Can you imagine arriving home from work, and after parking the car in the garage, checking the levels of energy stored in your own power station? Yep!! Enough to run the house tonight and top up the electric vehicle for tomorrow.
You check your mailbox knowing you don’t have to worry about any gas or electric bills being there because you are not on either grid. You have built a freedom home!
So, how does this happen. First, it is important to understand you will not be living in a “glorified tent” the accurate description given to so many homes in Australia, where people build to a price and not to a standard.
That is costly and inefficient. Standard is number 1 in Europe and North America where in many places it is -30° in winter and you cannot open a window, but where energy efficient construction still enables people manage to ventilate, heat and live healthily and comfortably.
Professor Adrian Barnett from the Queensland University of Technology has described many Australian homes as nothing more than “glorified tents“, exposing us to much lower temperatures than the Scandinavians endure! Around 2,000,000 homes in Victoria alone are less than 2 stars.
Barnett wrote in The Age. “The result is that most Victorians are using more energy and spending more money than they should just to keep their homes at a liveable temperature.
“Gas and electricity prices are expected to rise, so the cost-of-living impact will only worsen. For many low-income and vulnerable Australians, heating one of these flimsy, poorly insulated homes is unaffordable, leaving them to live in chronically cold conditions that are detrimental to their health – and ultimately to their lifespans.”
And yet you can build a house using the latest Australian, Italian, French, German, American, Chinese and many other countries’ building materials, methods, products, technology and ideas that will take you off the grid… and you don’t have to invest in expensive heating and cooling.
The cost of this winds up being roughly equivalent to the old double brick way of building; except your non-capital gains taxable home is worth more and you have no energy bills to pay and only some for water (although that may change in 2017/18).
In investment terms, there are two vital components: capital growth and income. Clearly a home that is void of energy bills and heating and cooling (which can break down, need replacing or fixing; appallingly builders are still installing expensive to run Refrigerated Air-Con which seem to costs ~$10000 upwards – plus running costs) is worth more than a similar size home that has both these appliances. A home that doesn’t need these, plus is self-sufficient energy wise is worth more and is easily proven by historical data.
Tick capital growth.
As for income, zero gas and electric bills is real (after tax) money in your pocket. An average electricity bill of $500 a quarter running at 7 per cent energy inflation, over the time of a solar panels warranty of 25 years will cost you $135,353.
And gas – which is tipped to rise by 30 per cent by 2020? How much would those savings be?
And what would happen if you used those nominal savings to pay down your mortgage quicker? How much interest would you save? It is a double whammy in terms of income.
Tick Income.
On top of this you and your family can live in an environment that keeps a comfortable year-round temperature, kills dust mites and mould, and eliminates toxins and condensation. Respiratory illness sufferers will love that! Plus, the tiresome housework of dusting all but eliminated.
The solar system would be designed by a REC/CEC electrician to know exactly how much electricity you need in the daytime and designed to be able to capture this energy from the sun (which also warms the house) and for night time usage as well …. and by 2020 if not before, charges the EV.
Also, an exciting new residential wind energy source was recently invented in Holland using ideas from 2300 years ago! That is on the way. Goodbye petrol costs.
Fanciful? No, reality. It is happening in places like Germany now!
And for business owners, the principals remain the same. Experts can examine all your equipment for energy efficiency and for only around $2000 give you a report on recommendations to increase efficiency and productivity.
Then, via either the CEFC or other renewable energy finance experts, a finance and tax report that shows you how can save real money on energy outgoings – savings that go straight to your bottom line.
The return on investment is often north of 20 per cent a year, rising as energy prices rise, and your rent-to-own payments are often less than those you are currently paying energy companies using dirty coal that is polluting the atmosphere and contributing to the global climate change emergency.
Ultimately, it is a case of paying the energy company … or yourself, whether it is at home or work.
Whether you believe in climate change or not, energy efficiency is a commercial investment, for homeowners and businesses. And your investment will help make the world a cleaner, healthier place.
P. Stephen O’Leary is author of “THE FREEDOM HOME …. PAYING ENERGY BILLS is OPTIONAL …. and may save your life.” He has a degree in sustainability assessment from Swinburne University, is qualified as an authorised building sustainability assessor with the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA) and holds several more managerial and financial qualifications.
Watch for links to purchase the eBook on OneStep and RenewEconomy in February.
This post was published on January 27, 2016 12:36 pm
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Love this! Going off the grid is so affordable now with the new lithium batteries. Just reposted it on our page at http://www.facebook.com/HeartHomesAustralia
Oh dear, Steve having a well insulated house is a very good thing. My house is built to 6 stars and I have to heat and cool it when it's too hot or to cold and would have do so even it where 8 or 10 stars. Here is why, say it's summer and it is 36 + outside and it's only early morning. You went to bed with just a fan on @25 degrees, but a hot change moved though just on day break, with a hot west wind. You get up and close all the windows, but it's too late as a significant amount of hot air is trapped inside now.
And because of good insulation some other form of cooling is needed and no it wont go away by shutting out the now 40+ ambient heat and added to that there is heat from the fridge, the freezer and body heat, plus other appliances .Oh, dear you haven't got an A/C, to rid that heat, ooh bugger! Now it would be madness to open a widow to ventilate now wouldn't it.
Yes it would, so if you have an efficient A/C or two, once it's cool enough, set the thermostat to 26 degrees and your PV system will do it for nothing( if it's big enough ) until, if your lucky the evening brings ambient temp down to 24 or so.
There doesn't need to be a lot of energy expended, but some just the same, because it is an efficient envelop.
I have spent time in houses that were rated 8 stars, but as soon as the above scenarios happen it's horrid. That's the fact!
So please don't say if you have a well sealed and insulated envelop you don't need heating and cooling even just a bit, because it's BS!
Your summary SG seems a little jaundiced. Perhaps it is based on experience with a 6 star residence. Our experience was to build a house with high levels of thermal performance and as a result we are 'off grid' with no heater or aircon, no bills and no problems.
John, my house doesn't perform as well as an 8 star, but I have spent time in one and if like the above scenario happens, then thermal mass isn't enough too absorb it quickly. Especially with high humidity. I also noted that in the place I stayed for 3 days, they had a wood heater. Why I asked, the answer was some times its just too cold on some days when there hasn't been any solar gain. But to be fair it doesn't take much to make it toasty they told me.
The lowest inside temp in winter was 12 after a few days of snow without the fire. Summer highest was 30 with ambient above 40 and 79% humidity mainly because of people, the kids mainly in and out of the house, so on went the recently installed A/C only for a couple of hours or so.
In ending, if they keep the house shut up it performs pretty damn good with just fans.
Solaguy, your second post sounds much more realistic than your first ramp.
Even if you install an aircon or heater in an 8 star home, you only need the smallest available, which is a big difference in price to a 7kW aircon. The smaller ones are most of the time more efficient (more stars). The smaller aircons will help to save on grid expenditure and ultimately keep power prices down.
We recently replaced a faulty 7kW aircon with a new 2.5kW aircon, but first we invested in insulation and draft proofing. The price difference between the 7kW and the 2.5kW model paid for the insulation costs several times over.
And guess what, it is still very nice inside although heat and humidity in Brisbane today are unbearable. And all is solar powered without the CO2 emissions of a coal fired power plant.
In short, energy efficiency is always the way to go. Firstly because of savings and secondly - in my opinion more important - because of comfort.
Beijing from Switzerland I can attest that building standards in Australia are appalling concerning energy efficiency and comfort. Homes are oven boxes in summer and Esky's in winter. And don't get me started about draft proofing in Australian homes!
And let me tell you - six star homes are still very bad, whereas 8 star homes can be considered fit for the future (going from 6 to 7 stars means halving your energy bills).
A reason you may still get a 7kw unit would be the operating efficiency, These are usually the ones that achieve a COP if 4 or 5, when runnng at 2.5kw.
Good in combinaton with "home heating for the hardy", originally published on Tom Murphy's "Do the math" blog.
Hi Solar guy, check out this http://www.greencrossaustralia.org/bushfires/interactive-green-building-guide/heating-and-cooling/ground-sourced-heat-pumps.aspx. Living in Denmark we use these a lot for heating but also works really well for cooling also. Insulation is really important but a ground pump for heating and cooling is a really efficient way of keeping ambient room temps.
Interesting article. But 7% yearly electricity cost escalation over 25 years? That means consumers will be paying an average of $1 per kWh by 2035... That's a bit pessimistic, isn't it?
25 years ago people paying $0.04/kwh would have probably said the same thing...
In my opinion, some of the greatest paybacks of constructing an energy efficient home are not in straight energy savings — but in improved comfort levels (better air quality, reduced noise), reduced maintenance costs, improved health, etc. You can read more here: http://www.ahhcustomhomes.com.au/building-energy-efficient-homes-australia-heritage-homes/