How To Reduce Air Conditioner Running Costs With Energy Efficient House Design

Phill Crawley

Smarter Air & Electrical

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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

Energy Efficient House Design-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.

 

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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

Energy Efficient House Design-blinds

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.

Jason Gent
These guys were amazing to deal with, I can see why they have all 5 star reviews. Great communication, value, price and service. Every team member ...
Jason Gent
These guys were amazing to deal with, I can see why they have all 5 star reviews. Great communication, value, price and service. Every team member from sales to admin/ scheduling and installers were prompt, courteous and a pleasure to deal with. The whole process from start to finish was flawless, thanks again!
Jason Gent
Jason Gent
Aftaar Atik
A well deserved 5 🌟 rating to Smarter AIR & Electrical for a Samsung Ducted Systems. From initiation to completion everything was a breeze...
Aftaar Atik
A well deserved 5🌟 rating to Smarter AIR & Electrical for a Samsung Ducted Systems. From initiation to completion everything was a breeze. These guys are the best in Brisbane and I highly recommend them for all your air-conditioning requirements. Benji and team showed up on time and did a amazing job,also cleaned up the site.
Aftaar Atik
Aftaar Atik
D Llyd
Clean looking finish. Quick install. Professional from start to finish! Highly recommended if you're considering ducted air-conditioning.
D Llyd
Clean looking finish. Quick install. Professional from start to finish! Highly recommended if you're considering ducted air-conditioning.
D Llyd
D Llyd
Nicole & Brindley Rouse
Huge thanks to Benji and the team at Smarter Air Electrical for an awesome job installing our new aircon! From start to finish, they...
Nicole & Brindley Rouse
Huge thanks to Benji and the team at Smarter Air Electrical for an awesome job installing our new aircon! From start to finish, they were professional, efficient, and really took care in everything they did. Even the apprentices were fantastic—you could see how well they worked together, and the whole team just got stuck in and got the job done. They were careful around the house, cleaned up after themselves, and made the whole process super easy for us. A special thanks to Amanda in the office for always keeping us informed. We are very happy! Thanks for making our days a lot cooler 🙂
Nicole & Brindley Rouse
Nicole & Brindley Rouse
Philip Elisara
Excellent service from Alex and Amanda in the office communication was on point always kept us up to date with what was going on and ...
Philip Elisara
Excellent service from Alex and Amanda in the office communication was on point always kept us up to date with what was going on and talking us through products etc. To the install team Led by Benji and his team the boys were respectful cleaned up and did an excellent job. Also a mention to Jake the electrician as well thanks guys the best experience with any company hands down. We will be recommending the team to anyone after ducted aircon.
Philip Elisara
Philip Elisara
Kayley Parkinson
We couldn't be happier with our new ducted air conditioning system. Alex, Louie and the team at Smarter Air and Electrical were amazing to deal ...
Kayley Parkinson
We couldn't be happier with our new ducted air conditioning system. Alex, Louie and the team at Smarter Air and Electrical were amazing to deal with throughout the entire process. The team were polite, friendly, punctual and their workmanship is excellent. Highly recommend!
Kayley Parkinson
Kayley Parkinson
Sean & Katrina Yacoubian
The installers were excellent. Arrived on time and we did a preliminary walk around to check positioning of everything was correct. Very stress...
Sean & Katrina Yacoubian
The installers were excellent. Arrived on time and we did a preliminary walk around to check positioning of everything was correct. Very stress free install. Price was extremely good. Would highly recommend giving Smarter Air & Electrical a call if you’re thinking about air conditioning.
Sean & Katrina Yacoubian
Sean & Katrina Yacoubian
Jason Trembath
A big thank you to Benji who was very friendly and professional. He provided a great service and ran through questions we had. He fixed ...
Jason Trembath
A big thank you to Benji who was very friendly and professional. He provided a great service and ran through questions we had. He fixed up a few items which was greatly appreciated to ensure we have our system running well. I highly recommend Benji from Smarter Air. Thanks as well go Amanda and Andrea as well for being warm, friendly and professional to deal with when booking everything in, and getting our service and repairs in straight away.
Jason Trembath
Jason Trembath
Greg Chijoff
Not Happy Jan. Despite the company being told in advance of my unique situation - a 3 storey townhouse with limited roof void space, necessitating the ...
Greg Chijoff
Not Happy Jan. Despite the company being told in advance of my unique situation - a 3 storey townhouse with limited roof void space, necessitating the probable use of a scissor-lift and access through the steel roof, Smarter Air accepted the job for ducted air installation and took a deposit. Deposit transferred November 29. First site inspection January 10. Project declined January 13. Not only has this set back other activity such as the installation of roof top Solar panels, but I had declined two other reasonably priced proposals [also Black Friday deals]. Now I have to go back to scratch and restart with new Project quoting from competitors. I have elevated the star rating by '1' as I did eventually get the refund back, after a reminder two days later.
Greg Chijoff
Greg Chijoff
James Herbert
We couldn't be happier with the fantastic service provided by Smarter Electrical! They recently upgraded our air conditioning system, and the entire process was seamless ...
James Herbert
We couldn't be happier with the fantastic service provided by Smarter Electrical! They recently upgraded our air conditioning system, and the entire process was seamless from start to finish. The team was professional, punctual, and incredibly knowledgeable. They took the time to explain all the options available and made sure we chose the right system for our home. The installation was done efficiently and with great attention to detail, leaving everything clean and tidy afterward. Our new air con system works perfectly, and we can already feel the difference in comfort and efficiency. We would highly recommend Smarter Electrical to anyone looking for a great service and expert advice. A big thank you to the team, especially Tom, Hayden and Chris for their excellent work!
James Herbert
James Herbert

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