T
he
energy used for heating and cooling a typical home generates more
than one and a half tonnes of greenhouse gas and costs more than $200
each year.
In a cool climate, a large house with central
heating could produce 10 tonnes or more of greenhouse gas and cost
more than $1,000 to heat each year.
Make your home more efficient: Limit the flow of heat through your roof, walls, windows and gaps.
Insulate ceiling, walls and floors. As much as 35% of heat loss from a house is through an uninsulated ceiling; uninsulated walls account for a further 15 to 25% and uninsulated floors lose between 10 and 20% of heat.
Blinds and curtains should have white or reflective outer surfaces—dark colours absorb solar energy, adding to cooling problems.
Place rugs or carpets on timber or elevated slab floors.
Cover internal walls, particularly those that face south. Even a large woollen wall hanging can provide extra insulation, reducing heat loss in winter.
Only heat rooms you are using and close doors between the heater and unoccupied rooms.
Fully insulating your home can halve heating and cooling greenhouse gas emissions and costs and dramatically improve comfort all year.
Windows are the weakest point of most houses. In winter a window can lose 10 times as much heat as the same area of insulated wall. In summer, each square metre of glass exposed to sun can gain nearly as much heat as running a single bar radiator.
In winter, close fitting blinds or curtains that create a layer of still air next to the glass are most effective. External shading is twice as effective as an internal blind at blocking out summer heat.
Unshaded skylights and roof glazing can overheat in summer and lose heat in winter.
Cool your home efficiently
n
mornings of hot days, close
up the house and shade all windows
to block out the summer heat. When it cools down outside, open up the
house to breezes.Use Ceiling fans
Air Conditioners are not energy efficient but if you must ~ use in combination with ceiling fans~ they create a “wind chill effect,”
using a ceiling fan allows your air conditioning system to use 20 to 50% less energy to cool your home. While there is an energy cost to run ceiling fans, they typically use approximately 40 to 50 watts, Average residential Air Conditioner daily energy consumption is 25 KWh or about 1 KWh per hour.
Clean filters of airconditioners as recommended by the manufacturer: a clogged filter reduces air flow and efficiency.
In climates with dry heat, evaporative coolers provide comfort while using as little as a tenth of the energy of an airconditioner with much lower greenhouse gas emissions.
In hot humid climates, when you need cooling use a high efficiency refrigerated air conditioner. Airconditioners carry energy labels so you can compare their performance. B8_s8.1
Seal out draughts by sealing cracks and gaps around doors, windows and skirting boards, fitting dampers to fireplaces and open exhaust fans, and blocking unnecessary vents: cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by hundreds of kilograms and improve comfort.
Select a low greenhouse impact source for heating Reverse cycle airconditioners and gas heaters carry energy labels to help you choose an efficient model. www.energyrating.gov.au.
If using a wood heater, use only dry, seasoned wood, and operate according to manufacturer’s instructions to minimise pollution. Consider switching to another option.
Leaving heating or cooling running when no-one is home generates more greenhouse gas and costs more money. Timer controls can switch equipment on when it’s needed.
A thermostat setting of 18–20°C in winter, or 26oC in summer is usually comfortable. An extra 1oC difference in temperature between indoors and outdoors can add around 10% to heating or cooling costs and greenhouse gas emissions.
Insulate the ceilings ~ use insulation made from recycled materials
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Consuming 1kWh of electricity from electricity grid emits approximately 0.99 kg of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.
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Consuming 1kWh of natural gas emits approximately 0.21 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent.
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Consuming 1kWh of LPG emits approximately 0.22 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent.
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Consuming 1kWh of kerosene emits 0.24 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent.
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Consuming 1kWh of wood emits 0.34 kg of carbon dioxide. If the wood is sustainably regrown the new tree absorbs this carbon dioxide making the fuel greenhouse neutral (ignoring transport emissions). Woods energy content is 4.5 kWh/kg or 16.2 gigajoules/tonne (GJ/t) |
• Ducted gas heaters operate with an efficiency of 51% to 87%, which is derived from the Australian Gas Association's January 2001 'Directory of Certified Gas Appliances and Components'. An additional allowance has been made for duct losses and electricity use (eg fan use).
• Flued gas heaters operate with an efficiency of 60% to 88%, which is derived from the Australian Gas Association's January 2001 'Directory of Certified Gas Appliances and Components'. An additional allowance has been made for electricity use (eg fan use).
• In floor electric and radiant panel electric heaters operate with an efficiency of 80% to 90% due to heat losses through the floor (in floor electric) and ceiling and walls (radiant panel electric)
• Open fireplaces operate at an efficiency of 10% to 15%, with the majority of heat lost up the chimney
• Slow combustion wood heaters operate at an efficiency of 65% to 75%.
• Portable electric heaters operate at an efficiency of 100%.
• Portable gas heaters operate at an efficiency of 82%. This includes an allowance for increased ventilation requirements and electricity use (eg fan use).
• Portable kerosene heaters operate at an efficiency of 75%. This includes an allowance for increased ventilation requirements.
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