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For the past two years, Ella Reweti and Huw Smith have been carefully renovating this little Victorian cottage in Preston.
The couple have made a number of updates to their family home themselves, tackling everything from cosmetic works like plastering and painting, to turning the old lean-to into a living room.
But they’re also working on improving the cottage’s energy efficiency, by replacing the insulation, installing a new roof, and hopefully, exploring solar panels in the near future.
‘The house is old, but Huw made a concerted effort to fill and seal any obvious gaps early on,’ Ella says.
We asked energy advisor Tim Forcey to take a look inside and see how Ella and Huw could continue to improve the house’s efficiency.
Heating and cooling
Like most old cottages, Ella’s house has no centralised heating or air conditioning — just a couple of pedestal fans. ‘Thanks to the insulation and orientation, it stays surprisingly cool in summer as long as we close all the doors, windows and curtains early in the morning,’ she says.
They also recently removed the old woodfire heater from the living room to free up space (and save money on firewood), while the bedrooms currently rely on wall-mounted electric panel heaters. Last winter, these cost the family about $500 to operate, and despite being ‘constantly on’ in the colder months, Ella notes the house still feels chilly.
Tim says having no existing gas heating is a plus, but strongly suggests installing reverse cycle split-systems (also known as heat pumps) in the living room and the bedrooms. This would be the most efficient way to heat their house, and in summer, it would double as air conditioning.
‘A heat pump would be four times more energy efficient compared to the existing electric panel heaters,’ Tim says.
Hot water
In order transition to an all-electric home — which can one day run on renewable energy — Tim says they only need to replace two appliances: their gas cooktop and their old gas hot water system from 1999.
He recommended upgrading the latter to an electric heat pump hot water system as soon as possible. This should be a priority as hot water contributes to about 25 per cent of the average household’s energy consumption.
Plus, Ella’s local council currently has an interest-free loan scheme (Darebin Solar Saver Rates) that helps homeowners upgrade to solar panels, heat pump hot water and reverse cycle systems by covering costs the initial costs up to $10,000. Tim says it’s best to take advantage of these programs now, as they will likely be scaled back in coming years.
Insulation and draught proofing
Thanks to Huw’s recent updates, most of the house has at least three layers of insulation, including under floor, ceiling and a layer of insulated blanket underneath the new tin roof.
Tim agrees the house is ‘quite good’ in terms of its thermal efficiency: it’s a robust brick build, small footprint, and doesn’t have too many windows or gaps. There’s just a few old wall vents and spaces around the former fireplace that should be sealed up.
As part of their longer-term renovation, the couple also plan to upgrade to double-glazed windows.
Solar
Ella is keen to install solar but can’t justify the cost yet. Tim assured her it’s a worthy eventual next step but doesn’t need to be a priority right now. It would be more important to use energy efficient heating and hot water appliances all year round.
Tim recommends getting a quote from an electrification expert like Goodbye Gas or Pure Electric, who can provide you with more details. He estimates solar panels could reduce their energy bills by $1000 a year, and the Victorian Government also offers rebates of up to $1400 to assist with solar installation.
‘We see it as more of a longer-term investment, as well as contributing overall to the divestment in fossil fuels,’ Ella adds.
Overall
While the average Melbourne home comes in at about three out of 10 on the residential scorecard for efficiency, Tim says Ella and Huw’s house would currently be around four stars.
That’s mainly because the house doesn’t have any gas heating or cooling, making it a bit cold during winter, but it consumes much less energy than the average household.
It’s small size is a big positive too. Even when new electric split-systems are installed to improve comfort, the cottage will require less electricity to heat and cool, and the energy bills will drop thanks to the efficiency of the heat-pump technology.
Next steps
Ella and Huw are already following up on getting quotes for conversion of their gas hot water system, the installation of reverse cycle heating and cooling, and solar panels.
‘The single biggest takeaway for us has been knowing just how much more efficient electric appliances are over gas,’ Ella adds. ‘Tim has absolutely sold us on reverse cycle heating and cooling, which he says will be much cheaper, and more effective.’
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