September comfort and cost report
As the days and nights become warmer, less mechanical heating is required to assist passive solar heating (plus insulation) to maintain a comfortable temperature indoors. Increased solar power exports and decreased grid imports reduced the energy bill to 50c per day. Read More
August comfort and cost report
In August, our high performance home maintained a comfortable indoor temperature within the target range of 18 to 21oC. The month’s energy bill was $47 or approximately $1.50 per day, ... Read More
July comfort and cost report
Analysing the temperature monitoring and electricity consumption data for July is an opportunity to review the comfort and cost of living in a passive solar, all-electric home. Read More
Living with thermal mass
Learning how to help the passive solar design features keep us warm in Winter is a useful exercise. Sunlight is all we need on clear, cold days. When it's cloudy, we use the heat pump to stop the concrete slab thermal mass cooling too much. Read More
Testing outdoor versus indoor temperature
While the indoor temperature felt comfortable during hot summer days, I was left with the nagging feeling that wishful thinking was keeping me cool. Passive solar design should minimise the need for mechanical cooling for everything but a run of very hot days. Temperature monitoring data confirmed this is the case for our design. Read More
Wireless sensor tags arrive
I couldn’t wait to open the package that recently arrived on our doorstep. I’d been tracking its progress in the mail system for a few days. My Wireless Sensor Tags ... Read More- 1
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