The Greening of Gavin

Brass Monkey Challenge – August Update

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Brass Monkey ChallengeWell dear readers, I am happy to report that we are still going strong on this challenge.

The last few weeks have been cold, with a frost or two, but the temperature has not dropped below 3°C (37.4F).  Kim has had her reverse cycle air-conditioner turned on at 21°C (70F) for about an hour a day just to take the chill out of her office, but other than that, we have had no other heating on at all.

We have been rugging up with an extra layer at night, but the house has been staying between 15-18 degrees C during most of the day.

Certainly very livable conditions, especially because we have been utilising passive solar heating in the north facing rooms to good effect.

I find that if I feel cold in the evening, I just put on my sherpa hat and I feel right as rain!  I read somewhere that most of the heat from our bodies escapes through the top of our heads, so this extra layer of insulation works wonders!

Also, I have something quite weird to announce.  We removed the natural gas wall heater from our living room.  No we are not going crazy.

We just figured that because we were going to get wall insulation pumped, and that it was getting old and our plumber suggested that it was probably not safe to use anyway.  We are down to one natural gas heater now, which is in the centre of the house.  Not that it matters, because we haven’t even lit the pilot light!

Natural Gas Wall Furnace

Natural Gas Wall Furnace

We also discovered something that probably has saved us a lot of angst.  We noticed that behind the heater was foil insulation that was nailed to the outside of the timber house frame.

Gap where heat used to be

Gap where heater used to be

It was not intact and had some tears in the foil as you can see in the photo above.

Through the tears we noticed that there was only about a 1cm gap between the foil and the outside brickwork of the house.

So if we were to get insulation into this gap, it would not make much difference at all.  The R value of the new insulation would be miniscule.

We have decided not to waste our money by getting the blown wall insulation, and next time we get the lounge renovated and get double glazed windows installed, we will pull off the plaster gyprock and fit proper rock wool insulation into the cavity.  This should reduce the heat entering through this north facing wall better than 1 cm of blown insulation.

Also we have made the decision to get the roof insulation topped up, which will cost about $2000.  We will also get some additional draught proofing for doors, window frames, and other gaps that the ecoMaster audit found.  We are just saving up for those items before we call ecoMaster back to do the work.

Anyway, that is my update for August.  I am will be very interested to see our natural gas bill for the last two months.  I realise that our gas hot water service has been used a bit more, due to the lack of sunlight for the solar hot water service, but it shouldn’t be too much because we have very short showers.

How are you going on your Brass Monkey Challenge?  Coping well, or are the balls dropping off (the brass monkey that is)?

Brass Monkey Challenge – July Update

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Brass Monkey ChallengeIt has nearly been a month since we first started the Brass Monkey Challenge, so it is time for an update.

Temperatures

The minimum temperatures have dropped down to 2°C (35.6F) for the last few nights/mornings, and max temps are hovering around 12°C (53.6F).

That is on par with the long-term average, even though the rest of July has been about 2 degrees above this average.

Still no frosts, thankfully, and our challenge is still going strong.

Passive Heating

The days have been somewhat sunny, so we keep the window coverings open during the day to let the sunlight heat the lounge, my office, and our bedroom.  With the doors and windows closed, these rooms have been heating up to around 18°C during the day.

There is certainly no need for heating in these rooms.  My office is staying at that temp for most of the night because my computer keeps the room constant.  Who needs a heater when the PC pumps out so much heat!

The rest of the house is around 16°C (60.8F) during the day, and down to 12°C (53.6F) at night.  The are tolerable temperatures once you get used to it and dress for the conditions.

Rugging Up

Layers are the norm here at the moment.  Ben, Kim and I are now quite used to having about three layers on top to stay warm.

No, we are not dressing like Eskimos, more like dressing for a spring day.  I have been wearing a t-shirt, flannel shirt, and track-suit jacket on top, and thick woolen or hemp socks, and track-pants on the bottom.  No hats or scarves or gloves required.  I was wearing fingerless gloves at the start of the challenge, but discontinued use once I adapted.

Guests Do It Tough

With that said, our recent guests, Amy and Kate had a bit of a climate shock when they came over on for dinner and to record the pollution podcast episode.

Both were given coats and hats to keep warm.  They are were not the hardened Brass Monkeys that we obviously were.  It was quite funny actually, as we discussed this during the podcast episode at around the 27:32 minute mark of the chat.  They were all rugged up, and I was not.  Quite a stark contrast.

Quieting The Monkey

Yesterday, Maurice from ecoMaster visited and performed the  ecoHome Plus assessment.  He was here for about 3 hours in total, checking insulation levels, inspecting walls, checking for draughts, and other stuff.

He gave us some verbal feedback before we receive the full report in the next few days.

The first thing he suggested we get done is to get some wall insulation pumped into the wall cavities.  We have a brick/veneer home and there was foil insulation fitted when the house was originally built, however this has a very low R factor.  There is a 50mm gap in between the bricks and the stud-work that can be filled.

We have no idea of the cost until we get the main report, but I am willing to dive into my deep pockets to get it done.

Additionally, the windows need to be replaced with double glazing, as they are not very efficient.  With aluminium frames that are rotting, and glass that is single pane, they are highly efficient conductors of heat.  Not very good when you are trying to keep your home warm.  Again, not sure of the cost, but it will not be cheap.

One Month Remaining

With only one month of winter remaining, I think we will make it to the end of the challenge quite easily.

No natural gas has been expended on heating so far, so therefore no GHG emission have been created.  I am looking forward to our next gas bill at the end of the month!

Kim has had the energy-efficient reverse cycle air-conditioner on for an hour in the morning to heat up her south-facing office, and on for another in the evening.  She only has a laptop, so her room temperature drops during the evening.  As we purchase GreenPower, we only use renewable energy to power our home, so no GHG emissions for this little bit of heating.

I am looking forward to spring and the warmth that it brings.  It will be a flurry of activity in the garden as well, but we will be able to reduce the layers (like an Ogre) and warm up a bit.

I am also looking forward to start work on making our home more comfortable with wall insulation and double glazing, but will have to assess the timeframes when we see how much it will cost.

How are you going on your Brass Monkey Challenge?  Coping alright?  Keeping warm enough?

More Comfort Less Energy

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Is your home ‘leaky’?  Can you feel a cold draught even though all the doors and windows are closed tight?

Houston, we may have a problem!  You could be leaking heat or cooling which is in turn energy wasted.  How would you like more comfort less energy?  Well, that is exactly what we need around here.

We recently had some rooms renovated, added another entrance added to our home, and it has been a long time since I have been in the roof to check the insulation.  We also have other leaks that we probably don’t know about.

more comfort less energy

Tracing the source of a draught

Previously I had draught proofed our home but as our area is known for movement, the concrete slab that homes are built on move over time.  This has the effect of breaking the door and window frame seals that I had so meticulously draft proofed a while back with weather strip.

So, I need a company who could perform a whole home assessment to see what could be done to make my home more comfortable.  Also I want maximum bang for my buck, with some targeted prioritisation and costing, so that I can make an informed decision.

ecoMasterWell, thankfully, there is such a company in our area, ecoMaster.  ecoMaster is located in Gisborne, just north of Melton West.

This morning I bit the bullet and gave them a call.  We booked a thermal efficiency assessment (aka ecoHome PLUS Assessment) and an assessor will be coming to visit on 23rd July at 10am.  It is going to cost me A$380, but worth it if it saves me heating and cooling costs.

Hopefully they will have some cost-effective solutions for us to pursue.

I really want to make our home as thermally efficient as we can, and really keep the heat in during winter, and out in the summer.  After the last Angry Summer, we certainly don’t want a repeat of last year again this coming summer.  We would also like to keep the heat in a bit longer this winter.

This is going to be the season that we kick some Brass Monkey Challenge butt!