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My Efficient Electric Home

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About
GROUP DESCRIPTION & KEY REFERENCES

Formed in June 2015, this Group is a leading DATABASE OF INFORMATION about improving the comfort and energy performance of Australian homes.

(Contributions from outsideMore Australia are also welcome.)

This DATABASE of information is easily searchable. Members are encouraged to use "Search this Group" to dig up old posts relevant to their issue / interest.

DESCRIPTION: This Group is for folks who are here to help each other. We openly discuss methods & especially share data re space heating, water heating, and cooking in homes using devices powered / fuelled only by renewable heat and electricity, rather than by fossil gas, LPG, or wood.

Of particular interest is the use of high efficiency heat pumps for space heating and cooling, water heating, and clothes drying.

Energy efficiency and an adequately-performing thermal envelope is of course key to My Efficient Electric Home, as is the generation (e.g. via rooftop solar PV) and storage of electricity and heat.

Data / info regarding home economics, comfort, health, convenience, aesthetics, and feng shui are all welcomed!

Eliminating fossil fuels from our homes is important because we face a climate emergency and must decarbonise as quickly as possible. Happily, in Australia and other places around the world, people can also save money and improve health and comfort by moving toward an "all-electric" home.

This group commenced in June 2015 under the name "Ururu Sarara Discussion Group" and as that former name suggests, we originally focused on the characteristics of the Daikin US7 7 star reverse-cycle air conditioner. The group name was changed to "My Efficient Electric Home" in ~ June 2016 to reflect the ensuing broader discussions.

Key foundation references for the concept of the Australian "all-electric home" include:

"Why I have six air conditioners" (2011, M Wright, The Australian, https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/news-story/why-i-have-six-air-conditioners/42edb4a5190455d7aeab92e002203132)

BZE's "Buildings Plan" (2013, http://bze.org.au/buildings-plan/)

R Keech's & BZE's "Energy Freedom Home" (2015, http://bze.org.au/energy-freedom-home/)

"Hot summer nights, and cold winter evenings: how to be comfortable and save money all year long" (2016, The Conversation, Tim Forcey https://theconversation.com/hot-summer-nights-and-cold-winter-evenings-how-to-be-comfortable-and-save-money-all-year-long-51046)

"Cutting the gas. Has the all-electric home's time finally arrived?" (2017, Fifth Estate, T Forcey, https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/cutting-the-gas-has-the-all-electric-homes-time-finally-arrived)

Renew's (formerly the ATA's): 2018 "Household Fuel Choice" study: https://renew.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Household_fuel_choice_in_the_NEM_Revised_June_2018.pdf

Announcements

Tim Forcey, profile picture

MY EFFICIENT ELECTRIC HOME WEBINAR at the National Sustainable Living Festival

Here's the recording!

Thanks to the NSLF for the motivation, to Jenny Edwards and Richard Keech for co-presenting, to KuljaMore Coulston our emcee, Katy Daily on tech support, and Richard again for setting up the MEEH youtube channel and this video.

Following Kulja's intro, there are our 3 presentations running to about an hour, and then some Q&A.

For our Members. Enjoy!

And in other news, yesterday we ticked over 25,000 members! Thanks to all of you for continuing to spread the word to those that may benefit.

Tim, Jenny, and Richard - your volunteer admins

YOUTUBE.COM

Switching off fossil fuels, with Tim, Jenny and Richard

From the Sustainable Living Festival, online event, 10 Feb 2021. http://www.slf.org.au/event/my-efficient-electric-home/Tim's talk from ~3:23 https://youtu.b...
New Activity
Sylvia De Nardi, profile picture

Hello,
I am looking for deciduous trees for shading my house from the sun in the Newcastle area. Does anyone have suggestions please?
I checked for this on the group site but didn't find any. I know that there are evergreen lilli Pillies which are lovely but was hoping for deciduous options. I am very interested in passive energy efficiency strategies.
Thanks, Sylvia

Grant Wigney, profile picture

A big thank you to Mal & John from Efficiency Matrix. Today’s blower door test provided so much information for us. Very informative. We had already put new seals on all the doors & with today’s test we foundMore lots of areas that we didn’t know were leaking air into our house. The test revealed 17 air changes per hour. Looking forward to receiving the report so we can action all these items & hopefully reduce the number of air changes to below 10. Thanks Mal

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Jay Asper, profile picture

In Michael Mobb’s Sustainable House book he puts forward a kitchen cabinetry design to have a ventilation hole below and above the fridge to maximise space for airflow to expel hot air.

Has anyone modelled the energy savings here and actually implemented this in their kitchen? Photos please if you have!

Fiona Hooke, profile picture

We are looking to buy a food processor, powerful enough to blend well but also as energy efficient as possible. It needs to hold 5-6 cups of fluid.
A couple of the well known brands: Cuisinet and Kitchenaid have much smaller motors but am hesitant invade they are not powerful enough. Any thoughts/ experience please?

Paul Swift, profile picture

We're electric, but not terribly efficient. My wife and I are in a 70m2 flat which has no gas connection. We have a small outdoor space, enough for a table and chairs. We have a 160L Rheem electric boiler,More installed in 2016 (not by us), which is on a night-time tariff and uses 4.6 kWh/day. Is there any way to reduce this consumption, other than replacing it with a smaller boiler? The water temperature is 60C, and we don't have space in our fusebox for a timer. It's an 1870s building, so I don't think it's feasible to install a heat pump outside and connect it up with the pipework. There are no settings on the boiler to adjust (unless you're an electrician). Any advice gratefully received.

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Richard Ko, profile picture

Richard Ko shared a link.

1 hr

Anyone have experience with this solution?

TWINGLAZE.COM.AU

TwinGlaze® Double Glaze Your Existing Windows

✅ Enjoy all the Benefits of Genuine Double Glazing at a fraction of the cost of window replacement. Promotional Savings Available. VIC | ACT | NSW | TAS
Karina Beattie, profile picture

Can anyone recommend a company who will retrofit wall insulation in Sydney?

These are the companies Ive found and reached out to - no idea if they're good (or even f they service Sydney):
* Morehttps://www.easyinsulation.com.au/blowin

JUSTRITE.COM.AU

Retrofit Wall Insulation (Cavity Wall) » Just rite

Install Cavity Wall Insulation - Rock Wool / Retrofit Wall Insulation in Canberra. and Sydney First Australian cavity wall insulators company for Existing homes with double brick or brick veneer walls in Canberra.
John Carlin, profile picture

Hi, we are getting into detailed design for our renovation in inner-city Brunswick — small weatherboard house — and facing the choice between a ducted RCAC system and probably 3 split systems to cover the house. Can anyone recommend suppliers who would quote with good advice on pros and cons for our specific floor plan?
Many thanks in advance!

Tim Forcey, profile picture

HOT WATER HEAT PUMP POLL

Please read carefully!

Q: Which brand of hot water heat pump do you own right now AND you are happy with?

If you are UNhappy with your hot water heat pump... you could mention that inMore the comments.

Purpose of this poll? Members are trying to work out what hot water heat pump might be best for them. Maybe this will help.

But sure... different homes will have different needs / requirements.

And here is a link to my hot water heat pump presentation, if that also might help.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MyEfficientElectricHome/permalink/3122716191106136/

Simon Tratt, profile picture

Adding some more internal doors and making this 9 year old home less open plan, to give the ducted RCAC zones a chance to be effective and to give more privacy to living rooms. Thought I would add some more internal wall insulation for both thermal and acoustic benefit 😊

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Robert Hawes, profile picture

Sorry for the slightly off topic post.
If you want to post a link to a newspaper article on Facebook
1. State what newspaper it is.
2. Post everything after the .com/
3. Hope people can create the correct link.
Example
Source: The Guardian
2021/feb/19/australia-risks-being-left-behind-in-petrol-fuelled-parallel-world-as-other-countries-embrace-electric-cars

Scott Ves, profile picture

Block-out honeycomb blinds: aluminium lined vs non-aluminium lined

Does anyone know if there's much of a difference in terms of thermal performance between aluminium lined vs non-aluminium lined block-outMore honeycomb blinds? Some block-out honeycomb blinds on the market are foil/aluminium lined, and others are not.

I'm asking because I recently found out that Veneta blinds don't sell aluminium-lined honeycomb blinds anymore, but at least one of their Australia-based competitors do.

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Justin Tate, profile picture

Just saw a news story on NBC American news site but can’t post the link here currently. It’s about the mega increase of wholesale prices for electricity with the deep freeze in Texas. Hope I can copy and pasteMore it here:

“As Texas deep freeze subsides, some households now face electricity bills as high as $10,000.”

By Leticia Miranda
As the Texas power grid collapsed under a historic winter storm, Jose Del Rio of Haltom City, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, saw the electricity bill on a vacant two-bedroom home he is trying to sell slowly creep up over the past two weeks. Typically, the bill is around $125 to $150 a month, he said. But his account has already been charged about $630 this month —… More

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Jeff Culp, profile picture

The rate of heat transfer depends upon the surface area exposed to a different temperature, the temperature difference between the inside and the outside and the amount of air leakage.

This has plunged me intoMore many fascinating/frustrating arguments with people living in different climates. Doing some consulting work in Latin America, and urging them to consider adding insulation to their buildings, I was told, "we don't need insulation here."

They knew I was from Canada, where no one will tell you you don't need insulation, but here in Latin America, it is warm, and we don't need insulation.

"Do you insulate your refrigerators," I asked. Of course. "Is that a good idea?" Yes. "Do you… More

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Tom Mitchell-Taverner, profile picture

Tom Mitchell-Taverner created a poll.

22 hrs

If there was a way to compete or compare your household energy usage in with friends, family and neighbours in a safe and secure way (to help make minimal energy conservation something to be proud about) would you be interested?