Energy Matters Forums

[conklinc]

Caleb,

Yeah, I suppose that makes sense. Ratings do change over time. I remember back in the 70's I bought an older home in the States in a cold weather state. I had extra insulation blown into the attic. The insulation guy thought I was crazy, he said that natural gas was a lot cheaper than insulation and that it would take me years and years to recoup my investment. Well, it did, but not as long as he thought it would, the price of natural gas, while still relatively cheap, has gone up considerably, much more than he thought it would. Meanwhile I just added an extra 4 or 5 inches in my attic here in Australia . . . for the same reason. Insulation is a one-time cost, natural gas bills come every two months or so!

[Chuq]

I'm suffering from this at the moment. We're about to start building a house, but the system used to calculate star ratings can't seem to cope with exceptions. eg. we are using vitrobond cladding, the modelling doesn't allow for it. We are having 2700 high ceilings, with 2950 high windows - there is a niche around the outside. The system can't cope with this and does the calcs based on 2950 high ceilings everywhere, which makes a big difference over the entire house area.

Our official star rating came back as 5.7 star, but we've been told the house is "really" 7.0 star. It was a pain as we had to remove some windows because on the first assessment we didn't "officially" make 5 star.

[karlajensen]

Very interesting reading, we got the obligatory "FREE" home energy assessment and they came back with 2 stars and a possibility of only ever getting it to three stars.

I was quite annoyed as I believe anything can be made to make the rating should you throw enough effort at it.

At the end of the day previous owner was spending some $500/month on electricity and now they pay me $250/month so I guess that makes me $750 a month better off. Thats $9K a year.

Half of that I attribute to the solar the other half, re-appliancing, insulating, double glazing etc

[conklinc]

karlajensen,

One smart Cookie, you are. Long term investment and a good return. I'm sure it would be difficult to bring
some of the older homes up to 5 stars, with their high ceilings and vented walls. But like you say, if you throw enough money at them, i.e. put in false ceilings and insulate them, replace the inside exterior walls and insulate them as you do, etc., etc., you ought to be able to bring a home up to 4 or 5. Whether it is worth it or not is quite another matter. Sentimentality can enter into the equation.

Personally, I'd like to see more electrical outlets, one per room just doesn't cut it for me.

Curt Conklin

[karlajensen]

lots of solutions to that out there now a skirting board solution where you can add as many outlets as you like is one.

My favorite is very simple and cheap, swap singles for doubles.
buy 3-4m extension cords with piggyback plugs run them in opposite directions from the existing powerpoint in rectangular conduit (bunnings comes with double sided tape and all) whalah 4 power points and barely noticeable.

certainly beats $100+ an outlet, not to mention the fact that in my place internal brick walls mean big mess
to add outlets anywhere -

[conklinc]

But that doesn't make the house 5 Star does it? OTH, I don't think the rating system looks at number of electrical outlets.

Using power strips and other "add ons" can be dangerous if you overload the fuse. I've got a TV, Foxtel Box, DVD player and amplifier all on one outlet. They'd never all be on at the same time, but still, it makes me nervous. A plug on every wall, properly fused would be nice.

[Gordon-Loomberah]

Using power strips and other "add ons" can be dangerous if you overload the fuse. I've got a TV, Foxtel Box, DVD player and amplifier all on one outlet. They'd never all be on at the same time, but still, it makes me nervous...

TV 300W, Foxtel Box, no idea, but I'd imagine <100W, DVD <100W, amplifier say 500W if you like it really loud That's a max of 1kW, or ~4A @240V. Power circuits are generally 15A, fused or circuit breaker, and power points are 10A, so nothing to be nervous about

You cant really "overload" a fuse or circuit breaker, they will blow/trip if you try to run too much through them. That's their purpose- to protect the the circuit.

What is dangerous are cheap dodgy power boards that have poor contact with the the cords you plug into them. They can get very hot and melt, and possibly catch on fire when high power/too many devices are plugged into them.

[conklinc]

Gordon, I never really added up the power, so I guess your right. It "looks dangerous," and yes, I'm WAS using a $3 strip with no trip, but I replaced it because I knew it wasn't safe. I use a cheaper one for my lap top but only because the cord won't reach, and it is the only thing I have on that outlet, besides a lamp with an 11 watt CFL which we rarely use . . . we watch telly in the dark. I do have a 3.7 kWh solar array. If only I could get Origin to CONFIRM I'm on the PFIT.

Curt

[karlajensen]

You're right makes no difference to the star ratings, but you asked!

It used to be regulation that you couldnt have more than 10 outlets on any one 16A circuit however they canned it for domestic applications some time ago, hence cheap builders knock up the Mc Mansion with two power circuits, one for upstairs the other for downstairs each with say 20 outlets

How do you think that pans out ? ----Not very well

If I ever build a house it will have a well labeled board each room on its own breaker / RCBO (power).
Fridges, oven, dishwasher will have their own circuit.
the whole lot protected by MOV's from the mains, an AC transfer switch and standby power for the IT room / internet, router, phone, computers, TV and lights.

Then after that lot I have to save for walls, roof etc etc

[conklinc]

I know in the States the code is 7 outlets per fuse, usually 15 or 20 amp, mostly 20. Code says you have to have an outlet every 12 linear feet of wall. But most new houses have two outlets per wall, offset. The old "outlet in the center of a wall doesn't cut it anymore. They were/are a PITA because furniture is usually centered anyway.

Of course in the U.S. you don't have to have a professional electrician sign off. I helped my son build a 5 bedroom, 3 level (incl. basement) house back in '07. We did the plumbing and electrical ourselves. Plumbing passed City Inspectors first time, electrical 2nd time.

What I don't understand over here is that we use plastic mains boxes. In the States they're always metal. Never saw or heard of plastic fuse boxes until I came over here. The two codes are really different. I wouldn't want to say one is safer than the other, just different. Over here, all the solar inverters are transformerless, but the manufacturers have to build a transformer model just for sale in the U.S. . . . crazy. The transformer heats up and sucks a good percentage of the power generated by the panels. I asked a solar installer in the States about that and he said a transformerless inverter would be dangerous, that he'd personally NEVER install one. Uh, huh? Europe, Asia, Australia, NZ . . .