Are you looking for cost-effective home retrofit solutions that will help you lower your annual energy cost while increasing your thermal efficiency all year round?
Firstly, exactly how much can you save? From personal experience, our total bill reduced by 84%. And that was before solar panels were installed! The significance is the size of the savings. Just our heating bill was over $2,500 per year. Yes, it is a big home – multi-generational – and we needed to keep Nanna warm! So, you can save significant dollars in homes of all sizes, and ages.
Retrofitting a home for thermal comfort has no ongoing costs either. Done once – with quality materials and attention to the detail of installation, it is one expense in your home that has no recurring costs – but keeps on giving in terms of comfort in your home. And those benefits are for the life of your home!
So here are 3 retrofit ideas that will save your thousands…
1. Draught-proof sources of air leakage
Underfloor clearance is an essential component when it comes to the successful installation of your underfloor insulation. Our installers need at least 40cm of crawl space (a little bit under knee height) to be able to access your joists for underfloor insulation installation. Deep joists provide more headroom for our installers to comfortably install your insulation, resulting in a quick and hassle-free installment job.
Zero space for rodents
Draught proofing is a relatively cheap, easy and effective technique to address air leakage problems. As a result of the sinking and movement of a home’s foundation, gaps and cracks around your doors and windows are formed through time.
Their presence may be unnoticeable but as they compound over time, these seemingly tiny spaces can let in massive amounts of draughts and suck out your costly air conditioning.
In most draughty homes, up to 50 percent of heating and cooling energy go to waste due to uncontrolled draught. Free-flowing draught is one of the major reasons why a home is difficult to heat and cool despite running your heating or air conditioning system non-stop. Consequently, draught can also unnecessarily inflate your heating and cooling costs.
By creating a tight seal around draughty doors and windows, you can control your home heating, cooling, and ventilation all year round. Draught proofing helps in minimising the entry of stubborn draught that affect your indoor comfort.
To ensure a lifetime of comfort, avoid temporary relief measures such as cheap stick on weather seals and door snakes. Draught Dodgers and Draught Excluders are durable, affordable, and highly effective draught proofing solutions that you only need to install once to keep your home draught-free forever. While the initial cost is high, your doors and windows never need to be treated for draught proofing again!
Installing these amazing solutions only takes an hour or so and doesn’t require expert-level renovation skills. If you’re keen on DIY projects, this task would be child’s play!
Another way to stop air leakage is by caulking tiny gaps and cracks present on your wooden floors, architraves, window frames, and vents. Use a sealant that’s easy to apply, odor-free, and turns clear when applied so as to prevent affecting your floors aesthetic value. ecoMaster has tried all the sealants available over the years and we now use HB Fullers Fulaseal Ultraclear exclusively.
The beauty of this approach is that its effects can be felt immediately. And it reflects on your reduced energy bills, every year.
2. Double-glaze your windows
Heat transfer through single-glazed windows is greater since glass is a strong conductor of heat.
A poorly insulated glass window can conduct your heating out in winter. In the same manner, single-glazed windows can contribute to making your home warmer in summer. As a direct result, this pattern of heat conduction will increase your need for more heating and cooling, leading to whopping energy cost without improving your thermal comfort.
To address thermal comfort issues while lowering your heating and cooling bills, you can retrofit your existing glass windows by installing a secondary glazing. How does double glazing your windows slow down air leakage? The still air space that is created between the fitted acrylic panel and the glass window reduces heat loss from the inside of your home.
Double-glazing your windows can potentially reduce heat transfer by 50 percent. Consequently, because your need for extra air conditioning is lessened, your overall energy spend can also fall by half (provided that you also adhere to energy-saving practices and draught-proofing measures).
3. Insulate your home
Insulating your ceiling, walls, and floors brings massive benefits not just to your well-being but also to your bank account. It’s one of the best home investments that doesn’t depreciate over time!
Installing good quality home insulation helps regulate indoor temperatures in summer and winter. Like draught proofing and retrofit double glazing, thorough insulation keeps your heating and cooling requirement at a minimum, thereby reducing your energy bills.
Polyester is the best insulation material suitable for insulating Australian homes. An eco-friendly material made out of 45 percent recycled component, polyester doesn’t lose its loft and is guaranteed to last for 50 years.
Unlike other insulation materials, this high-quality insulation can withstand heat, moisture, and pest infestation.
Implement these three changes altogether and you’re on your way to an energy-efficient home that’s cheaper, more comfortable, and environment-friendly.
Important note:
To try to minimise upfront cost, most homeowners would opt for just one and forego the other retrofit solutions. Unfortunately, this is common. Thermal comfort is an ecosystem made up of all these essential aspects and each one yields increasingly better results when together with the other components.
If you want to experience long-term comfort and enjoy a home that’s cheaper to run for years ahead, we recommend that you apply these changes completely. You can choose to implement them all at once or over time, depending on your budget.
To know which retrofit solution to start as well as to get a deeper insight into your home’s thermal comfort issues, start off with an energy assessment. ecoMaster conducts a thorough assessment that aims to analyse your home’s energy spend, put a finger on problematic areas you need to address, and suggest tailored solutions. path.
Address your thermal comfort issues right away
A whole home energy assessment will show you exactly what needs to be done first to attain a thermally efficient home. Visit this page to select your ecoHome Assessment. For queries, call ecoMaster on 1300 326 627.
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