Optimizing Energy-Efficient House Design to Minimize the Cost of Running an Air Conditioner
When building a home, you must take into account any future living costs which will incur if you don’t plan a strategic build. Our energy-efficient house design is targeted towards keeping you cool in summer and in turn, reducing any extra air conditioning costs over time.
Ceiling Insulation
Ceiling insulation is required for all new house builds. Effectively insulating the ceiling will minimise the heat traveling through the gyprock ceilings & into your home. Ceiling insulation comes in numerous thermal resistance values (R-Value*) and can help improve the thermal performance of your ceiling as well as enhance the energy efficiency and comfort of your new home.
The higher the R-Value the better! This means less heat will travel into your ceiling space making it an essential factor to consider when opting for an energy efficient house design to reduce air conditioner running costs.
Roof Insulation
In summer, around 40% of cool air is lost through the roof! Lessen the heat in your home with an additional layer of heat protection. Installing a glass wool thermal blanket such as Bradford Anticon (suitable for use with metal roofs only) can substantially reduce the heat in your roof. This comes in numerous thermal resistance values and can help improve the thermal performance of a roof as well as enhance the energy efficiency and comfort of your new home.
The same principle applies here, to optimise your energy efficient house design, the higher the R-Value means less heat will travel from your roof space down into your home. This will save you money by reducing the workload on your air conditioner, which will result in a reduced cost to run your air conditioning system.
Anticon is part of the Bradford Total Home Comfort line of insulation products.
Install Whirly Birds
Now that you’ve trapped heat between the roof insulation and ceiling insulations, you’ll need to install a few whirlybirds to remove it. A whirly bird is a functional part of any energy-efficient home design as they work to let cooler air in as warm air is expelled through the turbine.
For a whirly bird to be efficient, it must be installed correctly! For a whirlybird to suck the hot air out of your roof they need somewhere to draw cool dry air into your roof. To achieve this, the solution is to cut a few vents in the soffit/eave.
Choose Light Exterior Paint Colours
The shade of colour you choose to paint your home and also the colour of the roofing material can affect the amount of heat that enters your home. By lessening the heat that enters your home, you’ll use less air conditioning to cool it resulting in an energy-efficient house design. As a general rule of thumb, dark colours absorb heat into your home and light colours reflect heat away. So it makes sense to keep this in mind when going through your colour selection process with your builder or painter.
Optimise Shade Coverings
It’s no secret that a little bit of shade can dramatically keep the temperature of your home down, so when planning your landscaping keep in mind that strategically placed trees around your home is a green way to help keep cooling costs down. Just make sure you don’t shade your solar panels! Shade sails can also be effective in adding to an energy efficient home design where appropriate.
Once you’ve completed your build using an energy efficient home design, you might consider using MyAir | Smart Air Conditioner to remotely control your ducted air conditioner, or MyPlace by Advantage Air | Smart Home Control to remotely control functions such as your garage, lights, blinds and fans. For more building or home efficiency tips, feel free to contact us for advice.
