My home is thermally efficient and energy efficient now. My journey started in 2007 when I first purchased my house. Many steps were taken to get to this point.
I was lucky enough to have parents who understood the value of energy and water when I was a kid, and my engineer father was a gardener and an early adopter of technology
Most houses in Australia are not built to be energy efficient with poor thermal envelope – walls, floors, window and ceilings. The biggest cost of running a home is keeping the home at the right temperature for comfort.
My son’s room and the family room were facing west and so hot. My house had large windows with 3mm glass. This is standard for all Australian homes. I also had 50 down lights that were halogen – very inefficient.
Starting from understanding the envelope. I bought external awning son’s room to reduce the radiant heat.
I placed a 4000L water tank on the external wall of the family room that cooled down that room during summer. I planted trees that are now quite big on the western and eastern sides of my house. A back yard pergola with now wraps around the back yard further cooling western part of the house.
The very big expense was changing all the windows to double glazed. This has sealed the house, and it no longer has any leaks through doors and window.
My house is very thermally efficient during summer and winter.
I installed ceiling fans in all the rooms and updated the air conditioner in the family room and children’s rooms. Modern air conditioners are very energy efficient.
Sydney University studies has shown that if turn your air conditioner to 26 degrees and have a fan on at the same time. It is a thermal comfort of 22 degrees. Fans use 10% of the energy that air conditioners consume.
As each white good died, I replaced it with the most energy efficient.
My home battery and solar panels will be 10 years old by this coming August and are still functioning well.
Drawing down energy use is still important, and this has been drilled into my kids. Turn off lights and appliances when not in use. Use the dishwasher and washing machine when the sun is shining.
This has been a long journey, and this is only a brief summary.
Dr Kim Loo
