The Zero Emissions Byron Building Working Group recently produced a short film that details the comprehensive retrofitting undertaken by ZEB board member, Robert Goodwill, of his home that luckily was high and dry and not affected by the flooding events earlier this year.

Robert's story is of his planned purchase of a home with specific properties and the implementation of retrofitting elements that resulted in the house being able to generate enough power from the sun to cover the reduced energy required to maintain comfortable temperatures inside the home as well as charge his electric vehicle.  Complete energy independence.

Maybe you will be inspired to follow Robert's lead and seek to buy a home that can be converted or you might find elements in this story that you can apply to your current home.

ZEB buildings team member and local energy consultant, Sebastian Crangle, shares some key tips to keeping warm this winter, without the bill shock (and all the while minimising your overall energy consumption!)

Many of us live in cold houses. Even in parts of Australia known for their tropical climate, homes can be ridiculously cold in winter because they were not designed to withstand the cold. Think a “leaky” timber ‘Queenslander’ in Toowoomba or Murwillumbah, or a cheaply constructed project home in Coffs Harbour. And yet, there’s plenty you can do to improve a home’s “thermal performance” after it’s built, and a variety of ways to conserve the heat you generate.

When you’re suffering in a cold house the hard-core amongst us will tell you to “suck it up and put on another jumper”. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of smart ways to make your house more comfortable, and without necessarily using more electricity / gas in the process.

Here’s a few ideas:

•   Stop the leaks:  Draughts sap heat from a house like nothing else. Fill any gaps your house has, under doors, in floor boards, around poorly fitting windows. There are many draught-proofing products available for these scenarios available at your hardware store. Or, get in a professional. How can you find the draughts? Shut the house up on a windy day, and move around the perimeter of the house with a stick of incense or a candle and look for movement.

•   Section your house:  The more rooms you’re trying to heat, the harder it will be (and the more energy you will use).  Think about which rooms you most want to keep warm, and those you don’t need to, and cover the entrances between them. If there isn’t a door, hang a thick curtain. Even if there is a door, put a draught stopper at the bottom of it so heat doesn’t escape under it. If you can stick to heating just one main area your heaters won’t have to work nearly as hard, and are more likely to maintain a comfortable temperature.

•   Insulate:  Most houses don’t have enough insulation, in ceilings, walls and under floors. Start by having a look in your ceiling cavity (safely) to see how much insulation there is directly above your ceiling. You’d be surprised how many ceilings I see without any insulation, or with a tokenistic this layer (R2 to be technical, about 12 cm thick). Insulation is one of the most cost effective ways to improve the thermal performance of an old house.

•   Beware of the fan heater!  Sadly, the cheapest heaters generally use the most energy. A small fan or oil heater will often use 2000 Watts, meaning that an hour of use will use 2kW of energy. To put that in context, the average 2-3 person home in northern NSW uses 15 kWh per day in winter,  so using one fan heater for 2 hours (4kWh) would use more than 25% of that average.  If you can afford an efficient reverse cycle air conditioner (or have one you don’t use) it will be in the order of 4 times more efficient than a fan heater in converting electricity to heat.

•   Use a heated throw:  if it’s costing you too much to heat your home, living area, the most cost effective way of keeping warm is to just warm you. An inexpensive heated throw blanket is incredibly good way at keeping toasty warm, for a couple of cents an hour. (Note, however, that some people are sensitive to covering themselves with an electric circuit. If so, be sure to get one with a thermostat and timer.)

•   Get help! Believe it or not there are local people with expertise in making homes more energy efficient and temperature resilient, and they love it! If you would like a more thorough home energy consultation (including a personalised home visit and assessment) 

Seb has his own home energy advice service and is the only accredited Residential Scorecard Assessor in Northern NSW.
Check out his informative  Home Energy Facebook Page here.

Facebook resources for sharing flood adaptation information and giving and receiving donations

If you use Facebook here are some pages and groups involved with the community flood response:

Mullum Cares has created a group specifically to share information like this blog post and for community to contribute their ideas and experience of flood resilient building materials and furniture:

Rebuild Flood Resilient Northern Rivers

The Library of Stuff is still offering FREE memberships to flood impacted locals and are always keen to receive donations of items in great condition that are helpful to people to borrow for a week or two at a time.   All info can be found on their website libraryofstuff.org.au or Fb:

Library of Stuff Mullumbimby

When participation restrictions lift, Mullum Cares will restart its Salvage Culture activity that inspires and enables attendees to Make & Mend and Care & Repair at Workshops and Working Bees that double as routine maintenance tasks that the Library of Stuff need to undertake to keep the lending inventory in tip top shape and as an opportunity for members and the broader community to come, help or get help and learn by participating how to care better for their stuff.  Emissions generated from the extraction, manufacturing, distribution and disposal of goods made from human consumption amounts for more than 50% of global emissions.  So if we buy less and buy better we directly reduce the emissions our consumption behaviour is responsible for.

The bike maintenance is a random Care & Repair requested by a few of our Library members (including me!).  If you have any topics you would like covered that directly improve resource conservation outcomes please let me know via projects@mullumcares.com.au.