Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Big Winter Chill

So it's been getting a little cool in Melbourne. temperatures around 12 during the day and half that at night. The heater has been getting a bit of a workout, and all seems to be good!



Some observations on planning heating in your new house;
  • We upgraded to a dual zone heater with a better gas efficiency rating. We can heat the whole house, or just downstairs. For a while we were just heating downstairs, but then our master bedroom is an absolute fridge, so we're back to heating the whole house instead of using zones. Might be more useful in a single storey house to have zoned heatin.
  • In the rooms which aren't used much, we've closed off the heating vents and shut the doors if these rooms have one. We also added a big sliding door between the open plan living area and the front of the house, which keeps that area nice and warm! If you're planning your house design, think of adding cavity doors in places. Open plan areas look great in display homes, but in a real-life home, you will want to close off areas for noise, heating/cooling etc. Cavity doors almost disappear into the walls when not used, but are effective in closing off areas when needed.
  • We set the temperature around 19-20, sometimes 21 for a while if it's really cold.
  • The last gas bill was about $100 I think, not too bad! Our energy rating turned out to be just over 5 star. We have put roller blinds over most of the windows, if we used heavy drapes or curtains, I think that would keep the heat in better.
  • Might have been nice to add a heating outlet in our large ensuite, though we're planning to put in a 3-in-1 like an IXL or equivalent once we choose what light fittings to be put in (still haven't got around to that!)
On that note, does anyone have any recommendations for lighting shops in Melbourne? Apart from Beacon there doesn't seem to be much else. Maybe head back to my favourite shop, eBay :)

T&T

6 comments:

  1. Gday Tim, As far as online shops go, http://www.lightingillusions.com.au/ isn't bad. I've not used it personally, but a few mates have recommended them. Can't help you with stores in Melbourne unfortunately :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Tim,
    Love your blog :-)
    We are currently building & funnily enough I made sure thatcwe put internal bi fold doors to close off kitchen living & added a door to close off the rumpus.
    It cost us but we can close off the main part of our house. I thought itvwonypt look as nice as the display, but practical for heating & cooling!
    Also zoned our heating.
    But I think we will also use it fir the whole house early in the morning & late at night. But hopefully use zoning during the day when we are home on the weekends. Yes when I looked at our plans on a 42sq home I thought need to close off areas to save heating/cooling! Lol
    Mel
    Mel

    ReplyDelete
  3. For lighting I love Custom Lighting on High St Armadale. They can be a bit pricey but if you're looking for a stand out light they've got some dramatic ones on offer!

    http://www.customlighting.com.au/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi,
    I've been following this blog since the beginning.
    How has the laminate flooring held up. I'm looking to put some in our study and maybe the living room. Would you recommend it.

    Cheers,

    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi,
    i am building nolan 45.I was wondering if you have used the space under the stairs by putting a door.
    if so is it roomy & use full.And also did you put cavity sliding door between entry and family/kitchen area?
    thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mike & Nat: Thanks for the links, will look up them shops soon,

    Kim: Laminate flooring is probably the toughest of any kind of flooring available, very very hard wearing!

    anon: No space under stairs as we upgraded to mnodern stairs and no room underneath. We added the cavity door, highly recommended.

    T&T

    ReplyDelete

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