January 2008 (written May 2010)This photo is our house. Cute isn’t it? We worked hard for five years to renovate every single bit of this home. We’ve been very happy here for 13 years. But along the way we “discovered” sustainability and it’s ruined our lives. Really, it has.
Because now we question everything. How can the house be orientated better, how could the breeze stop coming in through the closed windows. What would make it more liveable? How much longer can we live without airconditioning?
To help answer these questions, we organised an energy audit and got lots of recommendations about how to make improvements.
The problem was, we couldn’t find anyone who was interested in helping us to retrofit the house. And we are not so handy ourselves.
Added to this was the fact that after we renovated, we had three children and this meant that the fantastic space we created in our home for two didn’t meet the needs of a household of five.
What should we do - stay in the house and work with what we have or move on? Stay tuned for the next instalment.
Are you able to share the results of your home energy audit?
ReplyDeleteSure, we will try and dig it out. It was about three years ago so some of the product details might be out of date.
ReplyDeleteThe key things were, in order of effectiveness, sealing all the gaps, improving ceiling insulation and then wall insulation.
We miss your presence in that house terribly!
ReplyDeleteHi Guys, think the blog is a great idea and will follow it enthusiastically. Where is the photo of the new house? Have you started construction yet. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteWe found our energy audit - see the next page for all the recommendations
ReplyDelete