|
|
Sustainable House Day, Alice Springs 2, NT |
|
Category: Sustainable House Day 2009 |
 |
by SHD  (August 2009) (rank 13th) |
|
We have an old ‘railway house’ and have progressively installed hardware that minimises energy and water use without having to think about it. We manage the thermal control of our house as a normal part of our daily lives. We are very happy living in our ‘eco-house’!
Sustainable Elements featured in this home
Thermal comfort
This is an old wood framed ‘railway house’ that was moved to our block in 1996 (we bought it in 1998). It had a zero star rating for thermal comfort and was shockingly hot for the first summer. We added ceiling insulation batts, reflective foil, painted the roof light orange, added a carport on the west side, added roof ventilators, added heavy curtains and it now has a star rating of three. It is comfortable in all seasons with minimal use of a wood fire and evaporative air conditioner.
Greywater reuse
We use a greywater system developed by Glenn over several years, and approved by the NT Health Dept in 2004. Greywater from the laundry and bathroom flows to a pump out tank then is distributed via a 6-way valve to over 20 sites on our block including veggie garden and shade trees. It is very low maintenance.
Water use
Our water use is half that of Alice Springs houses, and one-tenth of similar rural blocks. This is primarily because we gave up outdoor irrigation years ago and now nurture native trees that pop their heads up. We have recorded over 60 species of plants in our nature strip drain, after removing buffel grass from the whole block in 2000.
We use a front-loading washing machine, low flow shower and water efficient dishwasher. Keeping showers short gets harder as the kids get older.
Power use
Our power use is half that of average Alice Springs houses, despite having all the ‘normal’ appliances of a house, including an electric stove. We choose our white goods according to their energy/water star rating and construction quality, have used CFL lights throughout the house for years and have a solar hot water system. We are use4d to turning lights off when we aren’t using them.
Hot water
We have had a Solahart hot water system, installed in 1999. We use the one-shot-relay electric booster about 5 times a year, hence have a power bill of about $1 per year for hot water.
Power Generation
We have recently installed a 2 kilowatt Solar Cities photovoltaic system. We are currently generating more power than we consume, and that is very satisfying.
