Where to put your power points?

Having moved in our new home not too long ago and this coinciding with my increased passion for energy efficiency and sustainable home design, many "home renovation" ideas have been added to our family's "to do list".  One of our key considerations, is how we function with existing infrastructure in our house (one of the key "environmental" principle - reuse), or alternatively what we would need to do to the house to make our life easier or improved without creating a significant cost to the environment.

One of the things that should be considered, but may not seem so obvious to most people and surely should be towards the top of the list, is the location or placement of the humble power point or power outlet. Why, you might ask?

(Source: South Australian Government)

In the modern household, power points are typically low down, in the corners of rooms throughout the household or just generally tucked away. However, if you re-locate these to locations that are higher on the walls or just surrounding the "edges" of your furniture, you will be encouraged to turn off your appliances at the wall. Through this simple re-location, you have the potential to create significant environmental and energy savings in your home (particularly, if you live in a typical modern, western household).

The mere action of moving power points to more accessible and more prominent locations means you are more likely to turn them off (at the wall) when your appliance isn't in use and if you're really diligent even remove the appliance's plug from the power point. Why do you need to remove the appliance's plug from the wall as well? There is actually a small amount of current used by many modern appliances even when they are turned off at the wall but remain plugged in, quite often to run memory requirements or maintain batteries, etc. Therefore, the simple act of removing the plug to the appliance from the wall removes this energy requirement and save you money.  

All in all, the action of turning off appliances at the wall means you save electricity, money and  reduce the amount of greenhouse gases and "obviously" save the planet in the process. And all this is more likely to happen if you can see your power points and reach them.  





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Speed Dating a Sustainable Designer

How cool is this concept? The Alternative Technology Association is hosting a series of dating events (advice service) with sustainable architects and designers in various cities around Australia. The event is called "Speed Dating a Sustainable Designer".

The idea is you get 10 minutes with a sustainable designer or architect (or maybe you're extra special and get several dates) to chat about renovations, building ideas relating to your personal sustainable building project. One of the most important things to remember to bring along as many plans, photos, props, etc to help you get the most out of your 10 minutes and to communicate your ideas and aspirations.

There are still upcoming events in Sydney and Brisbane, with Melbourne holding one of these earlier this year. Have a look at the ATA's website for further information about these fabulous events and register your interest.

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1200 Building Initiative

The 1200 Buildings program is a building retrofit program in the City of Melbourne. It was generated out of a council idea to support commercial building owners to retrofit their buildings with measures that will increase a building's water and energy efficiency and reduce waste. It is also supports the Council's goal  for the entire Council area to become "carbon neutral by 2020". What an idea, particularly since the City of Melbourne doesn't own and cannot dictate these changes to these privately owned buildings. In reality, this goal will only be achieved through support, education and changes made by building owners.

How to achieve this? My goodness I can't even imagine. However, Melbourne city has come up with some very exciting ideas to achieve this, which include some new financial lending models. One of the imaginative models means that finance institutions can forward funding to commercial building owners for activities to achieve the goals set by the Melbourne City Council and then these funds are re-couped to the bank by having a charge in your Council rates to fund these "loans".

I don't know the precise details of how this finance model works, but it certainly seems like an innovative one and one that will break some of the dis-incentives for owners of properties, to undertake sustainability measures, when these buildings are rented out, and it is the tenant that in fact receives the cost-breaks through energy and water cost savings!

If you want to know more about the program have a look at the 1200 Buildings website.

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Solar hot water...things you need to consider

I have now had three commercial companies come and provide me with quotes for a solar hot water system for my house and I feel that it would be easy to get caught up in the sales pitch that these "environmentally-friendly" companies give you. So, here are a few things that I learnt about solar hot water systems and some of the greenwash or sales pitches I have heard.

Things you need to consider:

• Size of hot water storage tank (this will depend on the number of people using hot water in your household)
• Whether you want a split system or not (this is whether you want the storage tank on your roof or not)
• Where you can and/or want to accommodate the solar system on your roof
• What type of boosting system (gas or electricity) you want for your system
• What orientation your roof has (use a compass to find out) and whether it will appropriately accommodate a solar hot water system (see previous post on Solar Hot Water).
• How large your house is in area and where the areas that use hot water are (this will help you position your storage tanks and/or solar collection "panels" on the roof and whether a solar hot water system will efficiently deliver hot water to those areas)
• How much money you have to purchase a system
• What rebates are available to you from the government (if this an important factor)
• What your climate is like and whether is it appropriate to a solar hot system
• Is there enough open solar access for a solar hot water system to be effective and efficient at your location
• The amount of structural capability your roof has and whether it can accommodate a roof-mounted hot water storage tank
• Whether you want to show the world you have a solar hot water system (this will determine whether you are happy to mount the collector panels to achieve best orientation, if needed, or have a flat panel system on your roof)

Now here are some things I have learnt about:

• for maximum efficiency and to increase the likelihood that I can get hot water all year round, I should be positioning my solar hot water collector panels to the north. This is particularly important for those winter months when I want to catch as much of the sun's energy as possible, when the sun is positioned further into the northern hemisphere
• on my house this means mounting the panels on a frame, these are constructed to position my panels in a northerly direction, my problem with my position is that these potentially collector panels will still be shaded in some parts of the year and thus, boosting from either mains electricity or a gas system will be required
• insulation of pipes between the collector panels on the roof and the storage tank below (if you're opting for a split system) will ensure maximum hot water is collected in your tank and therefore you don't loose heat through the transfer process
• the storage tank is either boosted (from electricity or gas) or water re-circulated into the "panels" when the water is lower than sixty degrees Celsius
• in a split system the water is pumped onto the roof with a small motor in the storage tank
• you may require more than two "panels" on your roof if you have a particularly large family or have a significant hot water use
• most of the storage tanks seem to have what is called a sacrificial anode, which corrodes overtime and requires maintenance approximately every five years (depending on the quality of your water)

Here are some things that I am a little unsure about and either smell of greenwash or just outright competition between businesses (there may be legislative requirements but can't seem to figure it out yet):

• one company offers a titanium based panel which means that you can orient them outside of the optimum orientation (north) and not loose efficiency....apparently the titanium has the capability of heating hotter than the standard components and therefore can orient outside the optimum north facing 
• consideration of winds if you are mounting your system on racks. Obviously this is important in some locations, but the amount of winds and strength that we have at my place i think is unlikely to impact on the system, but you should definitely get this checked out
• the size of your storage tank needs to be the next size up from your current storage tank. Apparently, this is because solar hot water can only be generated during the day and not consistently and therefore for continuously available hot water, whenever you want you need a larger storage capacity. To me you just need to train your family to use hot water when available and not demand hot water anytime. 
• If you are mains electricity boosting your hot water storage tank, you're not suppose to have this on Tariff 33 (the overnight/off-peak tariff). I am unsure about this and will have to contact my energy provider to see if this is true. The company that told me this said it was legislation. If this is the case and you only use this for hot water, again this company told me that I should have the meter for this tariff disconnected because the energy company would still charge me a service fee for this meter even if I wasn't using it for hot water heating any more.
• the life span of these systems seem to be about 10 years, but no one will put a firm number on it and there is often the statement that the technology has improved so they are likely to last longer than this magic number. Also from the information I received from the companies it seems as if it is the storage tank that will need replacing first and this is just as you would with a traditional hot water storage tank.

A useful Australian government publication is the "Your Home: Technical Manual", which has a section on hot water systems and provides a lot of facts that you need to consider when deciding what hot water system is appropriate for you and has great tips and facts associated with solar hot water.

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Solar Hot Water Systems

Today has not been wasted!

I learnt that it is in fact best or most efficient to install your solar hot water system's collector panels facing north.

I knew this was necessary for photovoltaic systems (or solar electricity systems), but thought that because there isn't the requirement to transform sunlight into electricity but rather just heat the water it isn't necessary for solar hot water. But it is! According to the information I have read if the panels don't face north, the efficiencies drop off in solar water heating just as much as in the solar electric systems.

So moral of the story, if you are thinking about either of these systems, orient all your panels as close to true north as possible.

If you have any experiences or comments on solar hot water systems feel free to post your comments below. Pin It

Are you letting the cold air out?

My main fridge is about nine years old and starting to look a little daggy. Don't get me wrong I think it still does a marvellous job and wouldn't dream of replacing it, but I was a little concerned that I might be paying a higher price to run it.

Why you might ask? Basically over time the seals around the doors start to deteriorate. This means that your fridge can't keep the cold air in and has to continuously replace this cold air by running the motor which then costs your money in energy usage.

But how do you know if your seals need replacing? I had somewhere in the back of my mind that you place a piece of paper between the door and the fridge, close the fridge door and then try and remove the paper. I did this, but I could easily remove it from multiple locations around the door frame for both the fridge and the freezer. Either my seals were completely dead (which I didn't think was the case) or there was something wrong with my method.

After a quick internet search, another method suggested was to place a torch in the fridge at night, turn off all your lights in the vicinity of the fridge and see if you can see the light coming out of the fridge. If you can see any light you need a new seal. I tried this method last night and couldn't see any light, so currently I am assuming that my seals are ok. See if I can come up with any other methods to test my fridge and freezer seals.

Maybe worth a try at your place.

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Do you need a new dishwasher?

We have a rule in our house (one that I imposed) that whoever cooks doesn't have to clean. The issue with this arrangement in my household is that I do the cooking and my lovely other half doesn't believe in doing regular, after every meal type hand-washing. I can't stand to see the dirty dishes in the kitchen and also the dishes being unavailable because they are waiting to be cleaned. So the fall-back, sanity arrangement is a dishwasher. We have had one in our houses for the last three years and it certainly has created extra time for all in the house.

We are about to move to a new house and one of my dilemmas is there is no dishwasher. I am completely daunted by this and have started my investigation into the type that I will purchase once we move in. I have just come across a couple of websites that can assist people in investigating the energy and water efficiency of dishwashers currently available on the market.

The Energy Rating website specifically discusses the amount of energy that each dishwasher model uses and the Water Efficiency website discusses water usage. Both of these websites have various options so you can either narrow or broaden the criteria and features that you would like in your dishwasher.

Happy researching! Pin It

Solar panels...shade is bad

I found something out today that I didn't previously know about solar panels....


If there is any portion of a solar panel shaded, then no energy is collected by that panel! How unbelievable is that? Apparently scientists are only currently looking at this issue, which is being done in collaboration with computer scientists who have worked on maintaining computer systems/servers, etc where one component can drop out and you don't loose full efficiency. 


Additional government support and investment in renewables will lead to the resolution of such issues sooner rather than later!


In the meantime, ensure your residential solar panels are not in the shade! Pin It

Front versus top loader washing machines

Currently I have a top loading washing machine, fairly typical of most modern residential laundries. However there has been in recent years discussion about the water efficiency of front loaders and some councils/governments have been offering rebates associated with the purchase of these front loading washing machines. I wanted to know more about these front loaders because it may be a decision to be made in the future when my current top loader packs it in.

Apparently the front loading machines are so water efficient because instead of filling the water over the top of the entire load they only fill up a third of the way and then the machines turns the clothes into water. Apparently also the front loader doesn't require a complete new fill of water for the rinse cycle, but rather just sprays additional clean water onto the clothes (some websites indicate that this may lead to a less thorough rinse).

Apparently the front loaders are also 'easier' on the clothes, meaning the clothes will last longer, because there is no centre agitator. Front loading washing machines can also do larger loads because there is more space, again due to the lack of the central agitator (apparently this is just a new thing, as they traditionally actually had a smaller capacity).

Negatives, they are typically more expensive at the initial outlay (purchase price), might be a little tougher on your back because you have to bend over to reach into the washing machine, you can't run back to add an additional sock that you found behind the cushion on the couch as they lock once you start the wash cycle and they require specific washing powder (because of the reduced water level, requires a low-sud detergent) but these are becoming more common.

From this research I expect that I would end up purchasing a front loading washing machine for my next machine if the current one packed it in. Pin It

Green House Design Principles

Well this topic is starting to become a bit of a hot topic for me at the moment. I have a strong urge to learn more about this issue and really it will take some time to come to terms with it because I don't have a mind that automatically can adopt many of the details that underlie the general principles. Nevertheless hopefully I can keep the momentum.

Today I found a great website that outlines the basic green design principles when considering building, renovating, retrofitting your house along these lines. The web address is: http://gogreendesign.com.au/principles.html. Great page that outlines the overarching principles in fairly layman terms. Hope you find it as intriguing as I do.

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Short showers

Why is important not to stand under the shower for extended periods of time?

• limited availability of freshwater - obviously this varies according to the weather and the overall continental climate,
• the use of resources to get the water from the water source to your shower (pipes, water treatment, electricity, etc),
• the use of resources taken to heat the water.

The extreme version of a short shower is the 'navy shower'. This is where you turn the water on get wet, turn the water off then lather up, then turn the shower back on just to rinse off. Bit extreme and at present here in South-east Queensland we aren't at a level of water in our dams that would require this. However, if you're really into making a change, this perhaps is something that you might consider.

I think the current recommended length for a shower, that isn't consider too excessive or resource hungry, is 5 minutes. Certainly if you're not washing your hair or shaving your legs every day this is achievable. And if you're thinking the first 30 seconds or minute is when the water is heating up, perhaps the use of a bucket in your shower to catch some of this water and either use it to flush your toilet or use it on your garden.

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Car Tyres

I bought my first set of 'environmentally conscious' tyres for my car the other day! I don't know if it is greenwash, but I have looked into 'environmentally appropriate' car tyres and found that tyres with a silica compound content are more environmentally 'sustainable' tyres.

The tyres are apparently more appropriate because they result in a better fuel consumption and thus less emissions and less resource required. They do this somehow through lower rolling resistance (not a car type person really but these are the words they use). These tyres do however still need to be maintained (right tyre pressure, etc) to ensure that you reap these rewards.

The brand of tyre I bought cost no more than a medium-expensive brand tyre, but apparently if you do chose a more renown brand of tyre the cost difference will be re-paid over the life of the tyre.

Let's see how they go....so far so good.

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Climate Smart Home Inspection

Well I have finally had my climate smart house inspection. For my $50 investment I had a very friendly elderly gentleman come and visit my house and install a wireless energy meter and a couple of energy saving light bulbs. Certainly the wireless energy meter is the reason that I requested the inspection. It has certainly provided some indication of the appliances that chew up the energy...anything with a heating element...the kettle, the electric heaters, etc.

I am surprised at the small amount of energy that the reverse cycle air-conditioner in my toddler's room uses, as well as the again small amount of electricity the additional fridge & chest freezer in the garage use. These three appliances were the ones that I felt would be definitely would be shovelling money into a deep chasm never to pay for their existence. And in turn convince my other half that they needed to go (well at least the fridge/freezers in the garage). The Climate Smart inspector informed me that the second fridge/freezers usually don't consume a significant amount of electricity because they aren't opened as often as the fridge in your kitchen and thus just maintain themselves rather what your kitchen fridge does which is forever replacing the warm air that you let in when you open and close it and thus use more electricity. Your kettle and electric heaters on the other hand, seem to be the appliances to get rid of in terms of their kwh usage.

Well, I am now certainly more aware of the energy footprint that we have....let's see what we can do to adjust it. Pin It

How to save the world whilst making a coffee

Do you think you can make a difference during the daily coffee-making ritual? Well you certainly can. Next time you are boiling the jug, check how much water is in it and only boil the amount of water that you need to make the required number of tea or coffees.

What difference does this make? The amount of water in the kettle determines how long the kettle needs to be running to boil the water. So the more water you have in the jug, the longer it takes to boil the water, the more electricity is required and more resources are needed to supply the electricity to your house.

Make a difference, boil only the water that you require. Pin It

Tyre pressure & the environment

Did you know that having the right car tyre pressure can make your car more fuel efficient?

Therefore if you have the right tyre pressure you will be doing something 'good' for the environment in our 'car-dependent' society. Even if you aren't thinking about the environment it has got to make sense because it means that you will be buying less fuel and spending less money! Apparently it also extends the life of your tyres again leading to better environmental outcomes (less landfill with old tyres) and more money in the hip pocket.

The nitty-gritty:

• apparently tyre pressure isn't standard and you will need to check your car's specifications....I think these are generally located on the frame of your door or the engine bay;
• check them when they are cold or near cold;
• check it regularly, as it changes over time (RACQ website suggests weekly).

I know this doesn't sound like doing something grand to save the environment, but I am currently looking for little things I can do to make my current footprint a little smaller and a little greener. Maybe once I have conquered these little things, bigger and better will be easy! Pin It