago where the ceiling heights were also 3.6mtrs and it also took around 70,000 bricks.It is a beautiful federation style home sitting on a double block.It's interesting as it looks like it has been there for a hundred years,classic federation style.I'll get a picture if anyones interested in that sort of thing.Regards Terry High Ceilings and Energy Efficiency 23Jun 07, 2007 9:50 pm I read on a sustainable building site that 2.7 m high (which is what modern builders give you for 9ft - but is actually just shy of it) is the highest you should have if you want to be energy efficient.
Higher is just too hard to heat. Though, maybe its different in cooling climates up north. I can't believe how low the standard ceilings are 2.4 is standard with our builder - yuck! my husband would probably hit his head on that! It is costing us nearly $9,000 to get to 2.7m I love square set plaster, but I haven't asked yet how much that is! Re: Ceiling height 24Jun 08, 2007 10:31 am stonecutter1309 ahuang It also depends on the council, our council requires min 2700mm for ground floor and max is 3000mm. For 1st floor, min 2400mm and max also 3000mm. Hi Allan - what council is this? (We are in Sydney also - building in the Blacktown Council area - where the max I think is set at 2.7m) It's Parramatta Council. Cheers Allan http://building-our-first-house.blogspot.com/ Re: Ceiling height 25Jun 08, 2007 10:34 am ahuang We raised both floors to 2700mm and it cost us $4900 for each floor. Just checked the final tender, the figure I quoted before wasn't correct. It's $4950 to raise from 2400mm to 2700mm for 1st floor. But for ground floor it's $5950 to raise from 2400mm to 2700mm. Cheers Allan http://building-our-first-house.blogspot.com/ Re: Ceiling height 26Jun 08, 2007 11:07 am Terry, that's great info ! very interesting.
Here in Tasmania I almost bought a house with ridiculously high ceilings - must have been 14 feet ! My partner loves them, but I really don't like them at all. As was pointed out, too much useless air to heat ! The bathroom in this house was especially funny - it had 14' ceilings as well - with a "tastic" bathroom radiator in the ceiling ! You couldn't feel the heat at all, and I wasn't looking forward to risking my life when it came to bulb replacement time. Re: Ceiling height 27Jun 08, 2007 11:41 am I can't help thinking that any high ceilings are not energy efficient. If heating or cooling a place, the extra air space is going to cost extra. The idea that rising hot air keep it cool is invalidated by the simple use of an airvent.
3xb Re: Ceiling height 28Jun 08, 2007 12:42 pm 3xb - You are correct...
They are not naturally as energy efficient. I have owned and lived in an old homestead in the adelaide hills for 4 years which had 14 foot ceilings, (yes it great fun to change light bulbs and paint the place) and in winter if you climbed on ladder it was hot up near the top and cool down below. Ways around it are to use off set ceiling fans turned on in reverse mode so they push the air down. Off setting them, ie not in the cntre of the room, enables them to push the air down beside a wall and across the room as the air hits the floor, which is not what most people do. ie they put them inthe centre of a room where they are not as effective as the air goes down a way then out tothe side and back up again. And in Summer - the air was hotter up there as the heat came down from above, but it was always cool at floor level - even on 45 degree days with NO airconditioning we left the ceiling fans off and just used a floor level pedestal fan to push the cool ground level air around. I personally like high ceilings and if you do things right, it can be made more efficient. I call it a living house - and you need to learn and understand how to work it to it's best advantage. Steve ok thanks - yes was wondering if that should have been listed as Option Three! 2 7755 I'll look into different shower heads and ask the plumber about some engineering and see what he says. Thanks 2 9568 i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16026 |