Building a Home

Too late for those under contract but I remember a designer pointing out to me there is information on the heat reflect-ability of various roof tiles. Appropriate selection of roof colour for location effects the energy rating of the building. Most people just go with what they think looks good. But if you are going for 6* rating, roof colour becomes important.
 
p--and--t said:
Too late for those under contract but I remember a designer pointing out to me there is information on the heat reflect-ability of various roof tiles. Appropriate selection of roof colour for location effects the energy rating of the building. Most people just go with what they think looks good. But if you are going for 6* rating, roof colour becomes important.
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Luckily I'm not going for 6* – simply because it would undoubtedly be out of my budget. Don't get me wrong, I understand energy efficiency pays off in the long term, but in the short term when I have to pay, there's no funds for that :p
 
samh004 said:
Luckily I'm not going for 6* – simply because it would undoubtedly be out of my budget. Don't get me wrong, I understand energy efficiency pays off in the long term, but in the short term when I have to pay, there's no funds for that :p
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6* is very easy to get. In fact in Victoria any new standalone house has to be minimum 6*.

Edit: and QLD as well
 
samh004 said:
Luckily I'm not going for 6* – simply because it would undoubtedly be out of my budget. Don't get me wrong, I understand energy efficiency pays off in the long term, but in the short term when I have to pay, there's no funds for that :p
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...selecting a different colour doesnt change the price of the tiling and can effect your outcomes.
 
p--and--t said:
...selecting a different colour doesnt change the price of the tiling and can effect your outcomes.
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Would change how I felt about the place I'm planning to spend the next x years of my life though. From what I have seen, a 10 star house for instance generally has a certain look that may not be to everyones taste. Would probably work for me, but I wouldn't live somewhere I didn't enjoy just to earn a star or two energy wise.

Regardless, all locked in now and I'm happy with what my outcome is. As we told the design consultant when she kept saying "if it was my house"... it's not your house, it's my house :p

Can't wait for the pink with green polka dot wall! ;)
 
samh004 said:
Regardless, all locked in now and I'm happy with what my outcome is. As we told the design consultant when she kept saying "if it was my house"... it's not your house, it's my house :p
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Oh that would have driven me nuts. I think we were pretty lucky with our consultant. She had some great suggestions without trying to steer us in any particular direction.
 
Have a good think about exactly how you use hot water. My house had an instant gas system serving the main bedroom ensuite, with a gas boosted solar system doing everything else. The solar system has just been removed and replaced with another instant system. We really did not need to be storing a large amount of hot water, and it was using far more gas than the instant system.
 
travelislife said:
- Yale Assure SL Connected by August door lock. This is the one thing I couldn't live without now. Don't carry keys at all. Phone stays in the pocked and once you are within 10m of the door it auto unlocks, then auto locks. Bloody brilliant. Also easy to give access to trades, etc. Don't need to be home or be hiding keys, etc.
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So can you remotely unlock the door for tradies or do you give them a one off code?[/QUOTE]
 
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TomVexille said:
Oh that would have driven me nuts. I think we were pretty lucky with our consultant. She had some great suggestions without trying to steer us in any particular direction.
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We ended up cracking the proverbial and got a new consultant who didn't second guess every decision. Brighton has a Facebook group that I chose not to join, but @frankie has and apparently there are countless clients who get annoyed with this consultant and bag her.
jb747 said:
Have a good think about exactly how you use hot water. My house had an instant gas system serving the main bedroom ensuite, with a gas boosted solar system doing everything else. The solar system has just been removed and replaced with another instant system. We really did not need to be storing a large amount of hot water, and it was using far more gas than the instant system.
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No issues there, only opted for solar power, not water.
travelislife said:
Can do both. Can unlock it on the app or can give them a code with a time expiry.
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We are considering something like this down the line. Have also backed a new kickstarter for a mailbox of sorts we can secure near the front door with built-in camera and PIN on top for delivery drivers to secure drop. As we use their camera system already, we know their software works well.

www.kickstarter.com

Secure Deliveries Made Easy with SmartDrop

Anti Package Theft | 5 Ways to Open | Delivery Notification & Video | 1080p Camera | Voice Assistant Compatible | Courier Friendly
www.kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com
 
jb747 said:
Have a good think about exactly how you use hot water. My house had an instant gas system serving the main bedroom ensuite, with a gas boosted solar system doing everything else. The solar system has just been removed and replaced with another instant system. We really did not need to be storing a large amount of hot water, and it was using far more gas than the instant system.
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A bit confused by this one John? The solar gas boosted should be using a heap less gas than just an instant system. As it is essentially water that is already warmed up with the gas instant system only needing to top the heat up. It shouldn't be constantly circulating?

I have an evacuated tube solar hot water system with instantaneous gas booster setup and it's great (300 litre Solar hot water system - North Solar Melbourne, Sydney). Doesn't use any gas for 6 months of the year. So much so when we first moved in in December unbeknown to us the gas was still off at the main and it wasn't until I think April that the water in the shower was getting luke warm and I found out the gas wasn't turned on!
 
travelislife said:
A bit confused by this one John? The solar gas boosted should be using a heap less gas than just an instant system. As it is essentially water that is already warmed up with the gas instant system only needing to top the heat up. It shouldn't be constantly circulating?

I have an evacuated tube solar hot water system with instantaneous gas booster setup and it's great (300 litre Solar hot water system - North Solar Melbourne, Sydney). Doesn't use any gas for 6 months of the year. So much so when we first moved in in December unbeknown to us the gas was still off at the main and it wasn't until I think April that the water in the shower was getting luke warm and I found out the gas wasn't turned on!
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My house actually has three hot water systems, serving different parts of the house/buildings.

There is a small storage electric system. It’s very rarely turned on, so it has negligible cost.

One end of the house had the instant gas system, whilst the other end, and the kitchen, was served by the gas boosted solar storage system. A number of issues slowly developed with this system, but the upshot was that for an appreciable period of the year, it was using quite a bit of gas. The instant system was actually providing us with more hot water, it was hotter, and it was cheaper. Perhaps I could have upgraded the gas/solar system, but it was cheaper and simpler to do away with it.
 
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