Minimal energy is needed to make a house comfortable
Heating and cooling are around 40% of our home’s energy bill.
Very little energy is needed to make a well-designed house comfortable. Appropriate insulation, passive solar design, and a draught-proofed building, can create a low or even no energy requirements for heating and cooling. Highly efficient homes with no heating or cooling input are possible across much of Australia. (Source: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/ )
Heating
Reducing heating costs. Use passive design principles to increase comfort and reduce the need for heating. Insulate the roof, walls and floor, seal off draughts, let in the winter sun and draw the curtains at night. Zone your home so you only heat rooms you are using; use doors to prevent heat escaping into unused rooms.
In Summer, Spring and Autumn once the outside temperatures drop below the inside temperature, we can open all windows to give a cooling crossflow breeze to cool the house down. If you have a multistorey house or a clear storey opening these high windows causes a chimney effect- as the hot air rises it draws in the cool air down stairs.
In the Upper Ovens cool breezes flow down the slopes and valleys in the late evenings and early mornings. Use natures cooling breezes they are free.
Mechanical types of cooling options:
Electric fans are cheap and economical to run
Air conditioners – only cool your house
Split systems – both heat and cool your house and economical; heat pump type split systems using CO2 refrigerant are cheaper run and are quieter
