Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Having a Large Void - Disadvantages & Issues 5Sep 16, 2013 12:56 pm Stewie D 1) Tall ladder or potable lightweight scaffold - been there done that for friends. 2) A bit more because you would have to allow for scaffolding of some sort. 3) as above 4) Heating that area is the main concern. All the heat from downstairs would go straight up and until the whole upstairs reaches a nice temp then it would probably be cold at the lower level. Stewie Do you know how much people usually charge to do them? I don't think I will be able to change them myself. With regards to heating, if I am planning to have a ducted reverse cycle system, would that help? Since the whole house would be heated anyway? Re: Having a Large Void - Disadvantages & Issues 6Sep 16, 2013 1:02 pm It's not hard to work out. Ring a hire company and ask for an aluminium scaffold and how high you have to go. Find out how much to hire for half a day. Changing the bulbs will take five minutes. Picking up the scaffold, setting it up, dismantling it then taking it back to the hire place is what takes the time. I'm unsure how much to heat your whole house will cost you - others may be able to help you with that one. Stewie Re: Having a Large Void - Disadvantages & Issues 7Sep 16, 2013 4:05 pm I have a large void in my place (that has some large glass that faces west). I installed electric blinds on the outside of the void so that it would not get hot. This really helps for the livability of the area. Cost about $3.0K + electrician. You don't have to have lights in the ceiling. You can have them on the side of the void which should be accessible by a normal ladder. Alternatively - have led's installed in the ceiling and turn them on regularly once your power is connected. From my experience they are more likely to fail early on so test them out early. I have gone this route with 4 LED's and a central pendent light and it works well at lighting the room below. Other to consider - cobwebs/dusting/ etc. I made a contraption that is basically a duster/cleaner that will attach to my extendable pool scoop - problem sorted. Large voids make your house feel much larger than they are and get a great impression from visitors. Well worth the effort IMO. Re: Having a Large Void - Disadvantages & Issues 8Sep 16, 2013 5:41 pm travisaus I have a large void in my place (that has some large glass that faces west). I installed electric blinds on the outside of the void so that it would not get hot. This really helps for the livability of the area. Cost about $3.0K + electrician. You don't have to have lights in the ceiling. You can have them on the side of the void which should be accessible by a normal ladder. Alternatively - have led's installed in the ceiling and turn them on regularly once your power is connected. From my experience they are more likely to fail early on so test them out early. I have gone this route with 4 LED's and a central pendent light and it works well at lighting the room below. Other to consider - cobwebs/dusting/ etc. I made a contraption that is basically a duster/cleaner that will attach to my extendable pool scoop - problem sorted. Large voids make your house feel much larger than they are and get a great impression from visitors. Well worth the effort IMO. First time I hear that you can get electrical blinds for the outside. The most common that I have seen are roller shutters which I do not personally like. Thanks for the info. With regards to lighting, are 4 LEDs enough for you? Have you actually changed the lights on your ceilings before? How large is your void area? Have you had any problems with heating and cooling your void area? For example, in my case, cooling the void area would mean I would have to cool the living area upstairs as well since everything is kinda open. Re: Having a Large Void - Disadvantages & Issues 9Sep 16, 2013 10:20 pm mwccl JB1 All valid negatives. Don't forgot heating downstairs and cooling upstairs. I personally like it, but I would add some type of automated ventilation either windows or ceiling vents as heat will get trapped in summer. What direction are the floor to ceiling windows facing? West facing would be a deal breaker for me. They are on both sides - West and East. Although, there are more on the West side. Would it help if my neighbours on both sides are also building a double storey? Can you tell me more about the "automated ventilation or ceiling vents"? Something like http://www.uniquewindowservices.com/pro ... ?pag_id=41 Electric external blinds are also a great especially west facing Re: Having a Large Void - Disadvantages & Issues 10Sep 17, 2013 2:05 pm Mine is around 6m*3.5m. I haven't had to change any of the lights as of yet. 4 LED's is plenty (+ the pendent) but I do have 21w, 1100 lumen lights. I don't have any pics of the electric roller blind sorry - but could prob take some on the weekend? Here are a few pics of my void: http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff371/travispegg/Morehead%20Avenue/livingroom4_zps46bdc2e9.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff371/travispegg/Morehead%20Avenue/livingroom3_zpsef955b9c.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff371/travispegg/Morehead%20Avenue/livingroom5_zps3a471c16.jpg I have a single outlet for the ducted system above the void so as the system runs obviously the air drops down the void. Seems to work well! Not sure if that works? 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