Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 01, 2016 1:21 pm Is there anyone who has built a single storey on land with a northern frontage. just seeking some tips or experience on how it went after your build. I haven't really committed to the land due to obvious solar -passive warming concerns, that are well documented everywhere. 1.I am seeking advise or examples of plans from anyone who had the above land 2. Any tips to maximise warmth in a sustainable way 3. Any other helpful info 4. At the moment I have been to the big builders and they do not have any designs that have living areas to the front(north) Custom build is not within my budget therefore I am considering to forget about this land (it is in the Illawarra -NSW) Re: Northern frontage land 2May 01, 2016 2:38 pm My current house is on a north facing block. We have east facing living areas and the family room protrudes out to the east so we were able to put a large north facing window on what would have been a brick wall. We added a couple of other windows also. We have no problems with light, and with the eaves, the big north window it lets in sun in winter but is shaded in summer. We didn't want living rooms to the front as we have easterly views across a valley and a 30m deep backyard. It's by no means ideal, but it's about the best we could do on our block. When I did it up, I'll PM you the floor plan to explain more clearly. Re: Northern frontage land 3May 01, 2016 7:04 pm Frye My current house is on a north facing block. We have east facing living areas and the family room protrudes out to the east so we were able to put a large north facing window on what would have been a brick wall. We added a couple of other windows also. We have no problems with light, and with the eaves, the big north window it lets in sun in winter but is shaded in summer. We didn't want living rooms to the front as we have easterly views across a valley and a 30m deep backyard. It's by no means ideal, but it's about the best we could do on our block. When I did it up, I'll PM you the floor plan to explain more clearly. Thank you for your reply, this block is 33m deep. I was thinking to have living areas on the east. And limit windows on the west. Just wanted a lived experience opinion. Does it get dark in winter and cold in winter? Thank you for sharing Re: Northern frontage land 4May 01, 2016 10:24 pm Ours will be facing north (theatre room) but with other main living on the east. It's hard with a volume builder to get the passive solar outcomes but not impossible. We have added double glazing to help with solar gains and obviously the appropriate insulation. A few other things as suggested by our thermal assessor so house is sitting on 7.1 NAThers stars which is well above the average for new volume builds. The wafflepods help with slab insulation etc and making the house square (no articulation) is a big plus! We added a window (long slim horizontal) to the east side also to gain a bit more morning sun. It's tricky as overgrazing will be detrimental to the thermal gains...floor coverings and down lights (make sure they're sealed!) also can drag the NAThers rating down by a significant level...hopefully we will be in by Xmas and I can give you a better picture of what it's like to live in. I'm hoping we have made it much more comfy and energy efficient! Adding a 5kw pv system too.Might be worth you getting an assessor to run your plans through their software too. A few hundred bucks now is nothing in the scheme of things if you gain so much out of it Re: Northern frontage land 5May 01, 2016 10:33 pm deejay08 Ours will be facing north (theatre room) but with other main living on the east. It's hard with a volume builder to get the passive solar outcomes but not impossible. We have added double glazing to help with solar gains and obviously the appropriate insulation. A few other things as suggested by our thermal assessor so house is sitting on 7.1 NAThers stars which is well above the average for new volume builds. The wafflepods help with slab insulation etc and making the house square (no articulation) is a big plus! We added a window (long slim horizontal) to the east side also to gain a bit more morning sun. It's tricky as overgrazing will be detrimental to the thermal gains...floor coverings and down lights (make sure they're sealed!) also can drag the NAThers rating down by a significant level...hopefully we will be in by Xmas and I can give you a better picture of what it's like to live in. I'm hoping we have made it much more comfy and energy efficient! Adding a 5kw pv system too.Might be worth you getting an assessor to run your plans through their software too. A few hundred bucks now is nothing in the scheme of things if you gain so much out of it Thank you for the info, may i kindly ask how big your land is? Just for my own comparison 4 4500 Hi, I am wondering if anyone has built with Montgomery in the last few years on the Northern Beaches? I don't see the see them around, as I would love to ask how happy… 0 3198 Yeah I don't know why I came to a forum. Place is full of wierdos/pedos thought internet may help but I suppose I'll try my luck with someone in person. Cheers. I tried… 0 6449 |