Insulation Question for Windows, Walls, Ceiling and Roof

Where about are you building?
Is a 6 star energy ratinf house a regulation in your area? I think some states it is a must to meet the rating.

I'm no expert, but I think you've got the order correct. You can't do the anticon, wall wrap or wall insulation easily later. The only thing that can be later is the ceiling insulation upgrade, but it's also the most important, as hot air rises to the ceiling.

So I guess the best of these options is to forego the double glazed door, which I presume is an expensive upgrade. Don't forget good, well insulated window furnishings. Honeycomb (cellular) blinds are the best, but also not cheap. If you go curtains, don't forget to also build pelmets, for increased energy efficiency.

The main way to reduce price would be to reduce the house size, this looks pretty big. How big is your family size? If you have one, the guest room could be removed, & the theatre could do double to accommodate the occasional guest. The powder room could be incorporated into the laundry etc.

Reducing the house size will not only save you money at the time of the build, you'll save on heating/cooling costs, & on maintenance.

Reducing window sizes will save you some money. Many Aussie homes are overglazed, few would be understand.

If you're planning on having gas to the home, another way to save money is to ditch the gas & have an all-electric home. It's the way of the future, gas is old thinking. Reverse cycle AC is now cheaper to heat a home than gas. If you can eliminate use of gas - with RCAC for heating/cooling, heat pump or electric element hot water, induction cooking - you'll not only save money during the build by not requiring a gas connection, you'll also save money on you energy bills. The daily service charge for gas adds up to hundreds & hundreds of dollars a year, that's just for the connection, not the usage! Skip the gas & you won't be paying this daily fee.

Definitely get solar PV on the roof as quickly as possible. It will pay for itself in 3-5 year (possibly less in Victoria, due to generous rebates). It will be saving you lots of money, especially if you have an all-electric home.

Looking at the plan, which way is north?

Thanks for the valuable information. The North is on the back side of the house but 25-30 degree towards the alfresco corner.

Other than that:

1) consider basins in your WCs;

2) consider replacing CSDs with hinged doors - they will be too noisy for the bedrooms and causing maintenance issues in the long run. Hinged doors will be cheaper too.

3) double check if CSD between family and bedrooms is unlikely to be used at all and doesn't make much sense to have it there at all (just leave nice opening over there or in the worst case hinged door).

4) 610 slider robes won't be able to hold anything in it. You will lose 100 mm on sliding mechanism, so you will end up with 510 robes which won't be good enough to hold even summer clothes, not talking about winter clothes which generally require at least 600 mm + slider. In fact, you have even less space there as it is 610 mm with the wall, so, in fact, you are closer to 420 mm over there - absolutely useless robes. General recommendation - if you have enough space to open the doors, don't go with sliders. You are also losing some of the horizontal robe space on that gyprock wall on the other side, instead of having a proper built-in robe with all the robe wall there.

5) it won't be very convenient to cook in your kitchen with the sink being in WIP and cooker in the main kitchen. I would rather move sink to an island or at least put it where your fridge is + make WIP opening wider (align it with your WIP external door, it will look nicer this way). The space in the corner to the right of your current sink will perfect for the fridge. You generally keep bin under the sink, too. In general, your kitchen is really tiny and I would rather to extend it all the way along the way to the pantry area and live only small area where you sink is as an actual pantry space.

6) garage doors opening inside eat out valuable space you can use to park your cars. Your garage is certainly not extra long.

7) you would want your bath to fill all the opening space so you don't have to tile over the edges, it is never a good option as the water will be constantly slashing over the edges and then dripping on the floor around. Save some money on tiling, too.

Just my 2 cents.

if this is your first build
https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=5823

[quote="murtaza.sh":vz7pnahh]Thanks for the valuable information. The North is on the back side of the house but 25-30 degree towards the alfresco corner.[/quote:vz7pnahh]

So the back of the home faces NNE, this is a great aspect.

But I'm sorry to say it's totally wasted on bedroom 4 & the alfresco area. A north facing backyard is highly sort after, as a living area adjoining it will also be north facing. As the sun is in the northern sky, lower in the sky in winter, northern living areas will receive light & winter sunshine. While they're shaded in summer (by appropriate length eaves), when the sun is higher in the sky.

This is called "passive solar design", & is critical for energy efficient house design, comfort, & minimisation of energy bills.

This brilliant government website explains it all.

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design

So I think it's important that you make changes to your plan, so that some living areas face north.

It's great that you bedrooms face ESE, the cooler side of the house. But I'd be looking at moving the home theatre to the western side, sliding the minor bedrooms further forward, moving the alfresco to the SE corner adjacent to bedroom 4, moving the living areas further north.

Then the living areas will gain winter sunshine. 1sqm of sunshine can contain up to 1kW of heat. That is a lot! A glazed north facing living area can produce as much heat as your heater. But in their current location the living areas will be shaded by the alfresco for much of the day. Losing valuable sunshine in winter.

All homes should incorporate passive design & correct orientation. It's a blight on the building industry that this is not the case. It's the homeowners that suffer, with higher bills, in homes that are darker, colder in winter, hotter in summer.

It's great that you're upping the insulation levels. But really you've got to get the basics right first.

The basics are getting the orientation right. This is critical in determining a home's comfort, & this is absolutely FREE!

alexp79 Great suggestions. Thanks once again.

Just a question regarding the #6. Can't understand your point there as it is remote control panel lift door which (I think) will slide up and will go backward with the garage ceiling. Something like this

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Or can you please help me understand what you mean?