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Sustainable House Day Cooks Hill, NSW |
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Category: Sustainable House Day 2009 |
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by cookshill  (August 2009) (rank 189th) |
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Description of House: Built in the 1920s it is typical of houses in that era, clad in timber with a corrugated iron roof and no attention to orientation. Originally with three bedrooms, it was extended in 1998 to include an additional bedroom at the back along with a bathroom/laundry, storeroom/workshop below and a deck that faces north.
Some sustainable elements include:
Water Harvesting:
In 1998 at the time of the extension a 10,000 L tank was put under the new deck. This is used to water the back and side gardens.
External Walls:
Clad in weatherboard. The extension at the back is completely insulated (walls, ceiling and underfloor) but the walls at the front of the house are not insulated and can’t be unless we remove the plaster or weatherboards.
Internal Walls:
The internal walls at the back of the house had Rockwool installed at the time of the extension. Rockwool has both thermal and noise dampening qualities.
Roof:
Conventional corrugated iron roof with fiberglass batts in the ceiling. A whirlygig on the roof assists in removing air but contributes little to heating or cooling.
Floor:
Polished floorboards with underfloor foil insulation from Aircell.
Window Treatments:
“Green glass” in new windows at the back of the house.
Electricity Generation:
A rooftop array of 15 panels delivering a maximum of 1.5kW (1500 watts) was installed in early 2007 with an inverter to feed excess power back into the grid.
Heating and Cooling:
Heating is provided mostly by one gas heater in the main living area. Occasional use is made of vertical oil heaters in the front of the house. The home office at the front and the main living area have ceiling fans to circulate air. The large ficus overhanging the north-eastern corner of the house cools the house significantly in summer. Shade also comes from the blue gum in the backyard.
Water heating:
A three panel solar hot water system was installed in 1998. On cloudy days we can manually boost the system via off-peak electric heating. The hot water pipes have been lagged.
Appliances:
In the last few years we have installed a dishwasher and front loader washing machine, both with low water use.
Other:
All leftover food matter goes to the compost bin/worm farm. When this is full the contents get buried in the garden, maybe once or twice a year. Using leaves from the street trees, a good mulch is maintained on the gardens. The garden is too dark for vegetables and the roof garden didn’t work very well. Plastic bags go to the local supermarket a few times a year though we try to avoid these by taking our own bags shopping.
