- Over 60% of our electricity is supplied by 10 x BP 165 watt solar panels (for a total of 1.65 kilowatts). The panels have been placed on the roof and we have the room to install a further 10 panels at some point in the future. Our Power Solutions SGB. 5KW (48V) inverter is situated in the garage. We originally were to have the inverter installed in the houser but changed our plans when it became apparent that it produces a distinct (though not loud) high pitch whine. We also have 4 x Sonnenschein Solar Batteries (12V/185 Amp Hours - a total of 740 Amp Hours) as a power backup standby system, which means that the house does not suffer from grid brownouts or blackouts. This is very handy for our business as we have 4 PCs running all day (and 2 NAS devices in the hub room) and didn't have to install any UPS (Uninterrupted Power supply) systems. The backup system kicks in automatically and will provide us with at least 4 hours of power, depending upon what we are running at the time. Excess electricity is sold back to the grid as green energy. The average annual power generation is 2400KW. Karen would love to install another ten solar panels just so we don't ever have to buy electricity from the power companies again...! + Over 60% of our electricity is supplied by 10 x BP 165 watt solar panels (for a total of 1.65 kilowatts). The panels have been placed on the roof and we have the room to install a further 10 panels at some point in the future. Our Selectronic SP PRO 6KW (48V) Inverter was installed in 2010 and is situated in the hub room. We also have 4 x Sonnenschein Solar Batteries (12V/185 Amp Hours - a total of 740 Amp Hours) as a power backup standby system, which means that the house does not suffer from grid brownouts or blackouts. This is very handy for our business as we have 4 PCs running all day (and 2 NAS devices in the hub room) and didn't have to install any UPS (Uninterrupted Power supply) systems. The backup system kicks in automatically and will provide us with at least 4 hours of power, depending upon what we are running at the time. Excess electricity is sold back to the grid as green energy. The average annual power generation is 2400KW. This inverter system means that additional panels can be easily added.
- The double glazing works incredibly well (as well as keeping the house very quiet). We have a Carrier evaporative air conditioning system in the original part of the house and it still works well. Evaporative coolers are ideal in hot environments with low humidity (such as a Melbourne summer). Due to the passive solar design of the house we rarely use the evaporative cooler (maybe a dozen times through summer). The lower level of the house (and our office space) has a concrete slab which maintains a remarkably constant year-round temperature. This area rarely needs to be heated (we have installed a gas Rinnai Energysaver 308 FTR, 4.3 star) and has never required cooling - even on the hottest days. Upstairs we have a Cannon Canterbury space heater which is our only source of heating. It is a great product,is Australian built and has an energy rating of 4.5 stars. The original part of the house is still serviced with gas central heating and although we have had ducts installed into the lounge area, we have yet to turn it on. Every room in the house is fitted with bi-directional fans. + The double glazing works incredibly well (as well as keeping the house very quiet). We have a Bravia L33 Evaporative cooler which was installed in early 2009. This works well in hot environments with low humidity (such as a Melbourne summer). Due to the passive solar design of the house we rarely use the evaporative cooler (maybe a dozen times through summer). The lower level of the house (and our office space) has a concrete slab which maintains a remarkably constant year-round temperature. This area rarely needs to be heated (we have installed a gas Rinnai Energysaver 308 FTR, 4.3 star) and has never required cooling - even on the hottest days. Upstairs we have a Cannon Canterbury space heater which is our only source of heating. It is a great product,is Australian built and has an energy rating of 4.5 stars. We also installed a top of the range Brivis 5-star 20kw high efficiency gas ducted heating system in early 2009. Every room in the house is fitted with bi-directional fans.
The double glazing works incredibly well (as well as keeping the house very quiet). We have a Bravia L33 Evaporative cooler which was installed in early 2009. This works well in hot environments with low humidity (such as a Melbourne summer). Due to the passive solar design of the house we rarely use the evaporative cooler (maybe a dozen times through summer). The lower level of the house (and our office space) has a concrete slab which maintains a remarkably constant year-round temperature. This area rarely needs to be heated (we have installed a gas Rinnai Energysaver 308 FTR, 4.3 star) and has never required cooling - even on the hottest days. Upstairs we have a Cannon Canterbury space heater which is our only source of heating. It is a great product,is Australian built and has an energy rating of 4.5 stars. We also installed a top of the range Brivis 5-star 20kw high efficiency gas ducted heating system in early 2009. Every room in the house is fitted with bi-directional fans.