Virtually two years in the past, my husband and I purchased our dream residence on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia: a Nineteen Eighties brick home with three bedrooms, two baths, and a pair of,900-square-foot house. It has all of the hallmarks of the period it got here from — single-glazed home windows, gaps that leaked air, fuel home equipment, and no insulation within the ceiling or inside partitions — however we fell in love with it at first viewing.
The home had excessive ceilings, north-facing mild pouring into the primary dwelling areas, and a sprawling yard with house for all our backyard plans. However dwelling in a sizzling, humid local weather, we knew the home wouldn’t deal with lengthy summers or rising vitality calls for with out adjustments. Gold Coast summers routinely push into the mid-80s with humidity hovering above 80% for a lot of the 12 months. Even modest temperature will increase really feel oppressive. This previous spring to summer time was Australia’s second hottest on report, with temperatures properly above common, and extra days over 95°F than the years earlier than.
With that in thoughts, our precedence was to make our residence snug and vitality environment friendly, whereas getting ready it for a harsher local weather within the years forward. Right here’s how we did it.
We Added Insulation and Airtightness
Typical for older Australian properties, our home had zero insulation and warmth switch was a significant situation. Which means that within the winter, rooms that had been heat throughout the day would plummet to single digits in a single day, and in the summertime, the brick partitions soaked up warmth and launched it lengthy after sundown, conserving us a lot toastier than we’d like.
General, round 25% to 35% of warmth is misplaced or gained via the roof, and one other 15% to 25% via the partitions, in keeping with Sustainability Victoria. We knew insulation was essentially the most inexpensive and efficient option to make the home extra snug and drive down our vitality payments.
For insulation, we checked out a couple of choices — pure wool was too costly. Pure wool with the recycled polyester batts was interesting, however we have been anxious concerning the acoustic efficiency as we each labored from residence, and cellulose fiber was messy to put in, which was not preferrred in a partial renovation. However in the end we selected R3.5 Ecowool, a glass-wool insulation that makes use of a pure binder to maintain unstable natural compounds low — that means no off-gassing over time.
The primary winter after set up, we observed an instantaneous distinction in our residence. Queensland winters are delicate — usually 50°F to 68°F evening and day — however in a poorly designed home, the chilly is trapped, and it feels freezing inside. The home now holds at 64°F to 68°F in a single day with out working warmth, and within the mornings it takes minutes, not hours, to convey the home as much as a cushty 75°F.
Sealing gaps round doorways and home windows helped, slicing the draughts and leaks. Our earlier rental — a similar-size Nineteen Eighties brick residence with no insulation — price us round $400 to $500 AUD 1 / 4 in energy payments. In our new residence, our payments have dropped to about $150 1 / 4, even with each of us working from residence. And we anticipate that to cut back to nearly nothing within the coming months.
We Changed Single-Pane Home windows and Invested in Easy Shading
The house got here with the unique single-pane glass on all of the home windows and doorways, one other weak level for warmth acquire and loss. Changing each window with double glazing wasn’t life like for our funds, or appropriate for our local weather. Double glazing is superb for trapping warmth in colder areas, but it surely affords much less profit in a subtropical setting the place air flow and shading are sometimes simply as efficient.
As a substitute, we upgraded the north-facing home windows and doorways — the kitchen, front room, and my residence workplace, all of that are belted by morning and noon solar. We selected low-emissivity glass that displays radiant warmth in summer time and helps retain heat in winter. Within the hottest months, it’s already 86°F outdoors by 8 a.m., so these areas wanted essentially the most safety. The bifold and sliding doorways got here in at round $4,000 every, and the home windows ranged between $1,500 and $2,500 AUD.
We prioritized spending the cash we had in these high-use dwelling areas and turned to extra inexpensive fixes elsewhere. On the south facet of our residence, the place direct solar is much less intense, we went for honeycomb blinds within the bedrooms and secondary areas. These create an insulating air pocket towards the glass, slicing warmth acquire in summer time and retaining heat in winter. Along with the draught sealing and new door seals, these adjustments stopped the worst of the leaks.
Credit score: Kseniya Ovchinnikova / Getty Photos
We Invested in Electrification and Power Independence
From the outset, Dave and I knew we wished to shift the home off fuel and go all electrical. Fuel heating and cooking remains to be utilized in hundreds of thousands of Australian properties, but it surely’s more and more costly and a significant supply of family emissions. However that doesn’t imply electrical energy is reasonable. The common household in Australia spends not less than $500 (33 cents per kWh). Power costs hold rising (family electrical energy prices have risen by about 20% previously 12 months), so actually the long-term aim is to convey our payments as near zero as attainable.
The fuel cooktop, water heater, and ageing dryer have been changed with environment friendly electrical alternate options — an induction cooktop, an electrical sizzling water heater, and a warmth pump dryer. We additionally upgraded the fridge and dishwasher to extra energy-efficient fashions and took benefit of any rebates. Home equipment are one of many greatest drivers of family vitality use — roughly 30% (or extra) of the whole. A warmth pump sizzling water system makes use of 60% to 70% much less vitality than an ordinary tank, saving $300 to $700 a 12 months. Warmth pump dryers lower electrical energy use in half, whereas older fridges can use as much as 3 times extra energy than fashionable items.
With the home absolutely electrified, a couple of months after transferring in, we put in a 6.6kW photo voltaic system on the roof. With solely two of us in the home, this dimension system is greater than sufficient to cowl our wants and a house of this dimension. To get essentially the most from our system, we shifted routines so the washer and dishwasher run throughout sunlight hours, whereas the photo voltaic panels are producing.
Simply this month, we’ve put in a BYD photo voltaic battery to retailer extra energy and supply backup throughout outages. Storms on the Gold Coast are hitting tougher and extra usually, and widespread blackouts have gotten extra frequent. After a latest summer time storm from a close-by cyclone left a lot of the Gold Coast with out energy for days, and a few suburbs for weeks, the battery already seems like cash properly spent for the peace of thoughts of conserving the lights and fridge working.
We’re not off-grid. Any extra energy is exported again for a small feed-in tariff, which doesn’t make you wealthy however does assist offset payments. It’s nonetheless early days, however finally the mixed photo voltaic and battery system ought to comfortably cowl most of our annual use.
Credit score: Elliott Kaufman/Getty Photos
We Invested in Passive Design Changes
We additionally checked out easy methods to take advantage of what was already there. We adjusted the ground plan to work with present doorways and home windows to enhance airflow and cross-ventilation. On heat days, we shut off south facet rooms to dam the solar and open home windows on the jap facet to catch breezes. Ceiling followers assist transfer the air, and the air conditioner runs on the most well liked components of the 12 months when the humidity turns into an excessive amount of. We additionally shut off one facet of the home, the rooms we don’t use each day, to halve the realm we have to cool.
Credit score: Susan Hodgson/Shutterstock
We “Rewilded” the Backyard
After we first purchased the home, the 941 square-meter block was principally garden — stored neat and inexperienced by years of pesticides — fringed with overgrown clumps of over 100 golden cane palms, clusters of agaves, and launched tropical vegetation. The soil was compacted and lifeless, and the backyard nearly devoid of biodiversity.
We spent months eradicating the golden canes in addition to the invasive launched bushes — the cocos palms and umbrella bushes. We stored among the older Bangalow palms and shade bushes that assist cool massive areas of the home. Little by little, we’ve been changing the lawns with new gardens crammed with water-wise native vegetation like Westringia, Banksia, Chrysocephalum, and Prostanthera. Over 60 species thus far which can be native to South East Queensland, thrive in our local weather and construct construction for a layered habitat.
Because the vegetation mature, they’re serving to cool the block, buffer erosion after heavy rain, and hyperlink right into a wider habitat hall within the neighborhood. To assist us via the drought years and hold the gardens alive, we’ve one 5,000-liter rainwater tank, and plan to put in a second water tank additional down the monitor.
What I Realized About Making a Home Sustainable
We did a number of analysis earlier than we began, and that helped us concentrate on the upgrades that might have essentially the most affect. The most important shock was how a lot distinction insulation and sealing draughts made. These easy fixes delivered essentially the most consolation and financial savings for the least price and energy. On the similar time, transferring away from fuel has unlocked the advantages of photo voltaic and made it simpler to run the home on clear vitality and assist us begin saving cash.
I really feel extremely lucky that we’ve been capable of make these adjustments, and reassured realizing our residence is best ready for a altering local weather and no matter comes subsequent. In fact, you possibly can by no means absolutely put together for the unpredictable, however working with nature slightly than towards it seems like a step in the fitting course each for our personal consolation and for the half we play within the greater image.
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