DH was busy this week doing a project on improving the energy efficiency of our house.
His study is also our TV room, and used to be heated with an unflued gas heater, which required two vents to the outside and to the roof space, to protect us from poisonous gas fumes. The problem was, these vents were there all the time, but we used the gas heater only occasionally. On even mild evenings there was a noticeable draught in that room.
Draughty buildings (energy assessors call them ‘leaky’ buildings, because they leak air) drive up energy bills. In winter they lose warm inside air, and in summer they let the heat creep in, pushing up energy consumption in both extremes. The more airtight your home, the easier it is to stabilise and control the indoor temperature.
We were guided by this website with lots of helpful tips: Green It Yourself
DH used weather strips to seal cracks around the window in his study. It is a cheap and easy fix.
He also did a cheap, quick fix on those annoying air vents -simply covering them with sticky plastic 'contact' -the stuff we cover school books with!
The biggest part of the project was to make a DIY 'double glazing' effect on the glass panel in the study door. We have good quality roller blinds on the windows, but the door has been hard to find a solution for. DH had already done this once on the main bathroom's toilet window, which had a permanent vent in it, so he was confident to tackle this one. Here is how he described the process:
"Using the same materials with which you make an aluminium fly-screen for your windows, I made a white frame to cover the whole glass section of the door. Then, instead of flyscreen I used light-weight clear tablecloth plastic to make a tight pane of plastic. Then with mounting tape on the frame I stuck it onto the wooden part of the door frame - thus creating a cavity of air as a barrier to heat-loss through the glass.
"This method is well know among retro-fitters and helps reduce the energy requirements of your house. We have good barrier blinds for the other windows in the room but it is hard to cover a door with a blind".
"This method is well know among retro-fitters and helps reduce the energy requirements of your house. We have good barrier blinds for the other windows in the room but it is hard to cover a door with a blind".
The weather is settling more into an autumn pattern and the nights are cooler now. We will have a good test of the improvements this week, with cooler daytime and night time temperatures.
How much?
The whole project for the room was under $100. The plastic tablecloth is about $50 per metre, and he bought half a metre. The aluminium frame was about $25, with the corner brackets which keep it together. There was a flexible strip which holds the plastic in the frame and some double sided sticky mounting tape to hold it to the door. The weather strip for the windows was under $10 for the roll. We already had a bottle of isopropol alcohol to prepare the surfaces for the glue. DH has a well stocked workshop with various tape measures, levels, saws and stuff as required.
What we hope to achieve
This is part of a continuing project to improve the energy efficiency of our home. It goes with our 'solar pergola" of grapevines on the north side of the house, which are now shedding their protective leaves and letting in winter sun. It goes with our substantial, block out, thermal quality curtains and blinds -we have single pane windows. It goes with our active building management -letting cool breezes in during summer, closing up the house on very hot or very cold days.
We want to see how close we can get to having a comfortable house without air-conditioning.
We want to save our cash for other things than giving it to energy supply companies!
We will review the comfort of the room and give ourselves permission to buy a small electric heater if required, after the usual first steps of putting on a jumper (sweater) or wrapping up in a quilt (see here for my quilts)
In other news! This week is International Compost Awareness Week! Oh, yes we know how to party around here!
It was one of my two goals for this year for the garden -to improve my composting and to save and grow more seeds.
I have been moving to a 4 compost bin system -two in the front yard and two in the back. Each set has one to fill and one to stir. I am working harder at the balance between wet and dry, green and brown material in the bins.
Finally, a bit of reading for you:
Here is some helpful advice about ventiliation in our homes
The myth about 'safe plastic"
4 comments:
That's a fantastic idea with the plastic tablecloth to act as glazing. I hope it works, you will know when the next bill comes in.
I have a bit of trouble getting the right balance with my compost. I have neglected my bins over summer, but they are on my list to revive. Most of my scraps etc go to the worm farm now with not much left for the bins.
Have a great week!
xTania
It is always interesting to me how people insulate their homes from the heat and the cold. Everywhere is different and has its own unique requirements. We have triple glazed windows in our house to keep it warm in the winter months when the temperatures can be below freezing all day and night. We don't have problems with heat here like you do so it is all about keeping warm for us.
I love composting. It's so rewarding. I have some plastic covers for my windows in the cold weather, too. They're great.
We have a very old house so it is fairly breezy despite our renovations. My hubby used to make heaps of compost but has slackened off lately so I will have to start doing it as it is so beneficial.
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